Thursday, June 14, 2001

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media Diary

ITV swore blind that its decision to edit all mention of Dambuster Guy Gibson's famous black labrador, Nigger, out of its latest airing of The Dambusters hadn't elicited a single complaint from viewers.

Strangely, a glance through the LWT duty log of viewers' calls on the day in question suggests otherwise. It lists a string of complaints about the censoring, including one from a 38-year-old black man who said he was more offended by the overdubbing of the dog's name than if it had been included. He added: "This film is based on fact; you can't go changing history just to make white do-gooders feel better. Political correctness is a disease and for a television company to succumb is pathetic."

Missing dog

SIR -- Your report on the cutting of Guy Gibson's dog's name -- Nigger -- from The Dam Busters (June 12) demonstrated correctness at its worst. ITV claimed it it had yet to receive any complaints, but it was either lying or had not read its emails: I sent a complaint about two hours after watching the film. Will ITV now censor Shakespeare and Dickens?

Prof. M M R Williams
Croydon, Surrey

Related items on this website: a free book

 Dambusters 'offensive' dog cut by censor

 David Irving: The Night the Dams Burst

 Letters to this website:

Sir -- No surprise to learn that Nigger's name had been censored from a recent showing of 'The Dambusters'. As a young cadet, I visited RAF Scampton in 1976, and was shown Nigger's grave, in front of what was then still 617's hangar. I would be interested to know if it is still there. Still, it could be worse . . . just watch 'Pearl Harbor'! When the radio ads begin: "Ignore the critics--" you know something isn't right! -- Gary Cartwright

Just for your interest, the movie Dam Busters was shown on Australian T.V. in Melbourne on the 16th with the name of the dog Nigger included without edit. -- Doug Lakeman