No action over gay sex scenes in new Brit series

The UK’s broadcasting regulator Ofcom will not investigate gay sex scenes shown in new drama series starring James Bond actor Ben Whishaw.

In the five-part BBC2 series, London Spy, Whishaw’s character becomes romantically involved with a mysterious man (Edward Holcroft), who turns out to be a spy for the intelligence service.

The first episode, broadcast this week, reportedly featured “explicit” sex scenes between openly gay Whishaw (who plays Q in the Bond films) and Holcroft.

The Daily Mail complained that there were also scenes that included metal sex toys, bondage gear and a sex dungeon.

Despite hysteria over the appropriateness of the scenes in the British tabloids, it was revealed that Ofcom received just one complaint from the around 2,5 million viewers who watched the episode.

The regulator said in a statement that it would not take any action because the show “was appropriately scheduled after the watershed” (9pm).

The Ofcom spokesperson added: “Our broadcasting rules do not discriminate between scenes involving opposite sex and same sex couples.”

A review of the show by Christopher Stevens for the Daily Mail also smacked of homophobia. He whined that London Spy was yet another series featuring gay characters and storylines.

“It’s become impossible to switch the telly on without seeing two men locked in a naked clinch, or in drag, or snogging,” he moaned.

Stevens wrote that after the two characters met, “they got down to being gay, which involved smouldering in profile, lying around with their shirts off in sepia light, having baths and mumbling a lot.”

Other than complaining about the gay content and disco music in the first episode he didn’t have much else to say in his review, in which he gave London Spy a scathing one out of five stars.

Watch the trailer for London Spy below.