BBC Pulls ‘University Challenge’ Christmas Episode After Complaints From Disabled Contestants
The BBC has pulled a University Challenge Christmas special episode from its festive schedule following complaints by two disabled contestants.
According to BBC News, one blind and one neurodivergent contestant took part in the episode – which features teams of distinguished alumni who compete on behalf of their former universities – but it won’t air following grievances over a lack of audio description and subtitles. The contestants have not been named.
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One of the contestants was quoted by BBC News saying the experience was “distressing” and the other “overwhelming and overstimulating.” The first said they were told one minute before the show that there would be no audio description and “your captain will instead have to explain everything,” according to the BBC News article, while the second claimed a request for subtitles made in advance was turned down.
The decision was made today to pull the episode of the iconic BBC quiz, which is hosted by Amol Rajan. The rest of the spin-off series will go ahead as planned.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an episode in the upcoming series of Alumni University Challenge will not be broadcast because two of the contestants felt their access requirements were not sufficiently met by the production.
“We are working closely with producers to improve cross industry access on our programmes to ensure a consistent approach is implemented. We would like to apologise to the individuals and teams concerned, and they have been written to personally by the producers.”
ITV Studios-backed Lifted Entertainment, which produces University Challenge, confirmed that the contestants “requested that certain adjustments be made in order for them to be able to fully participate” during the pre-filming briefing.
“However, following the recording, we were made aware that the adjustments made fell short of their requirements. We have spoken to the individuals involved and offered our sincere apologies,” added Lifted. “Having listened very carefully to their descriptions of their experiences, we agreed with the BBC that the fairest course of action was not to screen this particular edition.”
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