The BBC have been hit by a record number of complaints after more than 110,000 angry viewers hit out at their coverage of Prince Philip's death.
After news broke of the Duke of Edinburgh's passing at the age of 99 at lunchtime on Friday, the BBC abruptly ended an episode of Bargain Hunt and crossed straight to a breaking news special.
And the aftermath of Prince Philip's death dominated the BBC1 and BBC2 schedules for the rest of the day, with the BBC announcing: "With the sad news that HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, has died, there is now special coverage across all BBC networks to mark his life of extraordinary public service and planned scheduling has been suspended.”
Among the programmes cancelled were The One Show, EastEnders and the Masterchef final, with the axing of the latter causing a particular stir amongst viewers.
And now, just as the BBC confirm when the Masterchef final will air, it has been revealed by The Sun that the broadcaster has been the target of 110,994 complaints about how they handled the Duke's death, with many licence holders hitting out at the decision to cancel so many shows in the aftermath.
Reacting to news of the complaints, one viewer tweeted: "the same coverage was on bbc1 and bbc2 (and most bbc radio too!) at the same time.. I can understand the complaints.. maybe use just one channel?"
But another posted: "TV channels can't win. Channel 4 got blasted for not concentrating on Prince Philip death on Friday, now the BBC has received the most complaints ever for doing to much coverage on his death! Why is the UK so confused?"
The previous record for BBC complaints was held by Jerry Springer: The Opera when 63,000 viewers complained about the channel's decision to air the controversial show following criticism from Christian groups.
