News

Exclusive: Disney’s hunt for its next European content supremo reached the very highest echelons of the BBC, but the Mouse House looks to have emerged empty-handed.

Deadline can reveal that BBC content boss Charlotte Moore, the most powerful person in British TV and audio commissioning, held talks over a move to Disney, but ultimately turned down the opportunity. Disney and the BBC declined to comment.

Disney wanted Moore to become its next SVP of Original Content in Emea. Recruitment for the role has been the talk of the UK TV industry since Deadline revealed Liam Keelan was exiting after five years. Keelan built an Emea originals team from scratch and the show that will likely define his Disney legacy is Rivals, the big-budget Jilly Cooper adaptation that has been renewed for a second season. Others included doc series Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story and Daniel Brühl-starrer Becoming Karl Lagerfeld.

The BBC “made efforts” to find “excellent other opportunities” for departing anchor Mishal Husain, according to a senior BBC News boss.

Husain revealed yesterday she is exiting the Today Program after 11 years and will join Bloomberg to host a weekend interview series.

Speaking at the annual Vlv conference, Jonathan Munro said Husain’s gruelling early morning schedule had contributed to her decision and the BBC is sad to lose her.

“I have never worked on a breakfast show and from time to time people say, ‘Look I want to do something else’ and that’s understandable,” he said. “When people do that we make efforts to see if we can find excellent other opportunities but of course they will look outside. There are times when the best thing for everyone is to wish people the very best of luck as they move on and use the opportunity to bring someone else in.

Update: The BBC has confirmed reports on Monday night that Gary Lineker is leaving Match of the Day at the end of the current Premier League season. He will continue to present for the BBC until the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including hosting live Fa Cup coverage.

Lineker said: “I’m delighted to continue my long association with BBC Sport and would like to thank all those who made this happen.”

Alex Kay-Jelski, director of BBC Sport, added: “Gary is a world-class presenter, and we’re delighted that he’ll lead our coverage of the next World Cup and continue to lead our live coverage of the Fa Cup.

“After 25 seasons Gary is stepping down from Motd. We want to thank him for everything he has done for the show, which continues to attract millions of viewers each week. He’ll be hugely missed on the show but we’re so...

More than 100 BBC employees have put their name to a letter accusing the corporation of bias in its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The Independent newspaper reports that, in a letter sent to director-general Tim Davie, more than 230 members of the media industry, including 100 BBC staff members and several public figures, accuse the BBC of favouring Israel in its news broadcasts and lacking “consistently fair and accurate evidence-based journalism in its coverage of Gaza.”

The letter seen by the newspaper asks the BBC to “report without fear or favour” and to “recommit to the highest editorial standards – with emphasis on fairness, accuracy and due impartiality” with commitments to include:

Reiterating that Israel does not give external journalists access to to Gaza Highlighting insufficient evidence to back up Israeli claims Making clear where Israel is the perpetrator in headlines Including regular historical context Challenging Israeli state representatives in interviews

The...

The BBC World Service has been given its long-awaited funding boost in today’s UK budget, which contained no updates on film and TV tax credits but news on VFX.

While not announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves during her speech in the past hour, the small print in the UK’s budget document says: “In 2025-26, the settlement provides an increase in funding to the BBC World Service, protecting existing foreign language service provision and its mission to deliver globally trusted media, in support of the UK’s global presence and soft power.” The current settlement runs down in March.

The funding boost, the value of which has not been disclosed as of yet, comes out of the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

A BBC statement said the corporation “warmly welcomes” the additional funding, adding: “We are pleased the government has acknowledged the strong case for investing in the World Service.

Last month, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos enjoyed a coronation of sorts at the Royal Television Society conference in London, which the streaming giant was hosting. In a show of muscle, Netflix pulled in appearances from speakers including “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight and soccer star David Beckham, both of whom have projects at Netflix. Sarandos also took the opportunity to announce a first-look deal with “Baby Reindeer” creator Richard Gadd.

But it was his keynote speech that the audience, which included U.K. captains of industry such as BBC boss Tim Davie, had come to see. In it, Sarandos paid homage to the U.K.’s TV production sector but warned of the industry’s need to “embrace change.”

In recent years, however, it is the streamers who have had to change, particularly in Europe. When Netflix first arrived on the continent less than a decade ago, it imported a...

The BBC has axed investigative journalism show HARDtalk after nearly 30 years as part of a 130-person layoff program in its news division.

