Brian May bTB documentary sparks new row

A fresh bTB row has broken out over a new BBC documentary on the disease featuring the Queen guitarist Sir Brian May.

Veterinary and industry groups have warned the programme, which is due to be screened this evening (23 August), risks “oversimplifying” the issue and “misleading” viewers.

But one of those bodies, the AHDB, denied claims it was trying to stop it being broadcast at all, while a prominent critic of current badger culling policy has described the programme as “a breath of fresh air”.

‘Decade-long journey’

The documentary – Brian May: The Badgers, the Farmers and Me – has been billed as following the musician and physicist’s “decade-long journey to understand the crisis” caused by bTB and “his opposition to the controversial badger cull” which is intended to prevent its spread.

The policy, implemented in England since 2013, has been a source of widespread political and scientific controversy and is the subject of an ongoing legal challenge.

According to BBC News, new research to be presented in the programme, which Sir Brian helped to conduct, suggests the disease primarily spreads between cattle and improved farm hygiene could help to prevent that.

Low numbers

A social media post by the Save Me Trust, which Sir Brian founded, quotes him saying: “I came in to save the badgers. I now realise that to save the badgers, you have to save everybody because it’s a mess.”

But supporters of the cull argue that its use within a broader disease control programme has reduced bTB levels in England to their lowest in 20 years.

In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, the AHDB said it was “deeply concerned” that the programme “risks oversimplifying the complex issue of bTB, potentially misleading viewers by placing undue blame on cattle”.

It added: “It’s essential that coverage of such critical topics is accurate and evidence-based.”

Contribution

Meanwhile, the BCVA said it “would have appreciated the opportunity to share the wider evidence of the farm vet profession” and the contribution that culling had made.

But the Save Me group claimed the programme was the first time that an alternative view had been presented and the “pro-culling movement has had it all their own way in the media for the past 12 years”.

The programme has also been praised by independent scientist Tom Langton, who described it as a “breath of fresh air at last to inspire everyone”, following a private screening.

Brian May: The Badgers, the Farmers and Me is on BBC Two and iPlayer tonight at 9pm.