Hitting back at criticism from viewers and some newspapers David Cameron has defended his new BBC natural history series, ‘Great Britain’. Complaints were received that the series, which follows in the footsteps of David Attenborough’s ‘Africa’ manipulated viewers by exaggerating ‘emotional’ scenes from nature.
The prime minister’s latest venture left many viewers in tears, with scenes including one in which a rich banker appears to resign while mourning over his dying banking empire. In the same episode, a gas utility chief was shown supplying duel fuel to only those who could afford it, leaving others to die of hypothermia.
One viewer wrote on Twitter: 'That poor bank executive having to watch his entire regime die! #tears had to stop eating my dinner. BBC #Great Britain please warn me next time.'
Another added: 'How heart breaking watching the gas starved pensioner die from cold and the gas executive just turning off the supply. I'm in tears here.'
Of a pub scene featuring a single unemployed mum and a tax avoiding plumber, another viewer said: 'Chavs meeting down the local watering hole for a quick snog, we're all the same really, amazing.'
The prime minister was also accused of using music to create an emotional narrative.
“Yes, ‘I Am What I Am’ might have been inappropriate in the gay marriage scenes but it is part of the process of looking deeper and creating that more immersive experience,” said Mr Cameron.
Anthropologist Dr Norman Wallace wrote in the Daily Telegraph yesterday that the tears shed by banking chief shown in the programme appeared to confirm the theory that financial executives can express a range of emotions.
Mr Cameron was reported to be out of the country last night and working on his next venture ‘Boots on the Ground in Mali.’
