The BBC has called the ongoing controversy over a documentary on Gaza a “really, really bad moment”, admitting the film’s failings are “a dagger to the heart” of the corporation’s impartiality.

Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone was pulled from iPlayer and will not be broadcast on channels again after it emerged that the child narrator is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture.

Last week, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called an “urgent meeting” with the corporation over the film.

BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC chairman Samir Shah were questioned by MPs during a Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Mr Shah told committee members: “This is a really, really bad moment. It’s is a dagger to the heart of the BBC claim to be impartial and to be trustworthy.”

He said questions over “what went wrong” were asked “on day one” following the programme’s transmission.

He went on: “To my shock, I think that we found that there were serious failings on both sides, on the independent production side as well, as well as on the BBC side.”

Mr Shah said an interim report commissioned by the BBC found “it wasn’t so much the processes were at fault as people weren’t doing their job”.

Mr Shah said he believed the problem was confined to this programme, adding: “On this story we’re examining the how and why, the compliance that determines did not take place.”

However, he also said he thought an independent review into how the BBC covers stories in the Middle East should also be carried out independently.

Tim Davie said there was “a lot of frustration and disappointment” over the film, adding: “We’re very sorry to the audience.”

Read more:
Starmer faces calls for UK’s role in Gaza war to be scrutinised
Hamas rejects Israeli request to extend first phase of Gaza ceasefire deal

‘We were not told’

How To Survive A Warzone was made on commission by independent production company Hoyo Films, and features 13-year-old Abdullah al Yazouri, who speaks about life in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas.

Mr Davie said there were specific questions asked around Abdullah’s father, and the BBC “found out that we were not told”.

He went on: “At that point, quite quickly, I lost trust in that film. Therefore, I took the decision quite quickly to take it off iPlayer while we do this deep dive.”

Mr Davie said removing the film from iPlayer had been “a very tough decision”.

Discussing whether or not the family involved in the film had been paid for their work, he said: “As I understand it today, the BBC has only made one payment. This was for a licence fee, to the programme maker.”

He said an initial assessment of the economics had showed “that there was a small payment to the sister… It’s totally normal payment because the boy recorded the narration. He went to a studio to do it.”

Describing the fallout as “damaging”, Mr Davie said he believes “overall trust in BBC news remains very high”.

He went on: “We’re not losing all context here. This was a serious failing. But we have trust numbers that we’re very proud of, we’re the most trusted brand in the world. And part of what we do to earn that trust… is actually be highly transparent and go through enormous processes when we fail like this to show how we’re going to fix it.”

Mr Davie says he has “fast-tracked” the review “out of the news department”, where it will be overseen by Peter Johnson, BBC Director, Editorial Complaints and Reviews.

Media watchdog Ofcom sent a letter to the BBC flagging their “ongoing concerns” about the “nature and gravity” of the documentary on Monday, which Mr Shah said he “welcomed”.

The Metropolitan Police said: “Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are currently assessing whether any police action is required” in relation to the documentary.

Complaints from both sides

Hoyo Films said in a statement: “We are co-operating fully with the BBC and Peter Johnston (director of editorial complaints and reviews) to help understand where mistakes have been made.

“We feel this remains an important story to tell, and that our contributors – who have no say in the war – should have their voices heard.”

Last week, protesters gathered outside Broadcasting House in London claiming the BBC had aired Hamas propaganda.

The BBC also faced criticism in pulling the documentary, with Gary Lineker, Anita Rani, Riz Ahmed and Miriam Margoyles among more than 500 media figures who had condemned the action.

In an open letter addressed to Mr Davie, Dr Shah and outgoing chief content officer Charlotte Moore, hundreds of TV and film professionals and journalists called the decision to remove the documentary “politically motivated censorship”.

Following the committee session, Artists for Palestine UK, the group that published the letter, accused Mr Davie and Mr Shah of “throwing Palestinian children under the bus”, questioning how the corporation would safeguard the young people who appeared in the documentary.

In a statement, the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism accused the BBC of “marking its own homework”, adding: “No other broadcaster would be permitted this latitude, and no other regulated industry would allow this.”

They also called for the licence fee to be suspended pending an independent investigation into the documentary.

Nominations for the Olivier Awards, British theatre’s most prestigious honours, have been announced.

