Ofcom has imposed a sanction on the BBC after we found that a documentary programme breached broadcasting rules which require that factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience. (In the case of the BBC, these rules apply to both its broadcast and on-demand content).
The documentary was broadcast on 17 February 2025 at 21:00 on BBC2 and made available on the BBC iPlayer on 17 and 18 February 2025. Our investigation found that the programme failed to disclose information about its narrator and his family background, depriving the audience of critical information which may have been highly relevant to their assessment of the narrator and the information he provided. This was materially misleading.
As this was a serious breach of our rules, we imposed a sanction on the BBC in the form of a direction to broadcast a statement of our findings on BBC2 on Monday 17 November 2025 at 21:00.
Our investigation and sanction decision was published in our Broadcast and On Demand Bulletin, Issue 531, 17 October 2025.