Remember my ranty complaint letter which I sent to the BBC (I think you have to be on my feminist filter to read it)? I sent it ages ago and ticked the box asking for a response, but I wasn’t really expecting one.
It turned up today. On the whole it had a conciliatory tone and they did agree to make some changes – I have a feeling they had quite a few complaints about this.
Dear Ms ****
Thanks for your e-mail regarding ‘The Tudors’ broadcast on the 5 September.
I understand you felt the programme was offensive and inappropriate. I note
that this episode put you off watching the series.
‘The Tudors’ is a modern and exciting take on the story of Henry VIII and
his reign, dealing with the monarch’s younger and wilder years, and
deliberately takes a different approach to previous conventional historical
dramas.
We were careful from the outset to forewarn viewers to the adult content
and the general tone of this lavish series, and scheduled it after the
watershed, with trailer campaigns and appropriate pre-transmission
announcements which highlighted the series’ sexual content.
We’re sorry that you were offended by the scene of rape in the programme,
and on reflection we agree that the content is not best described as
“scenes of a sexual nature”, and we’ll amend the pre-transmission
announcement for its future showings to reflect the scene of sexual
violence.
I’d like to assure you that we’ve registered your comments on our audience
log. This is the internal report of audience feedback which we compile
daily for the programme makers and also their senior management. It ensures
that your points, and all other comments we receive, are circulated and
considered across the BBC.
Thanks again for taking the time to contact us with your concerns.
Regards
***** ********
BBC Complaints
A few points I want to make:
- I noted the way they used the word lavish – like they wanted me to know that they spent lots of money on this series, like somehow that will change my opinion
- I am mildly irritated that they called it a ‘modern’ take and that for some reason in their eyes modern = rape scenes
- I’m also really angry that despite my complaint, they still continually refer to the scenes I objected to as ‘sexual content’ – when it’s obvious I don’t agree, it’s like they just read it as a complaint and didn’t bother to note the specifics of the actual wording
- However, I am REALLY glad that they will be amending the pre transmission announcements, I’m surprised they’ve listened to me at all – but I’m annoyed that they didn’t actually tell me what they are amending it to
Nakedfaery 