The BBC has denied claims it won't broadcast a new David Attenborough episode amid fears of a backlash from Tory politicians and right-wing press.
Reports had previously suggested the new series on British wildlife will not be shown to the public as the broadcaster is concerned the themes of destruction of nature would risk a backlash. The highly anticipated series will focus on the Wild Isles, showing the beauty of nature in the British Isles.
Narrated by David Attenborough, the series will include five episodes and will be first broadcast on Sunday on BBC One. Senior sources at the BBC told the Guardian that a decision was made not to release a sixth episode, which they claimed had already been filmed.
They said the episode examined the losses of nature in the UK. But, BBC bosses have refuted the claims, stating that "there is no sixth episode".
A statement from the broadcaster reads: "This is totally inaccurate, there is no ‘sixth episode’. Wild Isles is – and always was - a five-part series." Claims also suggested that a sixth episode, which had reportedly received funding from WWF and RSPB, would not have been put out on broadcast TV like the others but instead would be available on BBC iPlayer.
The BBC statement continued: "We acquired a separate film for iPlayer from the RSPB, WWF and Silverback Films about people working to preserve and restore the biodiversity of the British Isles." The Mirror has approached the BBC for comment.
The news comes just days after Garry Lineker made comments on the Government's controversial asylum policy. The Match of the Day presenter got into hot water after he retweeted a Home Office video on its new Illegal Migration Bill and described it as "beyond awful". The former footballer referred to the language used by the Nazis in Germany during that period.
Lineker refused the delete the tweet, which has brought claims against impartiality as a BBC employee.
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