Users on the social media side X are outraged over clips from the new episode of the British drama series The Capture, airing on the British public broadcast television channel BBC One. Episode 3 of Season 3, titled The Scarecrow, was released on 22 March.

Two clips drew particular attention online. One is of the main character, Detective Rachel Carey, having a conversation about a right-wing online activist whose activity alerted the London Metropolitan Police. A video of the activist is played to her during the conversation, in which he characterizes the influx of illegal migrants into the United Kingdom as a ‘land invasion’.

Interestingly, a female character tells her that the activist, named James Whitlock, had his 4Chan account ‘deactivated’ recently for posting extremist content. However, the online forum 4Chan does not have user registration; users famously post anonymously on the site. Each poster is identified by the name ‘Anonymous’ and a randomly generated ID. Moderators do have the ability to block IP addresses, but user accounts do not exist on the site.

However, it is not this inaccuracy that peeved X users.

For instance, Basil the Great, an account based in the United Kingdom with 300,000 followers, wrote: ‘BBC’s LATEST PROPAGANDA. The story of The Capture involves a Government team outraged [and] treating online critics of mass migration as terrorists. Here, a man who uses Freedom of Information requests to find out the Gov is lying about migrant stats, who also makes posts about the invasion of Britain, is targeted.’ He also shared the clip of the show described above.

The other clip under scrutiny on X is a much shorter one, only around ten seconds long. It shows the character of Whitlock coming to the shore with a sniper rifle, where a boat of illegal migrants is docking. Despite him previously complaining about ‘military age men’ arriving in his country, he is scoping a child among the many adult males, suggesting that he is about to shoot the child.

Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusu also criticized the latest episode of The Capture for its political messaging. Soon after, the BBC responded to the backlash. A spokesperson for the broadcaster has told GB News: ‘This is a fictional drama and the character of James Whitlock is not based on any individual person’.

BCC has been under fire from right-wing forces inside the UK for being biased towards liberal politicians and causes for years. Given that it is a public media company funded by the TV licence fees that UK citizens are required to pay if they want to have television in their homes, many people feel that they ought to have their views represented in its programming.

What is The Capture?

The Capture is a drama series which premiered on BBC One in September 2019. However, it has had only three seasons so far, as no new episodes were released between November 2019 and August 2022, then between October 2022 and March 2026.

The show focuses on Detective Rachel Carey of the London Metropolitan Police, who is involved in uncovering a web of conspiracies perpetrated by the state that relies on utilizing deep-fake technology. Interestingly, the premise of the show is actually quite right-wing, as it is about the dangers of an overbearing central government, and urges the viewer to question the narratives of state authorities.

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