BBC Breakfast’s Charlie Stayt was forced to issue an apology during Friday’s show after a technical blunder derailed a report about the late Gene Hackman.  

Police have launched an investigation into the Hollywood star’s death after he and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their New Mexico home on Thursday.

The investigation was discussed on the show in a pre-recorded segment which ended on a photograph of the Oscar-winning star.

Yet a technical blunder meant the photograph remained on screens as Charlie moved onto the next item – a controversial BBC documentary about Gaza which was narrated by the son of a senior Hamas leader.

Viewers were shown a picture of Gene as Charlie began: ‘The BBC has apologised for serious flaws in the production of a documentary about the war in Gaza…’

Realising the error, Charlie stuttered and said: ‘apologies – let’s just get err – that bit’s straightened out’.

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BBC Breakfast ‘s Charlie Stayt was forced to issue an apology during Friday’s show after a technical blunder derailed a report about the late Gene Hackman

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Viewers were shown a picture of Gene as Charlie began a report on the BBC apologising for a controversial documentary about Gaza

The image then came off the screen but as Charlie began to discuss the documentary again another technical issue flashed to a reporter in Kyiv waiting to do his report.

The blunders didn’t go unnoticed by viewers, with one tweeting: ‘Work experience trainee producing #BBCBreakfast this morning?’

The BBC issued a grovelling apology on Thursday after backlash to their controversial Gaza documentary.

In a statement the corporation acknowledged ‘serious flaws in the making of the programme’ which cost more than £400,000 to produce.

Controversy around ‘Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone’ forced the BBC to issue an apology and pull the programme from iPlayer last week.

The row then spilled on to the streets of the capital on Tuesday evening as anti-Hamas protesters arrived outside the BBC’s headquarters at Broadcasting House.

In an update from the BBC, it confirmed that Abdullah al-Yazouri’s father was Ayman al-Yazouri, a Deputy Agriculture Minister in the Hamas Government, and that his mother was given a ‘limited sum of money for the narration’.

The London-based Hoyo Films – the independent production company made the documentary – failed to tell the BBC on multiple occasions about potential connections the narrator and his family might have with Hamas.

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The image then came off the screen but as Charlie began to discuss the documentary again another technical issue flashed to a reporter in Kyiv waiting to do his report

They only acknowledged that they knew about the connection after transmission.

Whilst the BBC stressed the production company was independent, they accepted that ‘the processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations’.

Despite Hoyo Film’s reassurances that none of the £400,000 budget used to make the programme was given to any members of Hamas, the BBC has announced a full audit of the programme.

The Director-General of the  BBC are also ordered a full fact-finding review which will investigate any complaints and issues raised about the documentary.

BBC’s statement in full

‘BBC News has conducted an initial review on the programme ‘Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone’. Today the BBC Board was updated on that work. It has identified serious flaws in the making of this programme. Some of these were made by the production company, and some by the BBC; all of them are unacceptable. BBC News takes full responsibility for these and the impact that these have had on the Corporation’s reputation. We apologise for this.

‘Nothing is more important than the trust that our audiences have in our journalism. This incident has damaged that trust. While the intent of the documentary was aligned with our purpose – to tell the story of what is happening around the world, even in the most difficult and dangerous places – the processes and execution of this programme fell short of our expectations. Although the programme was made by an independent production company, who were commissioned to deliver a fully compliant documentary, the BBC has ultimate editorial responsibility for this programme as broadcast.

‘One of the core questions is around the family connections of the young boy who is the narrator of the film. During the production process, the independent production company was asked in writing a number of times by the BBC, about any potential connections he and his family might have with Hamas. Since transmission, they have acknowledged that they knew that the boy’s father was a Deputy Agriculture Minister in the Hamas Government; they have also acknowledged that they never told the BBC this fact. It was then the BBC’s own failing that we did not uncover that fact and the documentary was aired.

‘Hoyo Films have told us that they paid the boy’s mother, via his sister’s bank account, a limited sum of money for the narration. While Hoyo Films have assured us that no payments were made to members of Hamas or its affiliates, either directly, in kind, or as a gift, the BBC is seeking additional assurance around the budget of the programme and will undertake a full audit of expenditure. We are requesting the relevant financial accounts of the production company in order to do that.

‘Given the BBC’s own failings, the Director-General has asked for complaints on this matter to be expedited to the Editorial Complaints Unit, which is separate from BBC News. Alongside this a full fact-finding review will be undertaken; the Director-General has asked Peter Johnston to lead this work.

‘Peter Johnston, the Director of Editorial Complaints and Reviews, is independent of BBC News and reports directly to the Director-General. He will consider all of the complaints and issues that have been raised. He will determine whether any editorial guidelines have been broken; rapidly address the complaints that have been made; and, enable the BBC to determine whether any disciplinary action is warranted in relation to shortcomings in the making of this programme. This will include issues around the use of language, translation and continuity that have also been raised with the BBC.

‘We have no plans to broadcast the programme again in its current form or return it to iPlayer and will make a further assessment once the work of Peter Johnston is complete.’