The news has emerged as part of the wider 500-person-layoff program that was announced earlier this year by Director General Tim Davie, as the corporation grapples with a deficit of £500M ($654M) amid tricky economic headwinds. Davie delivered a speech yesterday in which he urged more government funding for global news, as he warned that Russia and China are filling gaps vacated by the World Service with “unchallenged propaganda.”

The closure of HARDtalk, which will happen in five months, is part of the latest round of cuts to the hard-hit BBC News teams, which news boss Deborah Turness said today will “help meet the BBC’s savings and reinvestment challenge” in an internal email sent out in the past hour. An all-staff meeting led by Turness is currently taking place.

Don’t let BBC Director General Tim Davie hear you say the word “talent.”

With the BBC’s review into dodgy workplace behavior kicking off following the Huw Edwards, Strictly Come Dancing and Jermaine Jenas scandals, the Dg said he has banned a word that has been common parlance in the TV industry for decades.

Speaking to the BBC’s Today program in the past few minutes, Davie said to presenter Nick Robinson: “We often refer to people like yourself as ‘talent’ but I’ve kind of banned that. You’re a presenter, I’m a leader of an organization, and we’re here to serve.”

When Robinson later tried to use the word again, Davie interjected to remind him that it is banned.

He said the BBC is “acting in good faith” to get to a situation whereby “everyone is treated equally regardless of rank.” The new review,...

Gary Lineker’s future as the BBC’s highest-paid presenter appears to be in doubt after the leak of an email purporting to be a draft announcement about his departure.

MailOnline said it had seen an email that suggested BBC chiefs, including director general Tim Davie, were drawing up a press notice about Lineker’s exit. MailOnline said it was unable to confirm the authenticity of the email. The BBC is not confirming or denying its existence.

The email purports to be from Alex Kay-Jelski, the BBC’s director of sport, and its contents suggest that Saturday will be Lineker’s last appearance on Match of the Day, the Premier League highlights show. It reportedly features a comment from Davie, who describes Lineker as a “world-class presenter.”

A BBC insider said Saturday is not Lineker’s final show and there are no imminent plans to announce his departure, though it...

Exclusive: BBC Director General Tim Davie will get on the front foot when it comes to sustainability and climate change this week and urge the industry to put content speaking to these issues front and center. Speaking at the Climate Creatives event this Wednesday, Davie will say that focusing on content that addresses sustainability and climate change is a “huge opportunity.”

Deadline has obtained a sneak peek of a video address Davie will give at the fourth edition of Climate Creatives, a cross-industry event organized by the BBC that gathers commissioners, production staff and storytellers to examine how the industry can come together to find sustainability solutions.

“Surely now we’re at a point where sustainability, the agenda around nature, must be there, front and center,” Davie will say. “This is a real moment for us to do that.”

Producers and commissioners are increasingly tuning into how to create climate-related...

Charles Dance is set to play Italian artist Michaelangelo in new BBC docu-drama “Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty.”

Dance’s casting in the three-part series came as the BBC unveiled its arts and culture slate across television and radio at a dedicated event in London on Wednesday evening. “Renaissance: The Blood and The Beauty” is a co-commission with PBS exploring an era of violence and power politics that produced some of the Western world’s greatest works of art.

Other highlights on the slate include Simon Schama’s take on the culture wars in “The History of Us,” the return of archaeological series “Civilisations” with a new iteration tentatively titled “Civilisations: Rise and Fall,” and a docu-drama about Jane Austen to mark the 250th anniversary of her birth next year. “Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius” will include interviews with writers, actors, and biographers.

A series of new films...

Exclusive: Another round of layoffs has hit the BBC Children’s & Education department after a revamp to production of the Cbbc Studio.

A consultation in Salford’s Media City has started and 11 roles are set to be closed after a decision was made to outsource the presentation links between shows on the popular kids channel, we are told. These presentation links used to take place in the iconic Broom Cupboard but are now done in the Cbbc Studio, as channel favorites like Hacker T Dog announce shows and take part in mini skits. Production on the CBeebies presentation links, including the famous Bedtime Stories, will remain the same.

The move is the second phase of a set of changes brought in last year following an 18-month structural review into BBC Children’s, the first of which saw around 25 leave the department and was revealed by Deadline in February 2023.

The presentation links...

Former BBC Chair Richard Sharp, who resigned in disgrace over his role in the Boris Johnson loan affair, has urged Director General Tim Davie to make tough decisions in order to give his content department more money.

In the face of “significant competition,” Sharp used an Rts London panel to proclaim that BBC content boss Charlotte Moore “doesn’t have the budget she should have” to spend on TV shows in order that “people aren’t declining in terms of their engagement with [the BBC] as a platform.”

