BBC makes last minute changes to assisted suicide documentary, after Samaritans complaint

Feb 11, 2016 by Jill

By Patrick Foster, Telegraph:

Samaritans put pressure on the BBC to make last minute changes to documentary showing a man taking his own life.

How to Die: Simon’s Choice, which aired on BBC Two last night,followed the final months of Simon Binner, a Cambridge graduate who suffered from motor neurone disease, and his eventual decision to kill himself, on October 19 last year.

An early version of the deeply moving documentary, which was made available to journalists last month, contained scenes in which Mr Binner’s lifeless body was glimpsed lying on a bed. Other footage included a description by a member of staff at the Eternal Spirit clinic, in Basel, of how the anaesthetic used to end Mr Binner’s life affected the human body.

The footage of Mr Binner’s corpse was removed from the final version of the programme, and the scenes involving the drug were edited, although not removed entirely, after an executive from the Samaritans raised concerns that the corporation may fall foul of guidelines that prevent broadcasters from giving detailed guidance about suicide methods.

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