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19th Sep 2022

Channel 5 praised for showing The Emoji Movie instead of Queen’s funeral

April Curtin

‘Fair enough Channel 5’

Channel 5 is being celebrated for becoming the only mainstream broadcaster not to show the Queen’s funeral – instead opting for ‘The Emoji Movie’.

News of the channel’s alternative option came to light late last week. Channel 5 will air the cartoon comedy at the same time as the funeral service on Monday morning, followed by ‘Stuart Little’ and ‘Ice Age 3’.

Around 4.1 billion people are expected to tune in to watch the service for the late monarch, which is anticipated to become the most-watched TV event of all time. That’s over double the world’s 2 billion-person population when the Queen was born in 1926.

But looking at social media, there still seems to be a fair few who instead opted for Channel 5’s alternative.

https://twitter.com/NoContextBrits/status/1571805243637219329

 

While some clearly found The Emoji Movie a humorous choice, others have praised the broadcaster for showing a kid-friendly film while the funeral dominates other channels.

“A sensible decision for which they should be applauded,” one person wrote.

Channel 5 still paused The Emoji Movie for a two minute silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II.

CBBC will also be showing films as an alternative to the funeral, airing movies like ‘The Boy in the Dress’ and the timeless ‘Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers.’

Channel 4 will air the funeral, followed by a repeat of a 1953 documentary on The Queen’s Coronation, and the Vera Lynn film ‘We’ll Meet Again.’

BBC One will be airing the funeral from 8am to 5pm, with the same broadcast being shown on BBC Two with British sign language interpretation. All ITV and Sky channels will also be simulcasting the funeral.