Homeland producers deny storyline changes induced by Charlie Hebdo attacks

Showtime president says the show’s writer-producer might find a fresh antagonist for CIA case officer Carrie...

Producers of the controversial American television series Homeland say there is no connection between the Charlie Hebdo attacks and their decision to move the show’s storyline away from extremist threats, The Independent reported on Tuesday.

Showtime president David Nevins said the show’s writer-producer may find a fresh antagonist for CIA case officer Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes, but insisted that the change would be made for creative reasons and to avoid repetition.

Nevins was speaking with journalists at the Television Critics Association press tour.

“We’re not necessarily going to stay [with addressing] US relations in the Muslim world. The real franchise of the show is how difficult it is to be America in the world in the 21st century, how difficult the choices are,” Nevins said, Entertainment Weekly reported. “I think that’s a story that will remain relevant for as long as they can come up with new stories.”

Nevins did concede, however, that “it’s a bit of a scary time to be a maker of controversial, political truth. It’s been a bad month for free speech around the world,” in light of the Charlie Hebdo shootings and North Korea’s alleged hacking of Sony.

“I hope [the attacks are] not considered at all,” he added. “I really, really don’t want there to be any limitations. I don’t expect there will be. They never shied away from anything difficult. I want them to go right into the teeth of it again.”

Late last month Pakistani officials expressed their displeasure at the negative portrayal of the country’s spy agencies in the show's fourth season.

Pakistani Embassy spokesperson in Washington Nadeem Hotiana had stated that “repeated insinuations that an intelligence agency of Pakistan” is harbouring terrorists at the expense of Pakistani citizens are “absurd”. He had also termed the wrongful depiction of the country an “insult” to the countless lives of Pakistani security officers that were lost in the war against terrorism.