In light of the recent beheadings of American journalists by the terrorist group ISIS, BBC has edited a portion of "Doctor Who's" upcoming episode out of respect.
The time-traveling third episode in "Doctor Who's" eighth season takes the new Doctor, Peter Capaldi, and his companion to medieval England, and revolves around the confrontation between the legendary Robin Hood and the sheriff of Notingham. That confrontation climaxed with an on-screen beheading.
This will no longer be the case. A BBC spokeswoman told the Guardian that the scene has been modified.
"In light of recent news events, we have made an edit to episode three out of respect," she told the newspaper. The scene was filmed back in February.
Two American journalists, Steven Sotloff and James Foley, were executed by the Islamic extremist group in the last several weeks. The group posted videos of the beheadings online. The executions carry special significance to the U.K., as it is believed the ISIS executioner appearing in the videos is from Britain. A British citizen is also being threatened to be next in line for execution by the terror organization.
It is unclear exactly what the nature of the edits to the episode will be. It may be as simple as showing the execution off screen, though.
The first episode of season eight premiered in 12 U.S. cities on midnight of Aug. 23, with two more showings on Aug. 25 across an additional 550 theaters throughout the country.
The launch broke ratings records both in the U.K. and in the United States. More than 2.2 million viewers tuned in for the show's premiere, a big jump from the 1.56 million viewers who watched the season seven premiere in Sept. 2012. When coupled with the premiere of BBC America's "Intruders," which also premiered the same night, Aug. 23 was the network's highest-rated Saturday night ever. More than 6.79 million viewers tuned in for the premiere in the U.K., making the season eighth premiere the biggest "Doctor Who" opening since 2010.
Capaldi's new Doctor is much older than the previous incarnation, with Matt Smith being the 11th and the youngest actor to ever portray the character on screen. Judging from the trailers released for the season so far, Capaldi's take on the Doctor might also be one of the darker and more serious ones yet.
