Channel 4 'does not intend to cause offence' with Airey Neave programme
Channel 4 has said it does not intend “to cause offence” after criticism of a drama set to air on Monday that suggests the death of senior Tory MP Airey Neave was a result of a British authorities’ conspiracy.
Controversy: Real news footage is used in the drama Utopia
Neave, who was a close advisor to Margaret Thatcher, was killed in 1979 by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in a car bomb at the House of Commons car park during The Troubles, but in fictional conspiracy drama Utopia the storyline suggests he was actually killed by British security services to silence him.
The drama uses real news footage of the aftermath of the car bomb, and Neave’s son, William, told the Mail on Sunday he would like the drama – which airs on Monday night – pulled.
In a statement, Channel 4 defended the programme: “The drama series Utopia is entirely fictional, it is a conspiracy thriller about a fictional organisation called The Network.
“Utopia occasionally blends real moments in history with fictional storylines, meaning some events and characters have been adapted for dramatic licence within the context of the series.
“It is not our intention to cause offence and Utopia does not suggest that any other real organisation was responsible for the death of Airey Neave. That period in history has been both widely reported and dramatised over the last 35 years and is the subject of many conspiracy theories.”