The media watchdog has decided not to investigate a Fireman Sam episode that was accused of showing a character stepping on verses from the Qu’ran despite 170 complaints.
Ofcom said it had analysed the scene on the Channel 5 show in the “highest possible resolution”, finding that while the writing appeared to be in Arabic, it could not be read or identified as coming from a specific text.
A spokesperson said: “We received a number of complaints about a character appearing to trip on a piece of paper that might have contained text from the Qur’an. After careful assessment, we won’t be investigating.
“We studied a recording of the programme in the highest possible resolution. We found that the page did appear to contain Arabic text, but its contents could not have been deciphered, nor recognised as being from a given text.”
In episode seven, series nine of the popular children’s animation, a character carrying a tray of hot drinks slips after tripping on some paper on the floor of the fire station. Several sheets fly into the air, one of which appears to be covered with Arabic script.
Channel 5 subsequently removed the episode from its streaming service and HIT Entertainment, which produced the show, apologised “unreservedly” to viewers and said it had cut ties with the animation studio responsible.
While the number of complaints to Ofcom were high at 170, the BBC received more than 1,000 about the show despite not airing it.
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