BBC swaps Christmas Agatha for gay sex drama

THE BBC has replaced its Agatha Christie drama on Boxing Day with a dramatisation of a novel featuring a steamy gay sex scene.

The corporation pulled its star-studded adaptation of the novel Ordeal By Innocence following Hollywood rape allegations against British actor Ed Westwick.

The multi-million pound three-part drama also starred Bill Nighy and Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson. Announcing its Christmas schedule yesterday, the BBC revealed the prime-time slot will now be taken by The Miniaturist, starring Romola Garai, at 9pm – one of the most popular times for families to gather round the TV.

Despite airing after the watershed, the adaptation of Jessie Burton’s best-selling 2014 novel, set in 17th century Amsterdam, might still shock some viewers, with a graphic gay scene in the first instalment.

During the drama, lead character 18-yearold Petronella Brandt, played by Anya Taylor- Joy, walks into her husband’s workshop to find him engaging in a sex act with another man.

The graphic scene – which leaves little to the imagination – will likely be as much of a shock to viewers as it was to Mrs Brandt, who runs crying from the scene. The second instalment will air the following day.

The move comes after Westwick, 30, was last month accused of raping two actresses in 2014, and of groping another woman the night before that year’s Oscars. The star has strenuously denied the allegations and has vowed to clear his name. The BBC said it was making no ‘judgment’ on the allegations but was pulling the Agatha Christie drama from the schedules ‘until these matters are resolved’.

Clearly pinning its hopes on period dramas to win the Christmas TV ratings battle, the corporation also announced it is showing a three-part adaptation of Little Women, the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott, starring Dame Angela Lansbury, Michael Gambon and Emily Watson – also starting on Boxing Day.