Little Britain removed from streaming platforms

I'd like to say I can't believe there's so many people out there demanding to be allowed to watch things with racist stereotypes and the n-word, but in reality looking at the state of today's world, I'm not suprised.

It's not about them 'being too tight' - the cost of clearing music could make the difference between it being profitable to release a series on DVD and making a loss. That's before considering whether they'd even get permission. For some tracks they would simply be refused or they'd be ridiculously expensive.


The blanket agreements for broadcast use make things easier - although there are some exceptions which still need special permission. If seeing a programme 'as broadcast' is that important to you and the programme on is a FTA channel, then it's pretty easy to capture it - as a file - and keep it that way.

I think a sensible move is to reassess contentious content and then reupload it with a warning/historical context.

However, the cynic is me does think that maybe Gone With the Wind's removal from HBO Max was potentially to garner publicity for a recently launched service. Or at least in doing what was right, the publicity was deemed to have done the service no harm.

Or have two versions available to view on streaming platforms.

An uncut version (with warnings) and possible pin code access, and a censored version with all the bits removed that are deemed offensive.

When the protesters were saying they would keep protesting until stuff changes, I did wonder what they were expecting to happen to declare that they have won, and the protests can end, as its not exactly a demand for a specific situation to occur (Unlike 'stop brexit' where its clear the outcome is either for it to be stopped, or for it to actually happen so it can't be stopped)

It seems that this lack of a physical thing to latch onto is why the attention has been turned to statues and TV programmes, so If all offending materials removed then presumably racism will have been eradicated. I think its basically a distraction and I imagine very few instances of racism are caused by the presence of a statue in Bristol or an old episode of a 70s sitcom.

Thanks for posting that, it's well worth watching to gain some insight in to the consequences of some of what has been discussed here.

Yes that's what I was afraid of.

But seriously, I'm not going to continue debating with people who are furiously defending their right to have a chuckle at the N word and cancelling their BritBox subscriptions because it won't give them their fix of racial slurs.

While this debate is essential, I don't enjoy feeling this angry with a site I have enjoyed for 19 years. With that in mind I'm stepping away from the forum for a while.

All I will say is, to the more reasoned members of the forum (many of whom I respect even if they have disagreed with me here) I would ask that you really consider your position of privilege before eye rolling this away as politically correctness gone mad.

Oh get over yourself!

Personally I could not care less what you think.

I've already explained my position as to 'purity'. if you choose to misinterpret that (as you clearly have), that is your problem.

Note: As someone who suffered four long years of severe discrimination and bullying in my School years in the 90's for being 'different', I am not taking lectures from you regarding 'standards' - as I full well know what it is like to be on the receiving end.

However I don't agree that those attitudes should be swept under the carpet as if they never existed. How can people learn from past mistakes if the past is not there to see?

Seems to me that once again by concentrating on some things from the past which ultimately won't change anything the media is avoiding tackling the things in the present and future that ultimately do matter.

Remember we are on a forum where people will record which news reporters were hosting on a certain day. It's not surprising that some members like to be completist.

I've just watched offending episode of Fawlty Towers on Netflix. It's still in there, unedited, 'N' word and all.

This is nothing to do with people wanting to watch 'racist programming'.

All people have said is: programmes made years ago will be bound to include references which by today's standards seem unsavoury since attitudes change over time.

This should not mean that programmes are reviewed decades later and gradually edited down over time (or taken down completely) to suit the current climate.

Wanting to preserve television and film, entirely unedited, as it was meant to be seen, is not racist.