BBC Pulls ‘University Challenge’ Christmas Episode After Complaints From Disabled Contestants

deadline.com:

The BBC has pulled a University Challenge Christmas special episode from its festive schedule following complaints by two disabled contestants.

According to the BBC, one blind and one neurodivergent contestant took part in the episode – which features teams of distinguished alumni who compete on behalf of their former universities – but it won’t air following grievances over a lack of audio description and subtitles.

The contestants have not been named. One of the contestants was quoted by the BBC saying the experience was “distressing” and the other “overwhelming and overstimulating.” The first said they were told one minute before the show that there would be no audio description and “your captain will instead have to explain everything,” according to the BBC article, while the second claimed a request for subtitles made in advance was turned down.

The decision was made today to pull the episode of the iconic BBC quiz, which is hosted by Amol Rajan. The rest of the spin-off series will go ahead as planned.