Broadcaster defends decision for additional episode to appear on iPlayer only

The BBC has denied that its decision not to broadcast an episode of Silverback’s upcoming David Attenborough-fronted BBC1 series Wild Isles is due to political reasons.

Wild Isles, which explores the behaviours of wildlife in the UK, will begin airing on Sunday.

When the series was announced by the BBC last year it said five episodes had been commissioned. 

Today the Guardian suggested a sixth episode was not being aired over “fears its themes of the destruction of nature would risk a backlash from Tory politicians and the right wing press”.

However the BBC insisted that the sixth film was always intended to stand apart from the other five episodes and was never intended for linear broadcast.

“Wild Isles consists of five episodes: Our Precious Isles, Woodland, Grassland, Freshwater and Ocean,” a spokesperson told Broadcast.

“Saving Our Wild Isles is a separate film inspired by the series that was commissioned by the RSPB and WWF. We’ve acquired it for iPlayer.”

The BBC announced the commission of the 5 x 60-minute David Attenborough-fronted wildlife series in August, with Silverback co-producing with The Open University and wildlife charities the RSPB and WWF.

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