Fawlty Towers’ famous ‘don’t mention the war’ episode has been temporarily removed from a streaming service, because it ‘contains racial slurs’.
The episode, called The Germans, first aired in 1975, and it features the Major Gowen character using offensive language about the West Indies cricket team.
John Cleese’s misanthropic hotel owner Basil Fawlty is also seen marching around, shouting ‘don’t mention the war’ in front of a group of visiting Germans, a clip that became very famous.
According to reports, Major Gowen’s scenes had already started to be removed by some broadcasters.
A UKTV spokesperson said: “UKTV has temporarily removed an episode of Fawlty Towers The Germans from Gold’s Box Set.”
They continued: “The episode contains racial slurs so we are taking the episode down while we review it. We regularly review older content to ensure it meets audience expectations and are particularly aware of the impact of outdated language.
“Some shows carry warnings and others are edited. We want to take time to consider our options for this episode.”
This comes as most streaming services and broadcasters are reevaluating content which is now deemed offensive.
Many other programmes have also been removed from streaming services due to blackface, for instance, Come Fly With Me, Little Britain and The Mighty Boosh.
Others, such as Gone With The Wind, depict slavery in a positive light and have therefore been removed from streaming services.