Doctor Who is in a race row after streaming service BritBox aired old episodes featuring offensive terms for the Chinese.
The episodes from 1977 see them branded “inscrutable C***ks” while white people dress up as “evil” Asians.
Hong Kong screenwriter Emma Ko, who writes for Hollyoaks and Doctors, slammed the use of “yellowface”, where whites play Asian characters.
She fumed: “It is really hard to watch because yellowface is so unacceptable.
“When you are somebody who was called a C***k in your childhood, as I have been, it is so hard to hear that word and not feel immediately a trigger reaction of how wrong it is.”
Britbox is showing The Talons Of Weng-Chiang, which first aired in 1977 starring Tom Baker as the Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela.
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Villain Li H’sen Chang is played by John Bennett, a white actor who dresses up and uses a fake accent.
After viewers flagged the issue, BritBox has slapped a warning on the episodes advising people they contain “stereotypes that some may find offensive.”
The warning added: “We are in the process of reviewing the episodes with our compliance teams across both BBC and ITV.”
When the £5.99-a-month service was launched by BBC and ITV it decided not to include other 1970s favourites Till Death Us Do Part, which features bigoted Alf Garnett.
They also ditched Love Thy Neighbour, about a white couple who live next door to a black couple and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum.
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