10 Times BBC Shows Went Horribly Wrong

10 Times BBC Shows Went Horribly Wrong

Caitlin Johnson

Welcome to WatchMojoUK, and today we’re looking at 10 times BBC shows ended in disaster.

The Opposition

“Yesterday’s Men” (1971)

Everybody knows the BBC isn’t MEANT to be partisan. Despite that, it’s been hit with allegations of bias for decades from both sides of the political aisle, outraging Thatcher’s Tories in the 1980s but also crossing Labour in the early 70s. After the defeat of the Labour Party in the 1970 general election, the BBC put together a documentary called “Yesterday’s Men”, interviewing Labour shadow ministers about what had gone wrong. Labour was lied to about the name and nature of the programme, and were told it was going to be called “Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition”. With Labour up for mockery, Wilson attacked Aunty Beeb. The BBC eventually agreed to never rebroadcast the programme until after Wilson’s death, so it waited until 2013 to screen it again.

Who’s Going to Eurovision?

“Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up” (2007)

One of the few times the BBC has bothered to involve the public in the “Eurovision” selection process ended disastrously – and not just because we once again lost the competition that year. In 2007, Fearne Cotton and Terry Wogan presented another edition of “Making Your Mind Up”, where the public gets to vote on our Eurovision act. But at the last moment, a miscommunication led to the presenters announcing a different winner. Wogan went with Cyndi, while Cotton announced Scooch. Scooch conceded, apparently only hearing Wogan, until Cotton intervened and insisted that Scooch had won after all. In the end, though, we’d probably have done better had Cyndi got through instead.

Two Presenters Down

“MasterChef” (2005-)

The 2005 revival of “MasterChef” was fronted by the successful presenting duo of John Torode and Gregg Wallace, and went on in much the same way for about twenty years. But then, allegations began to emerge in the press about Gregg Wallace’s behaviour, allegations serious enough that he was booted off and an investigation was conducted. His habit of taking off his trousers when alone with young female runners wasn’t the only “MasterChef” scandal, however, as the following year, Torode too was sacked for allegedly using racist language. Torode denied it all, but they’ve since been replaced on “MasterChef”.

Sued for Defamation

“Panorama” (1953-)

“Panorama” has had plenty of controversies over the years, but most recently, it found itself under fire from the most litigious American president in history. Trump opted to sue the BBC for alleged defamation after it edited two parts of his speech together in an episode, which was rebroadcast before he won the 2024 election. The BBC’s case that it DIDN’T defame him was that A) it can’t have damaged his reputation that much since he won; B) he did say both of the things they showed him saying, just with more in between; and C) the programme never aired in the US, so Florida – where the suit was filed – has no jurisdiction. The BBC eventually apologised but is still trying to get the $10 billion suit dismissed.

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Defending Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor

“Newsnight” (1980-)

After “Newsnight” thoroughly destroyed the former-Prince Andrew’s reputation in 2019, it then went the other way in 2026 with an absolutely baffling comment from Kay Burley. Burley, who was one of Sky News’s foremost journalists until leaving in 2025, was joined on the “Newsnight” sofa by one of Epstein’s survivors, Lisa Phillips, and Welsh Labour MP Alex Davies-Jones. After they talked about Andrew’s alleged activities and new revelations about whether he’d really been to Pizza Express like he claimed, Burley interrupted to insist that we should all remember Andrew was a war hero and fought in the Falklands. She was slated publicly for this, with nobody on the programme knowing what to make of the comment.

A Nation Traumatised

“Ghostwatch” (1992)

We know you’ve heard us talk about “Ghostwatch” a lot, but this time, we’re focusing on the aftermath of the programme, and the tragic death of at least one of its viewers. An eighteen-year-old with learning difficulties, Martin Denham, watched the show and then tragically took his own life days later, making specific reference to ghosts in the note he left. His parents brought a complaint against the BBC which eventually reached the High Court. Broadcasting Standards finally ruled that the BBC should have done more to ensure people knew “Ghostwatch” was fiction, and shouldn’t have used children’s presenters like Sarah Greene. “Ghostwatch’s” producers eventually apologised for the distress caused.

Official Secrets

“Secret Society” (1987)

No doubt that when investigative journalists first began making the programme “Secret Society” in the late 80s, they didn’t think the saga would end with the BBC’s offices being raided by police on the orders of GCHQ and the Ministry of Defence. The big problem was that the journalist leading the show, Duncan Campbell, uncovered the top-secret Zircon satellite, intended to launch by the end of the decade with the aim of intercepting Soviet radio signals. Zircon was so secret that when the MoD got wind of the show, a gagging order was issued. They tried to seize all of the tapes and cover it up, but the story eventually broke – though, not before Campbell and his colleagues had their own homes searched by spies.

Run Out of Argentina

“Top Gear” (2002-22)

While travelling through Patagonia in South America, the “Top Gear” team was all set to stage a match of car football between themselves and some Argentinians. However, news began to spread of the number plate on Jeremy Clarkson’s Porsche, which read “H982 FKL”, perceived as a reference to the Falklands War. Clarkson denied this, saying that the Porsche’s plate had always said that and it was just a coincidence, but their hotel was eventually threatened by Falklands War veterans. Even the local police insisted that the number plate was meant as an insult, and ordered them to leave. The crew was attacked by an angry mob while trying to reach the Chilean border, with two injured before they reached safety.

Endless Injuries

“Gladiators” (2024-)

We all knew this was going to happen when the BBC announced it was reviving “Gladiators”, but hoped that modern health and safety might prevail. Unfortunately, the newest version of “Gladiators” has been just as plagued with gruesome injuries as its ITV predecessor, leading to constant cast changes. Even before the first episode was broadcast its stars were having to drop out to recover. Broken bones, dislocations, torn ligaments – and even a total ACL tear. Many of these injuries are so serious they’ve practically ended the careers of the gladiators before they began. Unlike the other shows on this list, “Gladiators” is allowed to keep going horribly wrong, repeatedly.

A Tragic Death

“The Late, Late Breakfast Show” (1982-86)

Hosted by Noel Emonds, this weekend variety show featured countless dangerous stunts and infamously lax health and safety standards. Despite already being threatened for its slapdash approach to safety, the BBC kept going with the programme, and things COULD have ended after a stunt driver broke his pelvis in a car accident. OR it could have ended when another woman broke a bone being shot from a cannon. But ultimately, it took the horrific death of a participant, Michael Lush, in 1986, to end the show. Lush fell to his death when the carabiner attaching him to a bungee cord failed; when Noel Edmonds immediately resigned, the show ended for good.

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