Spooks' Christian terror plot sparks viewer outrage

by Joe Lepper, Brand Republic 01-Nov-06, 12:00

LONDON - BBC spy drama 'Spooks' has come under fire for its latest episode, which featured a Christian terrorist group attacking the Muslim community with more than 20 viewer complaints now made.

The episode, shown on Monday night on BBC One, began with a Christian shooting dead a radical Muslim preacher after the preacher was inexplicably freed by the courts.

The shooter then turned the gun on himself. It later materialised that the Islamic cleric had been killed in a plot that involved a government adviser and a bishop. A second group of Muslims were then killed in a suicide grenade attack.

Later on, the episode showed central character Adam Carter, played by Rupert Penry-Jones, going undercover to infiltrate an extreme Christian group and also getting involved in an attack by the Israeli secret service, Mossad.

The BBC has received 20 complaints so far about the episode while Ofcom received two, which the media regulator will now investigate.

The BBC confirmed that the complaints were mainly about the religious content, particularly from irate Christian viewers.

A spokeswoman for the BBC defended the episode, saying: "'Spooks' is an award-winning drama series, which is based entirely on fiction and we are confident our viewers understand that episodes do not portray real events.

"Throughout the show's five series, we have featured a wide variety of fictional terror threats, which are all derived from our scriptwriters' imaginations."

This is not the first time that 'Spooks' has attracted criticism. In 2003, Ofcom predecessor body the Broadcasting Standards Commission received 154 complaints, the highest for a single programme that year, for the second episode of the first series involving a character, played by Lisa Faulkner, being tortured with her hand immersed in a deep fat fryer before being shot in the head.

Also last year, producers were forced to edit out an Apple logo on a computer amid allegations made in the Sunday Times that product placement was rife in TV.

Meanwhile, an episode of ITV's 'Coronation Street', also screened on Monday night, has attracted 26 complaints to the media regulator Ofcom. The episode featured soap villain Charlie Stubbs, played by Bill Ward, trying to drown teenager David Platt, played by Jack Shepherd, in a bath. A number of viewers said the scene reminded them of the Soham murders.

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