The BBC had planned to debut a brand new flagship drama ‘Broken’ on Tuesday evening, but the premiere was shelved in the light of the horrendous death toll in the Manchester bombing the night before.
In a statement released yesterday afternoon, the BBC explained: “Following last night’s tragic events in Manchester, BBC1’s new drama series Broken will not start tonight as planned but has been rescheduled for next Tuesday 30 May.”
The six-part drama, written by Jimmy McGovern and starring Sean Bean and Anna Friel, does not include any narrative that corresponds to the tragic events in Manchester, but is set in a “non-specific Northern city” and the BBC clearly opted to take a sensitive approach, as the casualty toll from the bombing reached 22 fatalities, with a further 119 injured.
Other programmes shelved in the light of the tragedy included Andrew Neil’s interview with UKIP’s Paul Nuttall. Political leaders have also joined in suspending election campaigning until further notice, with the exception of UKIP, who has just announced it will be recommencing its public appearances tomorrow (Thursday).