BBC drama The Capture under fire for linking Freedom of Information requests to extremist behaviour in latest episode

A BBC drama has come under fire for linking Freedom of Information requests to extremist behaviour.

The third season of The Capture, which is currently airing on BBC One, includes a character portrayed as a potentially violent extremist who has his obsession with illegal immigration fuelled by his numerous FOI requests to the Home Office.

A number of viewers, journalists, and politicians have criticised the suggestion that making FOI requests – which allow members of the public to request information from public authorities under the Freedom of Information Act – is a negative practice.

‘If the Establishment want to paint FOI requests as extreme, they have a lot to hide,’ broadcaster Adam Brooks wrote on X.

Reform UK Chairman Zia Yusuf said: ‘The BBC now believes that submitting Freedom of Information requests to the Home Office to find out the true cost of illegal immigration to be tantamount to terrorism.’

James Whitlock, played by Joe Dempsie in the new series of the deepfake conspiracy thriller, was introduced in Sunday night’s episode as a potential suspect in the assassination of the Home Secretary.

The third season of The Capture, which is currently airing on BBC One, includes a character portrayed as a potentially violent extremist who has his obsession with illegal immigration fuelled by his numerous FOI requests to the Home Office

While it seems clear he is being set up, he is portrayed as a far-right extremist who, in one scene, aims a rifle at men, woman and a child arriving in the UK on a small boat.

Another scene in the episode shows government agents, including lead character Rachel Carey, played by Holliday Grainger, in shock over the fact he has made nine FOI requests.

‘Ma’am, it looks like Whitlock got hold of those Home Office documents via Freedom of Information request,’ Rachel’s colleague informs her over the phone.

‘He made a total of nine requests during his time in prison.’

She responds: ‘Nine Freedom of Information requests?’

She is then told: ‘He accused the government of covering up the true stats on undocumented migrants.’

Another colleague then comments: ‘It’s fair to say it’s something of an obsession for the lad.’

While Whitlock’s motives and crimes remain unclear, it is the negative connotations made between extremism and FOI requests which has angered some viewers.

A BBC spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘This is a fictional drama and the character of James Whitlock is not based on any individual person.’

A number of viewers, journalists, and politicians have criticised the suggestion that making FOI requests – which allow members of the public to request information from public authorities under the Freedom of Information Act – is a negative practice

The third episode of the critically acclaimed drama, which first aired in 2019, was broadcast just a few days after it emerged that the government was considering a clampdown on the freedom of information system in a series of cost cutting measures.

The government blamed spiralling administrative costs and an increased volume of requests and is considering lowering the cost ceiling, according to the Financial Times.

The show’s creator Ben Chanon recently previously told the Radio Times that he was very aware of the news agenda while writing the show.

‘I think whatever’s going on in the news while I’m writing The Capture gets eaten up and chewed out in some form,’ he said.

‘And people were obsessed – as they still are – but they seemed particularly obsessed last year with the subject of immigration.

‘And so I just reflect what I see out there and the conversations that I have and I hear out there.’