Response To The Disappearance of Madeleine Mc Cann - Implications For Television Programmes and Films

Implications For Television Programmes and Films

On 9 May 2007, ITV announced it would be rewriting a planned child kidnap plot, despite having already filmed some scenes, from their popular soap Coronation Street. Similarly on 23 May, the BBC also announced that it was scrapping a storyline from rival soap EastEnders, that had already been filmed, which also was to feature the kidnapping of a child. In both cases these plot lines were removed or altered due to the parallel with the Madeleine case, and because the channels did not want to cause further distress to the McCann family. The BBC also stated that they did not want to upset other viewers and felt that the plot would have been "inappropriate" to broadcast at that time.

ITV were criticised, in September 2007, over the showing of Torn, a three-part original drama series. The plot involved the disappearance of a four-year-old girl and the family's search for her. ITV responded to the criticism by stating that Torn had been written two years earlier and filmed two months before Madeleine disappeared. Also in September 2007, actor and director Ben Affleck postponed the UK release of his film Gone Baby Gone, which had been scheduled for release on 28 December, to 18 April 2008. Its plot centres on the abduction of a four-year-old girl who is left at home alone by her mother. The actress who plays the girl, Madeline O'Brien, reportedly resembles Madeleine. According to Affleck, the release of the film in Britain was delayed because those involved with the film didn't want to "touch a nerve or inflame anybody's sensitivities."