“There should be tough budget chats happening,” added Sharp, who left a year ago. The BBC has been losing linear audience share by small amounts over the past few years, although it published research over the weekend saying it is now the fastest growing VoD platform in the UK, beating Netflix, Itvx and Channel 4.

Speaking earlier today, Davie praised Sharp and current Chair Samir Shah.

“How Do We Value Our Industry?” That was the question in focus during a Tuesday afternoon panel at the Royal Television Society’s (Rts) London Convention 2024.

The session, following morning appearances by Netflix co-ceo Ted Sarandos, Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, and BBC director-general Tim Davie, touched on what investors are looking for after the recent $1.45 billion takeover of All3Media by RedBird Imi and whether consolidation is the only way forward.

The panelists were Jane Featherstone, co-founder and chief creative officer of production firm Sister, Harry Hampson, global chairman – investment banking/corporate & investment bank Emea at J.P. Morgan, and former BBC chair Richard Sharp, now partner at asset management firm SW7.

Featherstone argued that after a big jump in production activity, the market has contracted again. “There was probably too much,” she said, mentioning that at the height of the production boom there were around 1,400 shows being produced a year in the U.

Sister co-founder Jane Featherstone has said the contracting TV market in the U.K. has created a “difficult few months” for production companies.

“Some have closed down and people are losing their jobs,” she said. “Producers like me are trying to navigate how we have a mixed ecology [between public service broadcasters and deep-pocketed U.S. streamers.]”

“We’re in this structural change where there will be consolidation of some kind to get us through this,” she added.

“When we all started [in the industry] twenty-five years ago there weren’t that many of us and the market was in a very different place. I don’t see doom and gloom forever I think we are in a transitional moment. I do believe in the next two or three years value comes back to producers and producers are valued again in that way.”

Featherstone launched Sister in 2015, with Elizabeth Murdoch coming on board as a minority shareholder. The company is known for...

David Beckham has opened up about the process of embarking on his Emmy award-winning documentary “Beckham,” saying the idea of it made him “nervous.”

“It worried me and it made me nervous and it made Victoria nervous,” Beckham said of the four-part doc, which dropped on the streamer last year and quickly became a hit. “I hated almost every moment of making it…it was very difficult.”

“It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I was going to make it but there was a few reasons why we wanted to make it,” he continued. “When I retired I wasn’t ready to talk about my career and what had happened. Through the pandemic, it’s when documentaries really exploded and it was coming up to the 10-year anniversary of my retirement from football.”

“As much as people think they know everything about us...

U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 is seeing digital monetization run ahead of audience viewership, CEO Alex Mahon told an industry gathering in London on Tuesday.

Speaking during a keynote address at the Royal Television Society’s (Rts) London Convention 2024, she was asked if a digital eyeball is worth as much as a linear eyeball for Channel 4. “It is worth more” because “advertisers want to put money into digital,” and they want to put it into “content that is high-quality,” she said.

And monetization is ahead of viewing in digital, with only about 18 percent of audience viewing on digital so far, compared with the nearly 30 percent of ad revenue, the Channel 4 boss explained. “This year, we will hit about 30 percent of our” revenue coming from digital advertising, up from 27 percent in 2023, she forecast. The goal is to get that to 50 percent in a few years, while also developing more digital and other new revenue streams.

The BBC is “pretty close” to finalizing an investigation into Amanda Abbington’s allegations that she was mistreated by her Strictly Come Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice.

BBC director general Tim Davie told the Rts London Convention that the corporation is on the brink of ruling on Abbington’s concerns, although he did not commit to publishing the findings.

There was some hope that the investigation could be finalized before the new season of Strictly Come Dancing got underway on Saturday, but Davie said the BBC was unable to hit the deadline.

“Many things in life would be useful, but we have to do the process,” he told Amol Rajan, presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today show.

In October 2023, Abbington, an actress best known for her work as Mary Watson in BBC drama Sherlock, abruptly quit Season 21 of Strictly citing “personal reasons.”

She later engaged Carter Ruck, the aggressive London law firm,...

In the wake of the Huw Edwards sentencing, the BBC Director General has said he wants his legacy to be moving “beyond” these crises, while he confirmed that the former lead anchor will never work for the corporation again.

Speaking at Rts London, Tim Davie said “we have made enormous progress” in terms of moving on from bad behavior in the industry, but “there is still something about the business where you have these people who are creatively brilliant that comes with certain behaviors.”

