BBC announced that it has removed a “beheading scene” from Saturday’s episode of Doctor Who in light of the recent killings of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

Doctor Who Cuts Beheading Scene Out Of Respect

ISIS jihadists released a video on Tuesday, Sept. 2, showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff. The video came on the heels of a similar video depicting the execution of fellow journalist James Foley.

In light of these horrific events, BBC has decided not to air a fictional beheading scene in Saturday night’s episode of Doctor Who. “In light of recent news events, we have made an edit to episode three out of respect,” BBC said in a statement.

The episode, titled “Robot of Sherwood,” is the third episode of this season, which introduced Peter Capaldi as the newest incarnation of the Doctor. The episode was shot in February and follows the Doctor as he travels to medieval England, where he comes face to face with Robin Hood. While the exact nature of the scene or footage being edited is unknown, reports suggest that the BBC only cut a few seconds of footage, suggesting that the on-screen beheading was not a big part of the original episode.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.