Doctor Who fans were left stunned after tonight’s episode showed a plane being shot down with a missile – just a week after Russian jet tragedy.
Previously, Clara (Jenna Coleman) was replaced by a doppelganger in the BBC show and tried to bring down the plane carrying the Doctor and Osgood, which has now been shown in shocking re-cap scenes.
Fans were not impressed and hit out at bosses for their bad timing.
One follower wrote: “@BBC maybe in light of recent events showing a plane being shot down in Doctor who was a bit insensitive? Or don’t Russian lives matter?”
Another posted on the social media site: “#DoctorWho shooting down a plane? This could be the end of Doctor Who, bad scripts, insensitive; it’s a shame but nail in the coffin.”
A BBC Spokesperson said: “Part two of the Zygon Invasion saw a duplicate Clara use a bazooka in an attempt to kill The Doctor on a plane.
“The episode was clearly signposted as science fiction set in a fantasy world and no one died in the scene.”
Clara can be seen in tonight’s episode watching live TV footage from her living room of her ‘shape shifting zygon’ shooting down the plane while she tries to control her.
Viewers were left gob-smacked as the plane is blown up in mid-air and two parachutes can be seen floating down.
One viewer wrote on Twitter: “How insensitive #bbc #doctorwho people died this week on a plane crash! Shocking.”
Another also expressed their concern ahead of the episode on November 1, writing: “I wonder if the BBC was worried about the ‘plane being shot out of the sky’ on Doctor Who last night, just hours after the Russian crash.”
The camera then pans over the wreckage of the aircraft in the opening sequence and a woman can be seen desperately wriggling out of one of the parachute.
Airbus A321 crashed down six days ago just 23 minutes into its flight from Egypt to Russia killing all 224 passengers and cabin crew on board.
Air crash investigators have successfully managed to read the contents of its black box in a bid to discover what brought the plane down, according to reports.
One expert told a French newspaper the certain cause of the crash was not a technical fault or pilot error but a bomb brought in from outside and planted in the plane.
