10 Doctor Who Episodes That Were Banned Or Censored
9. The Keys Of Marinus
Perhaps the earliest example of Doctor Who being censored comes from the 1964 serial The Keys of Marinus.
Interviewed for Episode 11 of Toby Hadoke’s Who’s Round, actor Peter Stenson revealed that he caused a bit of a furore after an on-set mishap, which prompted him to let out “a very rude word”.
Stenson tripped over – which was inevitable given that he played both a Voord and an Ice Soldier, neither of which were designed with an actor’s sightlines in mind – and let out a big ol' swearword.
In those early days of Doctor Who, time and budgetary restraints meant that retakes were at a premium. Where possible, directors would just move on and keep shooting – this is why most of William Hartnell’s “Billy Fluffs” are kept in the final edits of First Doctor episodes. But Stenson’s rude word was simply unable to be broadcast in the 1960s, especially between Grandstand and Juke Box Jury.
To fix the issue, the offending audio track was removed so as not to scandalise the nation’s children. Stenson said that this minor incident meant that he wasn’t asked back to the BBC for 20 years, which sounds like a pretty harsh punishment. How rude a word could it possibly have been?!