BBC Cut ‘Derry Girls’ Star Siobhan McSweeney’s Political Statement From BAFTA Speech Due to ‘Time Constraints’

A politically charged statement from Siobhan McSweeney’s BAFTA acceptance speech was edited out of the BAFTA TV Awards ceremony broadcast on Sunday.

McSweeney won the best female comedy performance BAFTA for playing Sister Michael in Channel 4’s Northern Ireland-set show “Derry Girls.” During her speech McSweeney said: “To the people of Derry, thank you for taking me into your hearts and into your living rooms. I am daily impressed with how you encompass the spirit of compromise and resilience despite the indignities, ignorance, and stupidity of your so-called leaders in Dublin, Stormont and Westminster. In the words of my beloved Sister Michael, ‘It’s time they started to wise up.'”

These lines were cut from the broadcast.

Ireland is governed from its capital Dublin. Derry is in Northern Ireland, which is administered from the parliament located in Stormont, Belfast, while the U.K. parliament is located in Westminster, London.

McSweeney was most likely referring to the current political scenario around Northern Ireland, which has been in flux since Brexit. Trade between Northern Ireland and Ireland, who share a troubled political history, was smooth until Brexit. With Northern Ireland no longer being part of the European Union (EU), the prospect of border checks raised hackles on both sides of what was hitherto an open border. The institution of the Northern Ireland Protocol in 2021 caused disagreements between the U.K. and the EU and led to it being superseded earlier this year by the Windsor Framework, a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.

“Derry Girls” is created and written by Lisa McGee, who mined her own experiences growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

A BBC spokesperson told Variety: “As in previous years, due to the nature of the show it is broadcast with a short delay, and while we always aim to keep the core sentiment of acceptance speeches, edits have to be made due to time constraints.”

Sources tell Variety that an hour’s worth of material from the three-hour ceremony has to come out in order to adhere to the BBC’s two-hour broadcast, which begins at the pre-watershed time of 7 p.m. Almost every speech from the show is normally cut in some form to accommodate the requirement. The show is broadcast ‘as live’ on the BBC two hours after it takes place.

However, it’s understood that two executives for the BBC – both a programming executive as well as a compliance officer – review the broadcast (alongside an executive for producer Spun Gold who is trimming for time, and a BAFTA representative) before it is fed through, with an eye on cutting out any material that’s overtly political or sexual in nature. The latter is particularly sensitive if the broadcast falls ahead of the watershed mark.

As such, it’s possible that McSweeney’s comments about Northern Ireland would have been edited out on political grounds. McSweeney’s unexpurgated speech is available on the BAFTA YouTube channel.

Variety has reached out to BAFTA and McSweeney’s representation for comment.

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