BBC Stands Proud Over Nude Scenes

The BBC will not edit out nude scenes from the new series of Sherlock when the hit drama is repeated from 7pm this weekend on digital channel BBC3, despite more than 100 complaints from viewers. The footage of actress Lara Pulver, who plays dominatrix Irene Adler, led to criticism from the Daily Mail for showing the scenes before the 9pm watershed. Sherlock was broadcast on BBC1 over 90 minutes from 8.10pm on Sunday. By Wednesday morning, the BBC had received 102 complaints about Sherlock, relating to inappropriate scenes broadcast before the watershed.


In the New Year's Day episode, A Scandal in Belgravia, Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock Holmes meets his match in the form of Adler, who is naked when they first meet. However, thanks to the camera angles and Pulver's carefully placed arms and hands, viewers do not see her completely naked. The BBC said that when Sherlock airs from 7pm on Saturday night on BBC3 these, which went out before the watershed on BBC1, the scenes will be aired in full. A spokesman for the BBC said that due to the bank holiday it could not tell when the complaints had been made, or how many came before and after the Daily Mail story.