Torchwood cut and change (update)

Why the 3rd episode of Torchwood will have a different edit:

“We’ve received complaints from some viewers unhappy with reports that we have edited out a sex scene from the UK version of Torchwood: Miracle Day.”
“It is not unusual for co-productions to have slightly different versions of a show to reflect its different audiences. For episode three of Torchwood, as part of the usual discussions between broadcasters and the production company, small potential edits in two intercutting scenes of gay and straight sex were discussed and made by production.
“This minimal edit makes little difference to the episode to be broadcast in the UK. Both scenes remain but run a few seconds shorter than the US version. In a later episode a sequence of gay sex is important to the story and therefore both the US and UK will show the same version.
“Torchwood continues to be a series that will ask important questions of how we all live in today’s society and the drama reflects life as we recognise it. The BBC and Starz have both been huge supporters of the writers’ vision for the series.”

From the BBC


Update:

From the Daily Mail:

A gay sex scene has been branded too sensational to air on British television >- despite the US opting to broadcast it.
The Americans are notorious for their strong censorship, yet on this occasion UK television bosses have been stricter.
The BBC will axe the lewd act from an upcoming episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day.

In the programme, John Barrowman's character Captain Jack - an immortal former con man from the future who lives on Earth - sleeps with a barman.
The show frequently examines homosexual and bisexual relationships, with the main star Barrowman an icon among the gay and lesbian community.

A source said: 'It wasn't that it was a gay scene that worried people, but just the fact that it was such an explicit sex scene full stop.
'You can get away with scenes like that on American cable channels, but you can't on primetime BBC One.
'Even though the show airs after the watershed, it has a lot of young fans who would have been shocked at the graphic nature of the sex.'

The spokesperson also said a violent scene later in the series is to be cut.
'The UK and US versions of Torchwood are slightly different.
'However, these differences do not change the story in any way and the strong storylines are first and foremost to the series.'

Full article here