EXCLUSIVE: An episode of Doctor Who that originally featured Huw Edwards has been restored to BBC iPlayer after six months with the disgraced news presenter edited out.
The UK broadcaster took down Season 2 episode Fear Her last August after Edwards, once the highest-profile news anchor in the country, pleaded guilty to accessing child abuse images.
The Doctor Who story has now been redubbed to remove Edwards, whose voiceover featured during news clips and commentary. He has been replaced by actress Becky Wright, who has previously done voice work in the Doctor Who podcast series. Elements of the dialog have also been changed.
The episode features the iPlayer disclaimer: “This programme has been edited since broadcast. There are a number of reasons why a programme may have been edited including legal, contractual or technical issues.”
Edwards starred when Chloe Webber, a girl who is terrorized by a demonic version of her abusive dead father, makes everyone disappear in a sports stadium for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.
“My God, what’s going on here? The crowd has just vanished, right in front of my eyes,” Edwards said. “It’s impossible. Bob, can we go to you in the box? Bob? Not you too?”
This line has been replaced with: “My God, what’s going on here? The crowd has vanished, they’re gone, everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone, right in front of my eyes, it’s impossible. Bob? Bob, can we join you in the box? Not you too Bob…”
When the Doctor (David Tennant) and assistant Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) ride to the rescue, Wright’s commentator says: “Just look at this, utterly incredible scenes at the Olympic Stadium. 80,000 athletes and spectators, they disappeared, they’ve come back. They’ve returned, they’ve reappeared. It’s quite incredible.”
At the time of the removal, the BBC said: “As you would expect we are actively considering the availability of our archive. While we don’t routinely delete content from the BBC archive as it is a matter of historical record, we do consider the continued use and re-use of material on a case-by-case basis.”
It was perhaps unsurprising that executives looked at the Edwards episode, given the nature of his crimes and that Doctor Who has a young fan base.
Edwards received a six-month suspended prison sentence and apologized for the “repugnant” nature of his offenses after pleading guilty to accessing child abuse images. The judge said Edwards’ reputation was in “tatters” after he was once the “most recognized” news presenter in the UK, but that he did not “present a risk or danger” to the public or children.
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