Davie said industry execs such as himself and his on-stage interviewer, Amol Rajan, “cast a big shadow” and “have a responsibility to think about what shadow we cast” as they seek to ensure there is no repeat of the Edwards saga.

There are “great teams across the BBC and they feel deeply deeply let down,” he added, while pointing out that “it’s not about us,...

The BBC, the U.K. public broadcaster, has been hurt by Huw Edwards’ crimes director-general Tim Davie said at a big industry conference in London on Tuesday. “An affair like this impacts our reputation,” he said while emphasizing that the full fallout on the TV giant isn’t clear yet. But he also argued: “You can maintain trust by doing the right thing.”

Speaking during a keynote address at the Royal Television Society’s (Rts) London Convention 2024, he addressed the six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, handed to former BBC News presenter Huw Edwards on Monday after he pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children. The 63-year-old said he was “profoundly sorry” for the “repugnant” images before he was sentenced.

Could Edwards return to the BBC? “I can’t see that happen,” Davie said. “This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes.”

How about the impact on the archive?...

BBC boss Tim Davie has said he can’t ever see disgraced ex anchor Huw Edwards working for the BBC again.

“I can’t see that happening for obvious reasons,” he said. “This man has just been convicted of appalling crimes and it’s pretty straightforward in my mind that I can’t see him working at the BBC again.”

Beleaguered director general Davie made his first public remarks the morning after Edwards, once the highest paid news reporter at the corporation, was sentenced for making indecent images of children. The cache of illegal images, which included videos, were predominantly of children aged between 13 and 15 with one believed to feature as young as 7 also being abused.

Davie admitted the scandal had damaged the BBC’s reputation. “There’s no doubt that an affair like this impacts our reputation and I don’t know yet in terms of the direct impact on trust,...

Warner Bros. Discovery U.K. boss Andrew Georgiou said the Olympucs had been “great” for the media company.

Georgiou was speaking at the tail-end of a phenomenally successful summer in Europe for Wbd, which had the exclusive pay TV rights to the Olympic Games across most of Europe. “We had more subscribers come on after Day 4 [of the Olympics] than we had in the entire Tokyo games,” he said. “On linear we outstripped our growth…so for us it’s done a fantastic job across all of the markets. The challenge of course is keeping the customers.”

Georgiou, who is the president and managing director of Wbd in U.K. and Ireland and of the company’s European sports division, was speaking on a panel titled “How to win audiences and influence them” on Tuesday morning at the Royal Television Society conference in London.

His fellow panellists included Sky Studios CEO and chief content officer Cécile Frot-Coutaz,...

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has described the Baby Reindeer debate as “uniquely British.”

The saga, which has seen Netflix sued for $170M by the ‘real-life Martha’ over her depiction in the Emmy-winning show, has seen a lawsuit filed in the U.S.

But Sarandos posited that the debate around the show over its labeling as a “true story” is “not happening anywhere else in the world.”

Pushed on the “true story” element of the show, which has landed it in such hot water, Sarandos told Rts London that Baby Reindeer “is not a documentary, there are elements that are dramatized.”

“We are watching it performed by actors on TV, we think that’s abundantly clear that there is dramatization involved,” he added.

He was speaking as Netflix unveiled a first-look deal with creator Richard Gadd, who scooped an Emmy over the weekend for the smash hit, which has nonetheless been hugely controversial.

Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has said despite the complaint the occasional streamer is overstuffed with options, it can’t have too much content. “People often ask me if we need so many movies and TV shows on Netflix,” he said. “I always answer with an emphatic yes. People have such different and eclectic tastes that you can’t afford to program for just one sensibility. You have to love it all — prestige dramas, indie films, true crime, romantic comedies, stand-up, documentaries and reality TV.”

The streaming boss made the remarks at the Royal Television Society conference in London on Tuesday morning, where he gave an opening speech before being interviewed by journalist Kirsty Wark.

Among the lessons he shared with the audience, made primarily of TV industry professionals, were the need to innovate and always putting the audience first.

“Think about it not as critics, not as media executives, think...

Former BBC News presenter Huw Edwards has been handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children.

The 63-year-old said he was “profoundly sorry” for the “repugnant” images before he was sentenced Monday at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court in a case that has shocked the U.K.

He must also attend a sex offender rehabilitation program, of which there are 25 sessions in total. The suspended sentence means that Edwards will only serve jail time if he reoffends in the next two years.

