The BBC has edited tomorrow’s episode of Doctor Who to remove a scene where a character is beheaded. The decision was made after the murder of two journalists by Islamic State militants.
A video released this week showed the beheading of Steven Sotloff, an American reporter, by the same masked jihadi who murdered James Foley last month.
The removed scene comes at the climax of this week’s episode, which includes a fight between Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
A spokeswoman for the BBC said: “In light of recent news events, we have made an edit to episode three out of respect.”
This is not the first time the corporation has made changes to programmes that clashed with current events. In 2012 it pulled an episode of New Tricks, a crime drama about an under-age sex ring in a care home, in the aftermath of allegations about Jimmy Savile.
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The same year it postponed the final episode of Good Copafter PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes were killed in Manchester by Dale Cregan in a gun and grenade attack. The drama, starring Warren Brown, the former Hollyoaks and Lutheractor, featured a violent attack on a female police officer.