Following his second Oscar win at the weekend, Adrien Brody is nominated for best actor, for his performance in The Fear Of 13 – a play based on the real-life story of a man who spent 22 years on death row for a rape and murder that he did not commit.

Fellow US stars Billy Crudup and John Lithgow are up against him in the category, along with UK stars Paapa Essiedu and Mark Strong.

Brody, Crudup, Essiedu and Lithgow are all first-time nominees.

In the best actress category, The Crown star Lesley Manville is up against Meera Syal, Indira Varma, Heather Agyepong and Rosie Sheehy.

Manville and Varma both nominated for playing the same role in different productions of the Greek mythology classic Oedipus

Fiddler On The Roof is this year’s most nominated production, with 13 nods.

It’s up for best musical revival, with old favourites including Oliver!, Hello Dolly and Starlight Express.

In the musical theatre performing categories, John Dagleish is up for best actor for his role in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, a decade after his last win.

He’s up against Myles Frost, Simon Lipkin, Jamie Muscato and Adam Dannheisser.

Four-time Olivier winner Imelda Staunton is up for best actress in a musical for her role in Hello Dolly!, her 14th Olivier nomination and her eighth in the category.

She’s competing against Lara Pulver, Chumisa Dornford-May, Lauren Drew and Clare Foster.

Best new play includes Brody’s The Fear Of 13, along with Kyoto, Shifters, Giant and The Years.

Giant and The Years are tied for most nominated play this year with five apiece.

Gina McKee is nominated for best actress in a supporting role, alongside Romola Garai who is double nominated in the same category for her roles in Giant and The Years.

Actress Sharon D Clarke makes up the category.

And in best supporting actor, Ben Whishaw will be battling it out against Jorge Bosch, Tom Edden, and Elliot Levey.

Sunset Boulevard was the big winner at last year’s Olivier Awards, taking home seven gongs and equalling the record for the most prizes for a musical at the ceremony.

The 2025 Olivier Awards will take place on Sunday 6 April at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Beverley Knight and Billy Porter.

Full list of nominations:

Mastercard Best New Musical

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, music & lyrics by Darren Clark, book & lyrics by Jethro Compton at Ambassadors Theatre

MJ The Musical, book by Lynn Nottage at Prince Edward Theatre

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812, music, lyrics & book by Dave Malloy at Donmar Warehouse

Why Am I So Single?, music, lyrics & book by Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss at Garrick Theatre

Blue-i Theatre Technology Award for Best Set Design

Jon Bausor for Set Design, Toby Olié & Daisy Beattie for Puppetry Design and Satoshi Kuriyama for Projection Design for Spirited Away at London Coliseum

Frankie Bradshaw for Set Design for Ballet Shoes at National Theatre – Olivier

Es Devlin for Set Design for Coriolanus at National Theatre – Olivier

Tom Scutt for Set Design for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

White Light Award for Best Lighting Design

Paule Constable & Ben Jacobs for Oliver! at Gielgud Theatre

Howard Hudson for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 at Donmar Warehouse

Howard Hudson for Starlight Express at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

Aideen Malone for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

TAIT Award for Best New Opera Production

Duke Bluebeard’s Castle by English National Opera at London Coliseum

Festen by The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House

L’Olimpiade by Irish National Opera & The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House

The Tales Of Hoffmann by The Royal Opera at Royal Opera House

Outstanding Achievement in Opera

Aigul Akhmetshina for her performance in Carmen at Royal Opera House

Allan Clayton for his performance in Festen at Royal Opera House

Jung Young-doo for his direction of Lear at Barbican Theatre

Best Family Show

Brainiac Live at Marylebone Theatre

Maddie Moate’s Very Curious Christmas at Apollo Theatre

The Nutcracker at Polka Theatre

Rough Magic at Shakespeare’s Globe – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre

Animal Farm at Theatre Royal Stratford East by George Orwell, adapted by Tatty Hennessy

Boys On The Verge Of Tears by Sam Grabiner at Soho Theatre

English by Sanaz Toossi at Kiln Theatre

Now, I See by Lanre Malaolu at Theatre Royal Stratford East

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander at Marylebone Theatre

Best New Dance Production

Assembly Hall by Kidd Pivot, Crystal Pite & Jonathon Young at Sadler’s Wells

Frontiers: Choreographers Of Canada – Pite/Kudelka/Portner by The National Ballet Of Canada at Sadler’s Wells