The former newscaster was arrested in November and charged in July after he was found to have 41 indecent images of children sent to him by another man, a convicted pedophile, on WhatsApp.

The offenses are alleged to have taken place between 2020 and 2022. Seven of the photos were category A images, the most severe classification, two of which showed...

Huw Edwards, once the BBC’s highest-paid news anchor, has received a six-month suspended prison sentence and apologized for the “repugnant” nature of his offenses after pleading guilty to being in possession of child abuse images earlier this year.

Edwards, a 63-year-old presenter at the peak of his powers until last year, pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in July. During a hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Monday, he was sentenced.

Handing down the verdict, judge Paul Goldspring said Edwards’ prison sentence would be suspended for two years, meaning he will not go to jail. He was also ordered to undergo sex offender rehabilitation and will be placed on the sex offenders register for seven years. 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.

Huw Edwards’ sentencing hearing is less than a week away and BBC boss Tim Davie has been questioning whether the corporation did the right thing in paying him nearly £200,000 between his arrest in November 2023 and his leaving several months later.

Speaking to the Communications and Digital Committee this afternoon, the Director General questioned whether the BBC could have been “more muscular in the situation with regard to payment.”

He said several times that he has been “reflecting” on the situation, with the corporation having been criticized for keeping the now-disgraced former news anchor on the payroll for such a long time before he eventually left and was then charged. Edwards earned his biggest pay packet for five years last year.

“It wasn’t an easy decision, it was really difficult getting the balance right because the arrest had been made [in November 2023] and there were no charges,” said Davie. “I even looked at the gov.

BBC director general Tim Davie has said that the corporation has been “let down” by the scandals involving Huw Edwards and Jermaine Jenas.

In an email to staff, the BBC’s boss bemoaned a string of misconduct sagas, which have also embroiled Strictly Come Dancing, the broadcaster’s biggest show.

Davie told colleagues that it had been a “demanding” few months for the BBC, but lessons will be learned and the corporation’s workplace culture will be improved.

“The shocking news about Huw Edwards, and other stories concerning some of our high-profile shows, have put the BBC in the spotlight,” Davie said in an email.

“It can be challenging for us all when the BBC becomes the headline. We work for this wonderful organisation because we care about what it stands for and the role it plays in society. I know we have all felt let down and worried about the impact on the BBC.

David Beckham will address the great-and-the-good of the UK TV industry at next month’s Rts London, with Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy set to give her first major keynote in the role.

The footballing icon is the latest in a lineup bursting at the seams with big names. He will be in conversation with Sister boss Jane Featherstone at the King’s Place event.

Beckham, a former Manchester United and England great, is the co-founder of Studio 99, the company behind the likes of Save our Squad with David Beckham and Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything along with last year’s Netflix documentary about the man himself. At Edinburgh last week, a Victoria Beckham doc was unveiled, also produced by Studio 99 alongside Sister-backed Dorothy Street Pictures.

The Rts London’s theme is The Next Episode: Keeping Our Creative Edge and Beckham is part of the final tranche to...

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Charlotte Moore said at Edinburgh this afternoon when addressing the Huw Edwards scandal and whether the BBC could have done more.

The content boss said “the BBC did everything with the evidence it had at that time,” as she dealt with the recent revelation that the corporation was aware its former star news anchor had been arrested in November but then spent five more months on the BBC’s payroll. He pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children late last month and will be sentenced in a few weeks.

“We are all shocked at the revelations about Huw Edwards for everyone at the BBC and throughout the whole of the UK,” said Moore. “He’s really the villain of the piece and the victims are those poor children. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but the BBC did everything with the evidence it had at that time.

The Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer fired by the BBC following allegations that he had kicked his celebrity partner has given his first interview, saying that he never assaulted his partner, and that the “vile, false allegations had ruined his life in a matter of minutes.”

Graziano Di Prima was fired from the show after claims that he had assaulted television presenter Zara McDermott during rehearsals for last year’s season. The allegations included kicking, hitting and spitting, and Di Prima made a public apology on his departure, saying that his competitive training regime had sometimes led him to make mistakes.

This weekend, in an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper from his native Italy where he has returned to live, the dancer says:

The BBC will not tell him exactly what he is accused of, because of their obligations to maintain the confidentiality of other parties That he once kicked the floor in frustration,...

The BBC board has thrown its support behind executive decisions surrounding the Huw Edwards scandal, while also initiating steps to reclaim the presenter’s salary and commissioning an independent review of workplace culture.

In a statement released Friday, the board addressed the recent events involving Edwards, who pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children recently. The board reviewed the BBC’s handling of complaints and investigations prior to Edwards’ resignation on April 22, 2024.

