Doctor Who airline explosion episode sparks complaints following Egypt crash

Ofcom received 30 complaints in total

Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman will star in Doctor Who series 8 in August (BBC)

Doctor Who’s latest adventure sparked off a number of complaints after parallels were drawn between an on-screen explosion and the recent Egyptian plane crash.

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom received 30 complaints over the weekend about the Doctor Who episode The Zygon Invasion.

In it, the Doctor’s (Peter Capaldi) companion, Clara (Jenna Coleman) has an evil clone, who shoots down an airplane with a missile.

Viewers were quick to brand the episode offensive and incentive as it was broadcast just days after a Russian airplane crashed in Egypt, killing all 224 people on board.

A BBC spokesman told Contact Music: "The episode was signposted as science fiction and no one died in the scene.” Ofcom has yet to decide whether to investigate.

This isn’t the first time viewers have complained about the Doctor’s travels through time and space.

Last year, six people complained to the watchdog about a lesbian kiss involving lizard-woman Madame Vastra and her human wife Jenny Flint.

Ofcom did not investigate, saying at the time: "Our rules do not discriminate between scenes involving opposite sex and same sex couples.”