Doctor Who Episode The God Complex Removed, Prompting Fan Backlash

After allegations of sexual misconduct against British actor David Walliams were published, the BBC removed several episodes, comedy sketches and films featuring him. Among them was “The God Complex”, an episode of Doctor Who. Some fans have criticised the decision online.

“The God Complex” is part of Matt Smith’s era on the British sci-fi show. The Eleventh Doctor and his companions Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) and Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) are trapped with a group of strangers in a 1920s hotel, where each room contains someone’s greatest fear. Walliams plays Gibbis, a cowardly, mole-like alien who later betrays the survivors.

The BBC has also removed other programmes featuring Walliams as an actor or creator. They include adaptations of his children’s books, such as Gangsta Granny, and an episode of the genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?

Why was “The God Complex” removed?

A BBC spokesperson addressed the removals:

“These are serious allegations. As such, the BBC is looking carefully at all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms. We are in the process of removing some programmes, including Little Britain, whilst this review is underway.”

Fan reaction to the removal of “The God Complex” has been largely negative on social media, including Reddit.

“For fucks sake. You can’t just obsessively remove and re-edit every goddamn episode of television just because they happen to have some problematic people in them,” one Reddit user wrote.

Other commenters noted that the BBC had not removed Doctor Who episodes featuring others who have faced allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment, including Noel Clarke and John Barrowman. They played Mickey Smith and Jack Harkness, respectively, in the 2005 reboot. Earlier in October, Clarke pleaded not guilty to sexual offence charges.

The BBC has previously removed content for review following serious allegations. In 2024, it removed “Fear Her”, a Doctor Who episode starring David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and set during the Olympic Games, after BBC news anchor Huw Edwards was convicted of possessing indecent images of children. Edwards appeared as himself in the episode, and the BBC re-dubbed his voice.

It is unclear how the BBC will handle Walliams’ involvement in “The God Complex” or how long the episode will remain unavailable.

Source: Polygon