“The board supports the decisions taken by the Director-General [Tim Davie] and his team during this period,” the statement read, citing considerations of legal obligations, available information, duty of care and public fund accountability.

In a notable move, the board has authorized executives to pursue the return of Edwards’ salary from the time of his arrest in November 2023. “Mr. Edwards pleaded guilty to an appalling crime,” the board stated. “Had he been up front when asked by the BBC about his arrest,...

Disgraced former news anchor Huw Edwards has been asked to pay the BBC back his 200,000 pound ($255,000) salary after pleading guilty to making indecent images of children.

Edwards, who led landmark coverage for the BBC, including its announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death and the London 2012 Olympics, was arrested in November — a development only shared with the public late July — and charged last month. On July 31, he made his pleas during a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in the U.K. capital.

The offenses are alleged to have taken place between 2020 and 2022. Edwards admitted having 41 indecent images of children, sent to him by another man on WhatsApp. This included seven category A images, the most severe classification, two of which showed a child between 7 and 9, the court heard.

The BBC suspended Edwards in July last year, over allegations, also made by The Sun, that he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos.

The BBC Board has asked Huw Edwards to repay the salary he earned from when he was arrested last November, amounting to around £200,000, while saying he has “brought us into disrepute.”

Issuing a statement in the past few minutes, the board, which is chaired by Samir Shah, said: “Mr Edwards pleaded guilty to an appalling crime. Had he been up front when asked by the BBC about his arrest, we would never have continued to pay him public money. He has clearly undermined trust in the BBC and brought us into disrepute.”

The BBC was forced to reveal recently that a small number of senior leaders including Director General Tim Davie were aware Edwards was arrested last November over three counts of making indecent images of children. He was charged several months later and pled guilty last week. Davie subsequently said the BBC was not hiding evidence about him but...

The young man whose communications with former news anchor Huw Edwards began the fall from grace of one of the BBC’s best known faces, has broken his silence and given his first interview – detailing how he felt he was groomed and exploited by Edwards, and that on one occasion his parents pretended to be him to arrange a meet-up, and videoed the presenter arriving at the rendezvous.

The man, now 21, has not been named in his interview with the UK’s Mirror newspaper. In the interview, he details:

He was aged 17 and sleeping rough, having fallen out with his parents when he first messaged the high-profile news anchor. He says that Edwards then deposited some money in his PayPal account, but what started as a friendship soon changed in tone: “He knew I needed the money. I felt like I was being groomed.” The man admits sending X-rated messages...

A Doctor Who episode co-starring Huw Edwards has been removed from BBC iPlayer after the news anchor pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.

Fans are also calling for the 62-year-old’s scene in James Bond film Skyfall to be cut as Edwards, once the BBC’s highest-paid news presenter, was arrested in November — a development only shared with the public this week — and charged last month. On Wednesday, he made his pleas during a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in the U.K. capital.

The offenses are alleged to have taken place between 2020 and 2022. Edwards admitted to having 41 indecent images of children, sent to him by a convicted pedophile called Alex Williams on WhatsApp. This included seven category A images, the most severe classification, two of which showed a child between seven and nine, the court heard.

In the Doctor Who episode, which aired in 2006, David Tennant...

The BBC has removed a “Doctor Who” episode featuring former newsreader Huw Edwards from its iPlayer service, while a mural of him has been painted over in his home village, BBC News reports.

Upon accessing iPlayer, Variety discovered that the 2022 and 2023 dessert finals of “The Great British Menu,” where Edwards appeared as a judge, have also been removed.

These actions come in the wake of Edwards admitting to possessing indecent images of children.

The “Doctor Who” episode, “Fear Her,” was part of David Tennant’s debut season as the Doctor in 2006. Edwards’ voice, playing himself, can be heard during a news program that’s part of the episode.

In a statement to Variety, the BBC said: “An episode of ‘Doctor Who’ has been temporarily removed from BBC iPlayer to be re-dubbed.”

“As you would expect we are actively considering the availability of our archive. While we don’t routinely delete...

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Huw Edwards Scandal

Huw Edwards

Dramatic scenes in the courtroom: There was an audible gasp in the packed Westminster Magistrates courtroom when ex-newsreader Huw Edwards, being seen in public for the first time in almost a year, pled guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children, including seven incidences of the most serious count involving minors. Max arrived at the court early doors to see a media throng gather for what was undoubtedly one of the most high-profile court appearances of the year. Edwards came in through the front, appearing to remain calm and wearing dark sunglasses, and our man had to do a double take as he walked right past Edwards aside his lawyer once they had entered the building.

