It’s been announced today that the BBC have pulled from the schedules an episode of hit drama New Tricks because it features the topically sensitive issue of a paedophile ring.

And of course, with the ongoing saga of the Jimmy Savile scandal, and the fact that allegations of a cover-up at the BBC have been made, the corporation is hyper aware of treading carefully.

The PA reports that the episode of New Tricks was due to be screened at 9pm tonight but a BBC spokeswoman said, “In light of current news events, this week’s billed episode of New Tricks will be replaced by next week’s episode.”

The episode of the show, which stars Alun Armstrong and Dennis Waterman as cops brought out of retirement to investigate unsolved crimes, was about a child abuse scandal that spanned two decades. A new date for transmission of the episode has not been agreed…

Meanwhile, Sky News reports that BBC boss George Entwistle is to be questioned by MPs about the corporation’s handling of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse claims.

Sky adds, “The director-general faces the Culture, Media and Select Committee hours after the BBC broadcast a Panorama investigation looking at why a Newsnight programme about the allegations was dropped.”

And Newsnight producer Meirion Jones said, “We didn’t know that Surrey Police had investigated Jimmy Savile – no-one did.

“That was what we found when we investigated and interviewed his victims.”

The case is of course ongoing.