Theatre Of Dreams by Hofesh Shechter Company at Sadler’s Wells

An Untitled Love by A.I.M by Kyle Abraham at Sadler’s Wells

Outstanding Achievement in Dance

Sarah Chun for her performance in Three Short Ballets at Royal Opera House – Linbury Theatre

Tom Visser for his lighting design of Angels’ Atlas as part of Frontiers: Choreographers Of Canada – Pite/Kudelka/Portner at Sadler’s Wells

Eva Yerbabuena for her performance in Yerbagüena at Sadler’s Wells

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Jorge Bosch for Kyoto at @sohoplace

Tom Edden for Waiting For Godot at Theatre Royal Haymarket

Elliot Levey for Giant at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre

Ben Whishaw for Bluets at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Sharon D Clarke for The Importance Of Being Earnest at National Theatre – Lyttelton

Romola Garai for Giant at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre

Romola Garai for The Years at Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre

Gina McKee for The Years at Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre

Gillian Lynne Award for Best Theatre Choreographer

Matthew Bourne for Oliver! at Gielgud Theatre

Julia Cheng for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Hofesh Shechter for Oedipus at The Old Vic

Christopher Wheeldon for MJ The Musical at Prince Edward Theatre

Best Costume Design

Hugh Durrant for Robin Hood at The London Palladium

Sachiko Nakahara for Spirited Away at London Coliseum

Tom Scutt for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Gabriella Slade for Starlight Express at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

d&b audiotechnik Award for Best Sound Design

Nick Lidster for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Christopher Shutt for Oedipus at The Old Vic

Thijs van Vuure for The Years at Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre

Koichi Yamamoto for Spirited Away at London Coliseum

Outstanding Musical Contribution

Mark Aspinall for Musical Supervision & Additional Orchestrations for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Darren Clark for Music Supervision, Orchestrations & Arrangements and Mark Aspinall for Musical Direction, Music Supervision, Orchestrations & Arrangements for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at Ambassadors Theatre

Dave Malloy for Orchestrations and Nicholas Skilbeck for Musical Supervision for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 at Donmar Warehouse

Asaf Zohar for Compositions and Gavin Sutherland for Dance Arrangements & Orchestration for Ballet Shoes at National Theatre – Olivier

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical

Liv Andrusier for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Amy Di Bartolomeo for The Devil Wears Prada at Dominion Theatre

Beverley Klein for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Maimuna Memon for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 at Donmar Warehouse

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical

Andy Nyman for Hello, Dolly! at The London Palladium

Raphael Papo for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Layton Williams for Titanique at Criterion Theatre

Tom Xander for Mean Girls at Savoy Theatre

Noël Coward Award for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play

Ballet Shoes adapted by Kendall Feaver at National Theatre – Olivier

Inside No 9 Stage/Fright by Steve Pemberton & Reece Shearsmith at Wyndham’s Theatre

Spirited Away adapted by John Caird & co-adapted by Maoko Imai at London Coliseum

Titanique by Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle & Constantine Rousouli at Criterion Theatre

Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director

Eline Arbo for The Years at Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre

Jordan Fein for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Nicholas Hytner for Giant at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre

Robert Icke for Oedipus at Wyndham’s Theatre

Best Actress

Heather Agyepong for Shifters at Duke of York’s Theatre

Lesley Manville for Oedipus at Wyndham’s Theatre

Rosie Sheehy for Machinal at The Old Vic

Meera Syal for A Tupperware Of Ashes at National Theatre – Dorfman

Indira Varma for Oedipus at The Old Vic

Best Actor

Adrien Brody for The Fear Of 13 at Donmar Warehouse

Billy Crudup for Harry Clarke at Ambassadors Theatre

Paapa Essiedu for Death Of England: Delroy at @sohoplace

John Lithgow for Giant at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre

Mark Strong for Oedipus at Wyndham’s Theatre

Cunard Best Revival

The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde at National Theatre – Lyttelton

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell at The Old Vic

Oedipus by Robert Icke at Wyndham’s Theatre

Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett at Theatre Royal Haymarket

