The makers of a Gaza documentary shelved by the BBC won a BAFTA TV Award on Sunday, using their acceptance speeches to highlight the broadcaster's censorship after it refused to air the film. Gaza: Doctors Under Attack won the current affairs category at the BAFTA TV Awards 2026 in London nearly a year after the BBC dropped the project, citing alleged impartiality concerns.
The documentary, which was later picked up by Channel 4 and Zeteo , centres on testimonies from Palestinian doctors and healthcare workers in Gaza during Israel's genocidal war on the enclave.
Accepting the award, executive producer Ben de Pear directly lambasted the BBC over its decision to shelve the film.
"Given you dropped our film, will you drop us from the BAFTA screening later tonight?" he asked, referring to the broadcaster's delayed airing of the ceremony.
Journalist and presenter Ramita Navai also condemned the broadcaster during her speech, saying the BBC had funded the investigation before refusing to broadcast it.
"These are the findings of our investigation that the BBC paid for but refused to show," Navai said. "But we refuse to be silenced and censored."
She thanked Channel 4 f or airing the documentary and dedicated the award to Palestinian medical workers detained in Israeli prisons.
Navai said more than 1,700 Palestinian healthcare workers had been killed during Israel's war on Gaza, while hundreds more had been detained.
British media reports later said the BBC edited parts of Navai's remarks from its televised broadcast following consultations with compliance teams.
The BBC originally commissioned the documentary from Basement Films more than a year ago, but repeatedly delayed its release while carrying out an internal review linked to another Gaza documentary, Gaza: How To Survive a War Zone.
The broadcaster later announced it would not air Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, arguing that the film risked creating "a perception of partiality" that would not meet the BBC's editorial standards.
The decision sparked criticism from journalists, media figures and pro-Palestinian campaigners, who accused the broadcaster of suppressing reporting on Israel's attacks on Gaza.
Speaking backstage after the BAFTA win, de Pear praised Gazan journalists Jaber Badwan and Osama Al Ashi, who contributed footage to the documentary under bombardment.
"We woke up every day wondering if the two journalists on the ground were still alive," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant are wanted by the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza, while the International Court of Justice is hearing a genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa.
Gaza-related coverage featured prominently at the BAFTAs, with Gaza: Fight for Survival also receiving a nomination, alongside Louis Theroux's documentary The Settlers, which examines violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.