Huw Edwards is facing growing pressure to return his salary to the BBC after pleading guilty this week to accessing indecent images of children.

Lisa Nandy, the UK culture secretary, said the former newsreader should hand back around £200,000 of his pay to the BBC following his dramatic fall from grace.

Edwards was arrested in November 2023 but remained on the BBC payroll until his resignation in April 2024. He was suspended during this period.

“I think he ought to return his salary,” Nandy told Sky News. “I think having been arrested on such serious charges all the way back in November, to continue to receive that salary all the way through until he resigned is wrong and it’s not a good use of taxpayers’ money. I think most people in the country will agree with that but whether he does that or not is up to him.”

‘I am very concerned...

Huw Edwards’ ex-colleagues are publically rounding on the former BBC News anchor after he pleaded guilty to charges of making indecent images of children.

A steady trickle of BBC presenters have spoken out about Edwards’ dramatic fall from grace in recent days, with some noting their shock at the conduct of a man they once considered a trusted ally.

Those who have made their views known include Nicky Campbell, the seasoned Radio 5 Live presenter, and Nicholas Witchell, the recently departed BBC royal correspondent, who sat next to Edwards during coverage of the Queen’s death and other national moments.

On Twitter/X, Campbell wrote: “Let’s think about the children in these images. Callously exploited and psychologically destroyed. They are not images. They are humans who will live with this forever and all for the twisted pleasure of the disgusting men who trade and swap this misery.”

Witchell, the former royal correspondent,...

The U.K. government has “raised concerns” with the BBC after Huw Edwards, once the broadcaster’s highest-paid news anchor and most recognizable presenter, pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children earlier this week.

The 62-year-old, who led landmark coverage for the BBC, including its announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s death and the London 2012 Olympics, was arrested in November — a development only shared with the public this week — and charged last month. On Wednesday, he made his pleas during a brief hearing at Westminster Magistrates Court in the U.K. capital.

The offenses are alleged to have taken place between 2020 and 2022. Edwards admitted having 41 indecent images of children, sent to him by another man on WhatsApp. This included seven category A images, the most severe classification, two of which showed a child between seven and nine, the court heard.

The Metropolitan Police also revealed the man who sent the...

A group of 200 Jewish staffers, contributors and suppliers to the BBC have been left frustrated by what they deem the corporation’s failure to launch a formal investigation into “systemic problems of antisemitism and bias” within the organization.

Led by 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room EP Neil Grant, the group sent a letter to BBC Board members and Chair Samir Shah on July 19 describing their “anguish and disbelief because we fear we have now exhausted the process of raising our very serious concerns about anti-Jewish racism with BBC Management.”

The group also sent the board members what they describe as a non-exhaustive list of social media breaches and “impartiality breaches in matters of public controversy relating to Israel and Gaza,” broadcast mistakes that “suggest bias,” and an account from anonymous sources “of the fear and mental health toll on Jewish BBC staff, their feelings of isolation and alienation...

The BBC is not hiding evidence about the conduct of disgraced presenter Huw Edwards, according to director general Tim Davie.

In an interview with BBC News, Davie said the corporation is “not sitting on anything that I think we need to share with the police, or is of a serious nature that would make me feel that we hadn’t followed up properly.”

His comments come as fresh claims have been published about Edwards’ interactions with colleagues, while pressure is mounting on the BBC to be transparent about the outcome of an internal “fact-finding” investigation into the news anchor’s conduct.

BBC News reported on Thursday that Edwards sent suggestive messages to an employee, including a picture of his hotel suite in Windsor at the time of Prince Philip’s funeral. A “whistleblower” told BBC News that they gave evidence to the internal inquiry but the findings had been “swept under the carpet.

The BBC’s director general Tim Davie has addressed the corporation’s handling of the Huw Edwards case.

In an interview Thursday to BBC News, Davie maintained that the BBC acted appropriately when it chose not to terminate Edwards’ employment after learning of his arrest in November 2023.

Davie revealed that the BBC was informed of the arrest’s connection to indecent images of children but lacked specific details beyond the category of potential offenses. The executive stated that BBC leadership was unaware of the ages of the children involved in the images.

The director general underlined that the BBC’s decision to withhold information about the potential charges was at the request of law enforcement. He cited the need to balance police cooperation with the organization’s duty of care.

