Disgraced BBC News presenter Huw Edwards edited out of Doctor Who episode as new version uploaded to iPlayer

The BBC took steps to remove the 2006 episode ‘Fear Her’ from the iPlayer last August, which featured a short scene involving the shamed former newscaster, after Edwards admitted to having indecent images of children last year. The star pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children during his trial last summer and was given a six-month suspended prison sentence and was placed on the sec offenders’ register.

The Doctor Who episode, which sees David Tennant’s Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) travel forward six years to the 2012 London Olympic Games, had been missing from the BBC’s back catalogue on the iPlayer since August. It has now been restored, with Edwards completely cut out of the show and replaced with another actor.

In the series two episode, Edwards’ voice could be heard in speaking over a BBC news report in which 80,000 stadium spectators vanish, linked to the mystery that The Doctor and Rose are investigating in the episode. The presenter could be heard speaking over footage of the crowd vanishing: “My God, what's going on here? The crowd has just vanished, right in front of my eyes. It's impossible. Bob, can we go to you in the box? Bob? Not you too?”

He has now been replaced by voice actress Becky Wright, with same tweaks made to the commentary. The actress can be heard saying: “My God, what's going on here? The crowd has vanished, they're gone, everyone has gone. Thousands of people have just gone, right in front of my eyes, it's impossible. Bob? Bob, can we join you in the box? Not you too Bob...”

After The Doctor and Rose save the day, Wright can be heard again saying: “Look at this, utterly incredible scenes at the Olympic Stadium. 80,000 athletes and spectators, they disappeared, they've come back. They've returned, they've reappeared. It's quite incredible.”

The ‘Fear Her’ episode also features a new disclaimer on its iPlayer page, letting fans know that the episode has been edited. The disclaimer reads: “This programme has been edited since broadcast. There are a number of reasons why a programme may have been edited including legal, contractual or technical issues.”