London,

Photo:
Controversial reporter John Sweeney in his Scientology rant from a previous programme

[John Sweeney, ranting] BBC slur on my ‘big fat Nazi’ wedding

IT WAS hardly a conventional wedding. The bride was in a 1940s Bavarian dress –
and the groom wore the uniform of a Second World
War German army doctor.

Guests were in Nazi outfits too, dressed as the generals and officers who served Hitler‘s military machine.

And during the ceremony, which took place in
July [2007] at the very British location of a Kent farm, the German national anthem
Deutschland über Alles was played.

Or so you might think if you had seen an edition of BBC1’s Panorama last month. The programme, entitled Weekend Nazis, was made by controversial reporter John Sweeney, who referred to the nuptials as a ‘big fat Nazi wedding’.

Last night, however,
the BBC was at the centre of new allegations
that it had misled viewers after the groom
claimed it wrongly portrayed him as a Nazi
sympathiser.

In fact, Nick Beardshaw is simply a member of a Second World War reenactment society.
And yesterday he took the BBC to task for the way
Panorama presented his wedding to his
German-born wife Michaela.

Mr Beardshaw, 38, said that when viewers heard
Deutschland über Alles during the ceremony, it had been dubbed on by the BBC.

The new Mrs Beardshaw, also 38, was actually given away to the tune of the American forces’ favourite I’ll Be With You In Apple Blossom
Time.

Her husband is also angry that although shots of the guests in Nazi uniforms were used, those in
British and U.S. outfits were not featured.

The programme was filmed at a festival near
Tonbridge attended by Second World War re-
enactment groups, many in Nazi regalia. The
Beardshaws’ wedding took place on the same weekend and was attended by many of the festival’s guests.

Mr Beardshaw, an aquarium guide from Hull, is a member of the Axis Forces Re-enactment
Association.

He met his wife, who is originally from
Recklinghausen, near Essen, at a re-enactment show two years ago.

Mr Beardshaw said
Panorama had invaded his privacy because
he thought he was taking part in a programme
about the swastika being banned by the
EU.

He claims that when he realised what the programme was about he asked for the footage not to be used.

He denied he is sympathetic to Nazi beliefs or has any link with neo-Nazi groups and has complained to the BBC and broadcasting watchdog
Ofcom about the programme.

He said: “The title of the programme was
Weekend Nazis, and it was saying of anyone who was included in the programme, “That’s what you are”. I found it very offensive.”

The row comes two months after the BBC was forced to apologise to the Queen over doctored footage which made it appear that she had stormed out of a photo shoot. That programme is still the subject of an internal investigation and may never be shown.

It also comes just months after Mr Sweeney was told off by BBC bosses for screaming at a
Scientology representative during filming for another Panorama programme.

The BBC said of the Weekend Nazis
programme: “We make plain in the programme that the overwhelming majority of German re- enactors have no interest or sympathy or sympathy with Nazi ideology.”

BBC sources say the footage of the wedding, which made up about two minutes of the programme, was not manipulated and that incidental music had been used throughout.

John Sweeney reported
on BBC1 at 8.30pm: “Weekend Nazis”
David
Irving’s Books Weekend
Nazis have ways to make you shiver