BBC denies 'fake' polar bear scene was misleading

'In two more months, polar bear families will emerge on to the snowy slopes all round the Arctic. But for now they lie protected within their icy cocoons' (BBC)

The BBC moved yesterday to protect one of its most valuable brands, amid claims that scenes shown on Sir David Attenborough's acclaimed series Frozen Planet were filmed in a Dutch animal park and not in the wild.

Eight million viewers saw images of a polar bear caring for her newly-born cubs in scenes that were juxtaposed with pictures of the Arctic. The fact that the cubs were filmed in a man-made den in Holland was only revealed in an accompanying clip on the BBC's website.

"Beeb Faked Frozen Planet" claimed a front page headline in yesterday's Daily Mirror, a story that was widely followed up. The paper quoted Sir David's commentary accompanying pictures of the cubs, in which he said: "But on lee-side slopes beneath the snow new lives are beginning. The cubs are born blind and tiny. An early birth is easier on the mother." On the BBC's website viewers marvelled at how the camera crew had apparently got so close to the newborns.

The allegations are potentially hugely damaging for the BBC, which licensed the most recent series of Frozen Planet to 30 networks around the world. Yesterday Sir David went on ITV's This Morning to justify the way the footage was obtained. "It's not about patience, it's about safety," he said. "Safety of the polar bears and safety of the camera crew. If you had a camera in there, the mother may have killed the cub or the camera man."

In a further effort to limit the damage, the BBC argued that the television script had been written in a way that did not mislead viewers. "The commentary accompanying the sequence is carefully worded so it doesn't mislead the audience and the way the footage was captured is clearly explained on the programme website," said a spokeswoman.

i was told that Natural History viewers had told the BBC that they did not like the "flow" of programmes to be interrupted by details of where sequences were filmed.