New Freedom of Information (FOI) documents confirm what many long suspected: The UK government secretly used popular soap operas like EastEnders and Coronation Street to push vaccine propaganda during the pandemic, raising urgent questions about how much influence the state holds over British media, and how far officials are willing to go to manipulate public thought, opinion and behavior under the guise of public health.
The findings echo May 2021 revelations that scientists on the UK government’s behavioral advisory committee admitted they used fear-based “totalitarian” tactics to control public behavior during COVID-19, describing the approach as “unethical,” “dystopian,” and a form of “mind control.”
They also mirror an October 2024 U.S. House investigation that found the CDC and Biden administration used a $900 million COVID campaign to “manipulate Americans” with “deeply flawed” messaging, “overpromising” vaccines “without evidence,” and funding Big Tech companies to “track and monitor Americans.”
What other views and choices are being shaped today by government-scripted entertainment?
Ministers Pushed BBC & ITV to Insert Vaccine Storylines
“Ministers met television bosses during the pandemic to persuade them to push pro-vaccine storylines in soaps such as EastEnders and Coronation Street, it has emerged,” The Telegraph reported last week.
The effort was led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which held secret meetings with ITV, BBC, Channel 4 and others to coordinate “national unity programming.”
FOI documents show broadcasters were asked: “if there were plans to introduce health messages into soap stories.”
BBC committed to “report back re other shows” while ITV responded that “filming had now ceased,” but that “ITV have included voiceovers to episodes now to clarify govt messaging re social distancing.”
Early Meetings with ITV in February 2020
Redacted records show that as early as Feb. 2, 2020—more than a month before lockdown—officials met ITV chief Dame Carolyn McCall to “test the possibility” of inserting pro-vaccine messaging.
The government briefing stated:
“Since that meeting ITV have noticeably increased their engagement across DCMS and Whitehall; and recently officials at the Department of Health have been in touch with DCMS about potential assistance from ITV in relation to pro vaccine messaging. This meeting may offer an opportunity to test the possibility of this with them.”
Health Department Wanted Letters to Broadcasters
Documents confirm the Department of Health wanted to write directly to ITV to “include vaccine storylines in their soaps.”
But DCMS advised against it:
“Whilst we do not think it would be appropriate to write to ITV on this matter given the importance of broadcasters’ operational and editorial independence, you may wish to explore with them whether they already have plans to develop content related to this area.”
Officials also noted ITV was “planning soap storylines related to the environment and climate change and therefore they may be amenable to the idea of something similar in relation to vaccine messaging.”
BBC & Channel 4 Also Involved
In March and April 2020, then-Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden and then-Media Minister John Whittingdale met with BBC Director-General Tony Hall, ITV’s Dame Carolyn McCall, and Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon.
Channel 4 agreed it would “reinforce Public Health England guidance” and target younger viewers through YouTube.
Mahon told officials:
“AM said they will consider how to spread message through YouTube excerpts of news programmes (C4’s YouTube channel has attracted 100 million views) and through social media. Also C4 is considering filming broadcast messages from hosts and talent to reinforce messaging.”
Pro-Vaccine Propaganda Aired on EastEnders
“Pro-vaccine messaging did end up in soaps.”
In a 2021 episode of EastEnders: “Patrick Trueman told Suki Panesar he felt like he had ‘won the lottery’ after getting his second vaccination.”
During the same scene: “Karen Taylor was accused of being an ‘anti-vaxxer’ for worrying that they had developed the vaccine too quickly.”
Critics Blast State Interference in British Media
Sir David Davis MP condemned the effort:
“What this demonstrates is that during Covid, the government reduced the broadcasters to mere arms of the state.”
“Of course, it was important to tell the public about the efficacy and safety of vaccines, but the state should never resort to underhanded propaganda of this nature.”
Lord Frost added:
“If, as it seems, the government quietly worked behind the scenes with major broadcasters to shape opinions and compliance on their draconian Covid-19 measures, this is extremely worrying.”
“Actions like this blur the boundary between government, civil society, and private life. They risk undermining confidence in government messaging in the future, and border on the unethical in a free society.”
Injuries Acknowledged but Concerns Suppressed
“More than 17,500 Britons have applied to the Government’s vaccine damage payment scheme (VDPS) believing they or loved ones were injured by the jab.”
“Most of the successful vaccine harm claims relate to the AstraZeneca jab, which was found to cause vaccine-induced thrombocytopenia and thrombosis, a dangerous type of blood clotting which can be fatal.”
Dodsworth: ‘That’s Not Public Health, It’s Propaganda’
Author Laura Dodsworth said:
“The government was in close contact with broadcasters to ensure the ‘right’ messages made it into entertainment – that’s not public health, it’s propaganda.”
“Take EastEnders. Patrick and Suki dutifully pushed the jab, while ‘Karen’ (white, and literally named Karen) voiced concerns and was ridiculed. It was heavy-handed, awkward and divisive. Propaganda often works by polarisation: creating in-groups and out-groups to shut down debate. There’s a word for this: manipulation.”
Academics & Campaigners Warn of Collusion
Dr. Colin Alexander of Nottingham Trent University stated:
“What the FoI request information thus confirms is that broadcasters relinquished their primary democratic role of holding the powerful to account and instead became collusive with the official narrative.”
“This at a time when scrutiny and investigation ought to have been at its highest.”
Molly Kingsley of UsForThem added:
“This kind of brazen state interference with British media crosses multiple red lines.”
“It indicates that the state-led pandemic censorship operation extended beyond ‘merely’ social media, and it raises serious questions about the integrity of messages broadcast to the public during the pandemic.”
ITV & BBC Respond
ITV said:
“All of this was entirely editorially independent of the Government and any other body or interest group.”
A BBC spokesman said:
“The BBC is independent and makes its own editorial decisions. This does not mean that we cannot meet representatives from the government or from political parties, and, like other broadcasters, we do so.”
‘We’re Being Entertained Into Compliance’
Dodsworth concluded:
“There’s a growing trend of public policy delivered through storylines – we’re being entertained into compliance. What better to wash your brain with than with a soap?”
And if the government quietly weaponized entertainment to coerce pandemic compliance, how else is this machinery being used?
If vaccine propaganda was planted in prime time without public knowledge, what other narratives are now shaping public thought, behavior, and consent?
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