The BBC has aired journalist and filmmaker Ramita Navai’s strongly worded BAFTA acceptance speech after she publicly criticised the broadcaster for dropping her award-winning documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack.
The controversy unfolded at the BAFTA TV Awards 2026, where the Channel 4-backed documentary won in the Current Affairs category. During her acceptance speech, Navai accused the BBC of censorship, referring to the broadcaster’s decision to withdraw the film despite it being originally commissioned and developed under its oversight.
“The findings in this film were from a production that the BBC paid for and refused to show,” Navai said, adding, “We refused to be silenced and censored. We thank Channel 4 for showing this film.”
The BBC had dropped the documentary in June 2025, citing impartiality concerns over its portrayal of the situation in Gaza. In a statement at the time, the broadcaster said airing the material risked “a perception of partiality” and that it had transferred rights of the film to Basement Films.
Following the award win, executive producer Ben de Pear also took aim at the broadcaster, questioning whether the BBC would cut the remarks from its delayed awards broadcast on BBC One.
“Given you dropped the film, will you drop us from the BAFTA screening?” he asked.
The BBC’s decision to air the speech came shortly after the ceremony, which is broadcast with a two-hour delay.
Responding earlier to the controversy, Basement Films maintained that the BBC had previously approved the documentary through multiple compliance and editorial processes and had even set several broadcast dates before reversing its position.
The documentary itself focuses on the experiences of medical professionals working in Gaza amid ongoing conflict, a subject that has drawn significant international attention and debate over media framing and editorial responsibility.
The episode has now reignited wider discussions around editorial control, broadcasting ethics, and how major public service media organisations handle politically sensitive documentaries.
