I sent the following letter to
Britbox after realizing that several episodes of "
Midsomer Murders" have been edited on its streaming site. Two of the edits were edited to completely remove any references to Tom Barnaby and George Bullard leaving the program. I wrote the following email nearly two weeks ago, but haven't heard back. So now I'm sharing my complaint on the blog:
I’m a longtime Britbox subscriber. I watch Coronation Street several times weekly, as well as several other programs. I’m also a longtime fan of Midsomer Murders. I’ve watched episodes of this program for the better part of two decades. So while I’m happy to be able to watch Midsomer on Britbox, I’m really disappointed to discover that several episodes have been edited and cut.
Some of these are minor edits, such as what I’ve seen in “The Night of the Stag.” But then there’s “The Oblong Murders” where the ending was completely changed to edit out longtime character George Bullard’s retirement. Or “Fit For Murder,” where longtime lead character Tom Barnaby’s retirement party and heartfelt goodbye to all of the others was edited into a “Yay! He passed his physical!” moment. (I only wish that I was exaggerating...)
I can find the unedited episodes on Acorn TV, or on DVD. I don’t understand why Britbox is providing hollowed out versions of popular shows like Midsomer to its subscribers. And this makes me wonder how many other Britbox are similarly hollowed out.
I’m hopeful that this was a horrible oversight and that Britbox is willing to correct this mistake. Or at least provide some explanation for this decision.
I will share if I ever receive a response.
