Saturday, November 23, 2024

Huw Edwards’s Doctor Who episode purged from iPlayer

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A Doctor Who episode featuring Huw Edwards has been purged from iPlayer after the presenter pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children.

The former News at Ten host appeared as himself in the 2005 episode of the science fiction series, starring Billie Piper and David Tennant.

The instalment, called ‘Fear Her’, has been removed from iPlayer following Edwards’s guilty plea on Wednesday.

In it, an unseen Edwards provides background commentary on strange goings-on inside the London Olympic Stadium, delivering lines including: “The crowd has vanished! Er, they’re gone. Everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone. Right in front of my eyes.”

After the Doctor himself picks up the Olympic torch, Edwards’s voice is heard through an on-screen television saying: “There’s a mystery man. He’s picked up the flame. We’ve no idea who he is.

“It’s more than a flame now, Bob. It’s more than heat and light. It’s hope, and it’s courage, and it’s love.”

Other content featuring Edwards remains on iPlayer, including his announcement of the Queen’s death in 2022.

Edwards was the third highest-paid presenter at the BBC, according to the corporation’s latest annual accounts, and received a £40,000 pay rise while suspended following reports last year that he had paid £35,000 for explicit but not illegal images of a young man.

He never returned to TV screens. In February, the BBC apologised for its handling of the allegations. In April, the presenter left the broadcaster on medical advice.

Edwards was charged on June 26, without police publicising the fact, before appearing at Westminster magistrates’ court on Wednesday.

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