BBC iPlayer adds warnings to classic comedies removed from Netflix

The BBC has introduced warnings about outdated language and social attitudes featured in programmes on iPlayer.

The move follows Netflix‘s recent decision to remove comedies The Mighty Boosh and The League of Gentlemen from its streaming service due to the use of blackface. BBC iPlayer has kept the shows but has added warning messages.

Each show now comes with a note saying the shows’ content “reflects the broadcast standards, language and attitudes of its time” and that “some viewers may find this content offensive”.

• Read more: How to support Black Lives Matter and anti-racist organisations if you can’t protest

A message accompanying the recent remake of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads reads: “This film is set in the 1980s and reflects the language and social attitudes of its time”.

Additionally, HBO Max removed Gone With The Wind last month before reinstating it with a pre-roll disclaimer explaining that the movie “denies the horrors of slavery”.

The film, which starred Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh, was removed after an LA Times op-ed from Oscar-winning 12 Years A Slave screenwriter John Ridley slammed it as “a film that glorifies the antebellum south. It is a film that, when it is not ignoring the horrors of slavery, pauses only to perpetuate some of the most painful stereotypes of people of colour.”

The moves are in response to the Black Lives Matter movement reignited by the murder of George Floyd in May, which strives for racial equality.

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