Was Kid's TV show Brum Cancelled for bad behaviour?

Many years ago I spent quite a lot of time dressed as a policeman chasing after baddies, with a little yellow car called Brum. I was an actor and playing the Traffic Policeman in the show and it used to get a great reaction. I loved my time on the show and I also used to go out on tour with Brum himself meeting fans all over the country.

Although it was many many years ago now, appearing on the show is something that still gets brought up and mentioned by people on a weekly basis. I think part of the reason for this is that the show still holds a fond memory for people and it comes from a time when there were no streamers and Kids TV was still an important part of the schedules.  Brum was picked up around the world. I hosted the launch of the programme over in Cannes and it was sold all over, from Australia to the United States and over a hundred other  places too.

So, imagine my surprise when I was tagged in a post on Facebook asking if I knew anything about Brum being cancelled by the Woke mob?! What on earth were people talking about? A children’s TV show that was meant to entertain can surely not be causing a storm.

The TV show was available on the BBC Ipayer, however there was now a label warning you about the show.

What did the label on Brum Iplayer Say?

The label said: “Brum: This series originally aired in the 90s and and early 00s and may reflect the language and attitude of the time” You then had to click OK to continue.

It’s the old political correctness gone mad story isn’t it?

Or is it!

After being asked what happened I had to do some investigation of my own. It was just like old times, apart from with less slapstick.

It turns out that this first appeared a while ago and the internet detectives got on the case. When the BBC Press office got back to them the reason became clear.

In fact the label which said: “Brum: This series originally aired in the 90s and early 00s and may reflect the language and attitude of the time” was in fact just added in error.

A simple end to what could have been a scandal. The story was picked up from twitter, just like my story about seeing Robocop in Morrisons and then written about in the Independent.

Viewers confused after BBC iPlayer accidentally adds sensitivity warning before children’s series Brum

BBC confirm ‘the label was added in error and has been removed’

BBC iPlayer viewers were left confused when the BBC issued a disclaimer before innocuous children’s series Brum warning of outdated “language and attitudes”.

The broadcaster has since confirmed that the warning was added by accident.

A spokesperson said: “The label was added in error and has been removed from Brum on BBC iPlayer.”

Brum, which originally ran from 1991 to 1994 (before a revival in 2001-2002) follows a sentient vintage car as it gets into low-key adventures around Birmingham.

The BBC’s pop-up warning read: “This series was originally aired in the 90s and early 00s and may reflect the language and attitude of the time.”

Such warnings have become more common in recent months, as arguments over racial and cultural insensitivity in historical programmes have gained traction.

However, viewers were quick to make light of the BBC’s slip-up, with many cracking wise on social media.

 “I put this on for my son about 20 minutes ago and was amused by this notification,” wrote one Twitter user.

“Turns out he is terrified of Brum, so it should have perhaps had a horror warning on it instead!”

“Oh look, it’s the popular TV anti-hero Brum,” wrote another person, alongside a photograph of the pop-up message.

“Who’s out here trying to cancel Brum?” asked another commenter.