BBC to airbrush Huw Edwards’ voice from Doctor Who episode after the disgraced paedophile had a cameo as a news commentator
Disgraced BBC presenter Huw Edwards is set to be edited out of the Doctor Who episode he featured in from 2006.
Edwards, 62, was arrested on suspicion of receiving indecent images of children via a WhatsApp exchange with paedophile Alex Williams, 25, in November 2023. He was charged this year on June 26.
The details were revealed on Monday after the date of his first court appearance was released by Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
The former presenter had a cameo as a news commentator in the episode Fear Her, which sees a girl terrorised by a demonic version of her late father.
Edwards’ voice can be heard during the episode, in which actor David Tennant played the Time Lord.
Bosses are reportedly anticipated to replace the words spoken by Edwards with a different actor’s voice.
Huw Edwards is set to be edited out of the Doctor Who episode he featured in from 2006
- Edwards’ voice can be heard during the episode, in which actor David Tennant (pictured) played the Time Lord
A source told the Mirror: ‘It’s going to be hard for the BBC to airbrush Huw out of the news events he covered, but the Doctor Who episode should be straightforward.’
It comes after the news that the BBC are unlikely to completely erase Edwards from its archive, as some moments presented by the disgraced news anchor have ‘historical significance’.
However, some of Edwards’ documentaries and voice-overs are in the process of being removed, one staffer confirmed.
And, access to prominent videos of Edwards, including his Christmas duet with Sir Tom Jones in 2013 and an appearance on the comedy panel show Would I Lie To You?, will need to be addressed.
The former anchorman has pleaded guilty to receiving 41 indecent images of children, which included two sexual videos of a boy under nine.
He had a total of 41 foul images, showing youngsters between the age of seven and 14, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard this week.
Now, a BBC insider has said that senior members of staff had been scrambling to settle on the best course of action following Edwards’ guilty plea.
Broadcaster Huw Edwards leaves Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 31 after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent pictures of children between 2020 and 2022
Huw Edwards (pictured) announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022
The insider told The Times: ‘The bulletins will be full of archive footage of him which is obviously awkward.
‘There will have to be discussions about the archive but no-one was expecting him to plead guilty today, so that key issue is not one that has been solved yet.’
Edwards presided over many historic events including the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2012 London Olympics and the weddings of both Prince William and Prince Harry.
His announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II has been viewed almost a million times on YouTube, while his anchoring of the Trooping of the Colour events has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
Edwards also cameoed as himself in the James Bond film Skyfall, which included a clip of him reading a fictional news report.
The BBC has been approached for comment.
Edwards received seven category ‘A’ images of the very worst kind on his phone after being sent them on WhatsApp by paedophile Alex Williams, it has emerged.
He was arrested on November 8 last year, with the BBC being aware of his arrest, it has now been revealed. He was then charged on June 26. He resigned in April on health grounds
The News at Ten reader, whose glittering four-decade career is now in tatters, is said to have kept his arrest ‘secret’ from his friends, a former colleague told the Mail.
This week Edwards appeared in court to admit three charges of ‘making’ indecent photographs. Of the 41 images sent to the presenter by convicted paedophile Alex Williams, seven of them were ‘Category A’, the most serious type.
During the time of the exchanges with Williams, which took place over eight months, Edwards delivered coverage of Prince Philip’s funeral to the nation.
