The BBC has sparked controversy by planning a children’s cartoon series about a terrorist.
Bosses at children’s TV channel CBBC have commissioned market research company Ipsos MORI to gauge public opinion on the feasibility of making an animated series about a fictional British man, named Alan Jackson, who runs away from his family to join a terrorist organisation in Afghanistan and becomes known as Al-Qaeda Al.
The BBC has already been inundated with complaints, mainly from Britain but also America, forcing the Head of CBBC Production, Patricia.Hidalgo, to issue a statement. “People have got the wrong idea. This will be a top-quality CGI production and a forward-thinking series that in no way promotes terrorism. Children today want television programmes about the real world, and we can’t get away from the fact that a steady number of Britons are heading off to sunnier climes for a career in terrorism. Big Al’s adventures are merely reflecting what children see is happening in reality."
We asked charity Save The Children what they thought of the plans. A spokesman told us, “It really is concerning that the BBC feel it appropriate to gauge public opinion on a programme like this. It’s perfectly obvious that such a topic should indeed be taught to children through the medium of a light-hearted cartoon. It’s not really terrorism, it’s more about not being afraid to stand up for what you believe in. Kids need better role models than drugged-up pop singers, or footballers eating each other. Al-Qaeda Al is a proper hero, a true Englishman who has left home to find a better life. He’s a modern-day Action Man, or a GI Joe to Americans. Grrr!”
As children today have a wide range of electronic gadgets to play with, television companies have been looking for new ways to entice children away from games and back to television. The BBC Trust, the governing body of the BBC, has said that the nation would naturally expect CBBC and CBeebies to be at the forefront of any such developments.
But Sarah Lumsden of The Children’s Television Foundation thinks CBBC has gone too far. “My daughter likes Miley Cyrus, who disgusts me with her bottom flying all over the place on-stage, but I’d rather let her watch that that all day than her catch five minutes of a terrorist flinging his weapon around. Thankfully this programme seems to be aimed at boys so she might not be interested.”
Good news, Sarah! There are plans for female companions for Big Al. Hellen Bullough of CBBC told us, “Al-Qaeda Al is being blown up out of all proportion. Children will enjoy his trips to watch a movie at his local Assassinema, his visits to the bowling alley at MeccaBowl, and lots of other exploits with his chums Fatwa Phil and Jihad Jane.”
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