Piper-Heidsieck Award for Best Musical Revival

Fiddler On The Roof, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book by Joseph Stein at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Hello, Dolly!, music & lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Michael Stewart at The London Palladium

Oliver!, book, music & lyrics by Lionel Bart, new material & revisions by Cameron Mackintosh at Gielgud Theatre

Starlight Express, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Richard Stilgoe at Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre

Best Actor in a Musical

John Dagleish for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at Ambassadors Theatre

Adam Dannheisser for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Myles Frost for MJ The Musical at Prince Edward Theatre

Simon Lipkin for Oliver! at Gielgud Theatre

Jamie Muscato for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 at Donmar Warehouse

Best Actress in a Musical

Chumisa Dornford-May for Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet Of 1812 at Donmar Warehouse

Lauren Drew for Titanique at Criterion Theatre

Clare Foster for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at Ambassadors Theatre

Lara Pulver for Fiddler On The Roof at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Imelda Staunton for Hello, Dolly! at The London Palladium

The Londoner Award for Best New Play

The Fear Of 13 by Lindsey Ferrentino at Donmar Warehouse

Giant by Mark Rosenblatt at Jerwood Theatre Downstairs at Royal Court Theatre

Kyoto by Joe Murphy & Joe Robertson at @sohoplace

Shifters by Benedict Lombe at Duke of York’s Theatre

The Years adapted by Eline Arbo, in an English version by Stephanie Bain at Almeida Theatre & Harold Pinter Theatre

The Duchess of Sussex’s lifestyle series premiered this morning – in which she talks about her life in California, her time spent living in Argentina and her love of food.

With Love, Meghan – an eight-part series on Netflix – had been delayed from a January release due to the Los Angeles wildfires.

The episodes, which last about 30 minutes each, feature a host of celebrity friends along with a few cameos from her husband, Prince Harry.

From her first jobs growing up to what she was like on the Suits set, here are some things we learnt about the duchess.

‘I’m Sussex now’

One of Meghan’s guests is The Office star Mindy Kaling, who she bonds with over their lives as toddlers’ mums while putting together a tea party in the garden.

As they put sandwiches together for the tea, Meghan talks about her love of Jack In The Box – a classic US fast-food chain, to which Kaling responds: “I don’t think anyone in the world knows that Meghan Markle has eaten Jack In The Box and loves it.”

The duchess laughs and says: “It’s funny, you keep saying Meghan Markle, you know, I’m Sussex now.

“You have kids, and you go, ‘now I share my name with my children’… I didn’t know how meaningful it would be to me, but it just means so much to go ‘this is our family name, our little family name’.”

Similarities with Archie

During episode four, the duchess goes on a hike with her friend Delfina Blaquier, who is married to Argentinian polo star Nacho Figueras, and together they have a picnic with homemade focaccia bread.

The duchess reveals how she passed time during her childhood – and the similar traits her son, Archie, has: “As a kid, I was taking a bag of tea from the drawer in my house, putting it in a mason jar or probably an empty jar that once held spaghetti sauce and putting it in the sun, and sitting there… waiting for it to change colour.

“Funny enough, which Archie does now.”

Days before the show aired, in an interview with People magazine, the duchess said Archie had told her: “Mama, don’t work too hard” during filming.

She added the five-year-old helped with the clapperboard while visiting the set with his sister Lilibet and Harry.

Life in Argentina

The two friends met through their husbands – “The moment we met, we bonded over our love of the outdoors and being in nature. We always hike together whenever she’s in town. And sometimes we let our husbands join us,” Meghan says.

Reflecting on when they first met, Meghan says: “What’s so funny is, I remember when we first met, and you were like: ‘Wait a minute, you speak Argentinian Spanish?’ But it’s such a pretty language because it sounds so musical.”

Her friend says: “When you started speaking Spanish and I recognised the Argentinian, I was blown away, because I didn’t know that…”

“That I’d lived there,” Meghan responds.

She adds: “When I lived in Argentina, I think the reason I loved it so much is because it reminded me of California in a lot of ways. Where you have the mountains and you have this joy of life and the joy of being outside.

“I was only there for a few months interning at the US Embassy, but I loved it.”