Davie also confirmed that, to his knowledge, the BBC does not possess any additional evidence related to the case that...

The UK’s new Culture Secretary will meet BBC Director General Tim Davie as early as today to discuss the fallout of the Huw Edwards scandal.

With the BBC veering from one crisis – Strictly Come Dancing – to another, with Edwards’ guilty plea yesterday morning, Lisa Nandy will drill into what the BBC knew when, we understand, along with the £200,000 question – why did the BBC continue paying Edwards after it found out he had been arrested?

Following the former chief news anchor’s shock guilty plea to three counts of making indecent images of children, including the most serious category, the BBC was finally forced into breaking its silence and acknowledging it was aware Edwards had been arrested last November, and yet continued to pay him for a further five months. He earned his biggest pay packet for five years last year, and would have taken home around £200,000 during that five-month period,...

Watching Huw Edwards take his place in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning was a surreal experience.

The man who was once the BBC’s highest paid news anchor, earning a salary almost on par with the corporation’s director general Tim Davie, cut a pathetic, solitary figure behind the glass panels of the dock. His voice was impassive as he stated his name, age and partial address.

It was equally impassive when, to everyone’s surprise, Edwards pled guilty to all three counts of “making indecent images of children.” So shocked was I to hear his first guilty plea that my hands froze over my keyboard as I was furiously making notes of the proceedings, my ears straining to ensure I’d heard correctly as he again pleaded guilty to the second charge and finally to the third.

In the U.K., the offense of “making...

Love Island, The Traitors, Love Is Blind: they’re so popular, they’ve gone global. Reality TV is an ever-evolving beast that can guarantee hefty viewership with the promise of drama. But show bosses in the U.K. are facing an influx of concerns surrounding the welfare of their contestants and crew. A two-pronged problem has emerged.

On Tuesday last week, the BBC confirmed a myriad of welfare measures are to be put in place on its beloved dance competition series Strictly Come Dancing — watched by an average of 6.6 million people per episode in 2023 — after two former professionals on the show had exited following allegations of “gross misconduct.”

Tim Davie, the broadcaster’s director-general, issued an apology as the company’s annual report was released. Though he did not refer to any specific competitors or employees, he spoke about “a degree of competitiveness, hard work and will to do...

“Sherlock” actor Amanda Abbington says she is suffering from Ptsd and still struggles to talk about her experience after taking part in BBC primetime dance competition “Strictly Come Dancing.”

Recounting her experience with professional dancer Giovanni Pernice on last year’s series, whom she accuses of bullying and abuse, Abbington told Channel 4 News: “When I talk about certain aspects of what happened in the room, I do cry, I do get emotional, I do shake. Because it was awful.”

Abbington appeared on the 21st season of the show (which is known as “Dancing With the Stars” in the U.S.), before withdrawing after five episodes. At the time she cited unspecified medical reasons.

The actor has since admitted that while a medical incident was the final straw, her experience with Pernice was “abusive” and “cruel,” leading to her pulling out.

“I went into thinking this is going to be hard work,...

Amanda Abbington, the Sherlock actress who has sparked a duty of care scandal on Strictly Come Dancing, has criticized the BBC’s handling of her concerns.

In an emotional 45-minute interview with Channel 4 News, Abbington accused the BBC of failing to take seriously her complaint about dance partner Giovanni Pernice, who strongly denies wrongdoing.

The actress, who appeared on Strictly last year, claimed that the BBC is sitting on 50 hours of footage, which producers have acknowledged to her is problematic.

On Tuesday, BBC director general Tim Davie apologized to Strictly contestants who have not had a positive experience on the show. The corporation is currently investigating Abbington’s complaint.

Abbington said she complained to producers about Pernice in her first week on the show, which is known as Dancing With The Stars in the U.S.

She said BBC Studios producers decided to film the couple’s rehearsals so...

Exclusive: The British producer calling for an unscripted TV tax credit is planning on taking his blueprint to the broadcasters and organizing a letter to new Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

Derek Drennan’s petition for the new credit has been signed by more than 150 execs via LinkedIn as Deadline goes to press.

The Nest Productions founder and former Lime Pictures exec told us that a tax credit for factual, reality and entertainment shows regardless of budget would be “massive” for an industry that is “struggling to fully fund projects.” “I am working across 10 projects at the moment that are all deficit financed and I just think if we had access to a tax credit then we would have these programs so much more quickly,” he said.

Drennan cited an unscripted project he is working on, Paramount+’s Rylan Clark-hosted Dating Naked in Colombia, which has benefitted from credits abroad.