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UK producers apologise over Fireman Sam slip-up

'It has been brought to our attention that an image of the Qur’an is briefly depicted,' say embarrassed UK producers.

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UK broadcaster Channel 5 has been forced to dump an episode of kid’s animation series Fireman Sam after a character appeared to tread on a page from the Qur’an.

A character carrying a tray of hot drinks slips after tripping on some paper on the floor of the fire station. Several sheets fly into the air, one of which looks to be covered with Arabic script.

https://twitter.com/Wallahitsanika/status/757949786125377536

HIT Entertainment, which produced the show, apologised “unreservedly” to viewers and cut ties with the Chinese animation studio responsible.

“It has been brought to our attention that in an episode of Fireman Sam (Series 9, Episode 7), an image of the Qur’an is briefly depicted. The page was intended to show illegible text and we deeply regret this error. We sincerely apologise for any distress or offence it may have caused,” it said in a statement.

“We will no longer be working with the animation studio responsible for this mistake. In addition, we are taking immediate action to remove this episode from circulation and we are reviewing our content production procedures to ensure this never happens again. Again, we apologise unreservedly to our viewers.”

The programme first aired in October 2014 but the Qur’an was only recently spotted.

Source: The Guardian

4 Responses

  1. It was in Arabic so chances are no one checking understood the contents. What I do find baffling is why a Chinese animation studio would use Arabic script for a British show.

  2. Nothing sums up the complaints culture more than the 1000 complaints the BBC got about this, even though they haven’t aired the series for about a decade.

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