Channel 5 upsets parents with Easter showing of Watership Down... Again

Channel 5 once again found itself lambasted by parents, after it decided to show ‘Watership Down’ over the Easter weekend.

Despite receiving precisely the same response on airing the traumatic animated version of Richard Adams’ adventure novel at the same time last year, it appears the pull of a full-scale Twitter storm proved far too tempting.

It announced prior to the screening: “Nearly 40 years on and it’s still not one for the faint-hearted so, with scenes that some viewers may find upsetting… Watership Down.”

But still, many called the broadcaster ‘sick’ for showing the film, which tells the story of a group of rabbits struggling to survive in the wild at the time of year when a rabbit is traditionally delivering chocolate eggs to children.

Adams, who died in December last year at the age of 96, admitted that perhaps he made the story a bit ‘too dark’ during an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2014.

After saying that the tale frightened his own daughters, having himself been raised on books written by the likes of Edgar Allen Poe, he added: “Perhaps I didn’t water it down enough.”

A new four-part telling of the story is in the pipeline, due for release later this year as a co-production between the BBC and Netflix.

Sir Ben Kingsley, John Boyega, James McAvoy, Gemma Arterton and Olivia Colman are among the voice cast, with the series’ executive producer saying that the on-screen violence will be ‘toned down to make it more appropriate for children’.

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