First jobs in doughnut and yoghurt shops – and some more childhood memories

In episode five, as Meghan hosts long-time friends, former Suits co-star Abigail Spencer and Kelly McKee Zajfen, she says that her first job was at Humphrey Yogart, a frozen yoghurt shop in Los Angeles playfully named after actor Humphrey Bogart.

That came after she told chef Roy Choi in episode three, as she presented him with doughnuts she prepared for him, that she once had a job at a doughnut shop.

“Doughnuts in general just remind me of my childhood,” she said.

“I once had a job at a little donut shop called Little Orbit Donuts. They made tiny, tiny, little mini donuts.”

She said she often helped them sell at craft venues, adding that doughnuts generally were a big part of her childhood.

“Growing up, driving down Highland to get to school, there was always a Yum Yum Donuts right there.”

“Highland and Melrose,” Choi clarifies.

“Exactly… is it still there?”

When Choi says it is, she responds: “Oh my god. I should go back in.”

In another episode, Kaling asks whether Meghan began cooking at home or picked it up later. Meghan replies: “I was a latch-key kid so I grew up with a lot of fast food and also a lot of TV tray dinners.

“It feels like such a different time but that was so normal with the microwavable kids meals.”

Life in Montecito house

The lifestyle show, which was filmed in a California farmhouse rather than in her Montecito house, features her describing her every day life – including how it is a “daily” task to pick fruit when it’s in season at her home.

Episode one Hello Honey! features Meghan’s friend Daniel Martin as she prepares a “thoughtful guest basket”.

It begins with her harvesting honey from bees, saying: “The biggest thing is keeping a low tone – talk in our bee voice.”

With the help of a beekeeper, she talks about “trying to stay in the calm of it because it’s beautiful to be this connected”.

Harry is the king of eggs

When asked by Kaling about how best to season eggs, the duchess says: “I have a family, a husband, who no matter what meal is put in front of him before he tastes it puts salt on, so I try to under salt.”

Harry himself, it is later revealed, is something of an egg connoisseur.

Speaking to two close friends in a later episode, she says “H” is a “great cook” and makes “the best scrambled eggs”.

She further praises him by saying he generally makes “a really good breakfast”.

Bacon was the subject of discussions on more than one occasion during the series, with Meghan saying that whenever she cooks it the kitchen “becomes full of husband and three dogs”.

“It’s not my perfume that’s bringing them all in,” she jokes.

What the duchess was like during Suits

Meghan’s days of playing paralegal Rachel Zane in popular drama Suits came to an end in 2018, the year she married Harry.

But she has clearly remained close with co-star Abigail Spencer, who played Dana Scott.

In episode five, as the pair sat in Meghan’s garden alongside Kelly McKee Zajfen, Spencer reflected on what Meghan was like during the Suits days.

She said Meghan was “the head of morale on the show,” to which Meghan thanked her and added: “I liked to plan fun for everyone.”

Heart-warming moments of Meghan with beloved beagle

The whole series ends with a tribute to Meghan’s late dog, Guy, who featured prominently in several episodes.

One morning, the duchess is seen making bone-shaped peanut butter biscuits for the rescue beagle, who died shortly after filming wrapped, saying you can make them with leftover bacon from breakfast.

She admitted there was “never” any leftovers in her house because “we eat a lot of it” – another reference to the Sussexes love of bacon.

“I would do anything for Guy, and he knows it,” she then says. “He can have whatever he wants ’cause he is whatever kind of guy you need him to be depending on the day. My sweet guy, my silly guy, my saucy little guy. Always my spoiled guy.”

Later, as she hands him a peanut butter cookie, she adds: “They provide us with unconditional love, so they get unconditional peanut butter dog biscuits. Why not?”

The Sussexes also have two other dogs – another rescue beagle named Mia and a black Labrador called Pula, who is seen trying to steal some of Meghan and her guests’ food at various points during the series.

Meghan’s ‘next chapter’

In the eighth and final episode, called Feels Like Home, Meghan prepares for Prince Harry to make an appearance.

She is putting together a brunch for family and friends to celebrate the “next chapter” in her life.

Sharing details of how she envisages the so-called “next chapter”, Meghan, wearing a blue maxi dress and putting the finishing touches to a spread of food outdoors, says: “Of course, my husband will be here, my mum will be here, my best friend since college, my community having a brunch in the sunshine with the people that I love, celebrating this next chapter of my life.”