Exclusive: 'Doctors' producer denies scheduling snub

Doctors series producer Peter Lloyd has denied that the daytime medical drama was snubbed for the 5.30pm Neighbours slot on BBC One.

Speaking exclusively to DS, Lloyd - who has been with the show since 2001 - explained how the show would be forced to censor itself for the tea-time audience.

He said: "Our viewers know that we tackle quite intense and ‘heavy’ subject matters in our episodes; rape, murder, incest, sexual matters etc. Obviously we don’t want to offend anyone, but I won’t patronise an audience and make it simple minded just because it’s daytime.

"Our audience is as sophisticated and varied as any audience. But transmit Doctors at teatime and you get a whole slew of problems – the kids are home from school. At lunchtime, I think of the five-year-old who won’t really pay attention to the show because the tricky subjects are referred to, rather than being explicit."

He added: "But at 5.30 you have to be more careful as older kids will pick things up, things that parents may find inappropriate. So if we went into that slot, we’d have to censor ourselves more than we do now and that would be a real shame!"

> Click here for our full interview with Peter Lloyd