Doctors and whistleblowers who featured in a much-delayed Gaza documentary that the BBC was accused of censoring by Susan Sarandon, Gary Lineker and other cultural figures, are threatening to withdraw their consent due to the continued refusal to broadcast the film.
This month it emerged that the BBC had shelved broadcasting Gaza: Medics Under Fire, which was ready to air in February, until it finishes investigating a separate, unrelated film called Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which was pulled from iPlayer after it emerged its young narrator was the son of a Hamas official.
An open letter about the delay was sent to the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, by more than 600 signatories – including Harriet Walter, Miriam Margolyes, Maxine Peake and Juliet Stevenson – claiming: “This is not editorial caution. It’s political suppression.
“No news organisation should quietly decide behind closed doors whose stories are worth telling. This important film should be seen by the public, and its contributors’ bravery honoured.”
With some BBC staff now concerned at how politically sensitive the issue has become, the Guardian has learned that some of the contributors to Gaza: Medics Under Fire – some of whom likely took risks to talk to Basement Films, the company that made the programme – are now considering withdrawing the consent they gave for their appearances to be used.
In addition, other broadcasters and platforms have offered to air the documentary instead but that move has been vetoed by the corporation.
Despite the programme being cleared for broadcast and passed by lawyers who ensure it complies with broadcasting codes and guidelines, it is understood the BBC is now asking for changes to it and says it will not show the film until the completion of an internal review being carried out by its director of editorial complaints, Peter Johnston, into Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone.
However, it is not known when that will be as insiders claim the main interviews only took place last week and lawyers are involved. “People are sick of the whole thing,” said one source.
The issue is particularly contentious for the BBC news and current affairs division as the Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone documentary was so high-profile that the head of BBC News attended its press screening. So when the chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, said in March that the failings of that film were a “dagger to the heart” of the BBC’s claims of trustworthiness and impartiality, it made staff nervous.
Meanwhile, in response to the BBC’s decision to continue delaying its medics film, Basement Films – which was founded by a former editor of Channel 4 News Ben de Pear – is now running films from other doctors in Gaza on its social media.
A spokesperson for Basement Films said: “We apologise again to those who trusted us with their stories … Understandably many of the contributors and those who filmed for us in Gaza are starting to reconsider their consent for the film now it is months delayed, despite being signed off and lauded by some senior management at BBC News.
“We have many offers from broadcasters and platforms across the world so that the searing testimonies of Gazan medics and of surviving family members can be heard, in some cases eight months after we spoke to them … We are still urging BBC News to do the right thing.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “We have taken an editorial decision not to broadcast this documentary while we have an ongoing review into a previous documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. We understand the importance of telling these stories and know that the current process is difficult for those involved.”
