Watership Down bunny slaughter: how much less brutal is this new series? We crunched the numbers The BBC’s new adaptation of Richard Adams’ Watership Down is far less bloody than the 1978 film. Here are the rabbit deaths by numbers

This weekend, the BBC will broadcast its long-awaited adaptation of Watership Down, Richard Adams’ classic children’s novel from 1972 about a band of refugee rabbits. It comes 40 years after the story’s first on-screen incarnation – the gruesome antithesis to a rosy Disney fairytale – and mathematically speaking, it’s about 80 per cent less bloody than its predecessor.

The horrors depicted in the story about rabbits fleeing a housing development have been scarring children and adults alike for decades. A whopping 63 rabbits die on-screen in the original 91 minute film. That’s an average of seven fluffy buns dead every 10 minutes, though over half these deaths actually occur in one nightmarish sequence, just 40 minutes into the film.

i's TV newsletter: what you should watch next Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

It still carries a U classification, something the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) admitted in 2016 they’ve received complaints about “almost every year since its classification”, and children accustomed to much more advanced graphics and technology than directors Martin Rosen and John Hubley had at their disposal in the 1970s were left traumatised when Channel 5 aired the shocking animation as an afternoon family film on Easter Sunday two years in a row.

For those horrified by the carnage of the original, the thought of a longer, HD version of the tale of warring warrens might not exactly seem Christmassy. But the makers of the new mini-series have been clear: this one won’t be such a bloodbath.

Rory Aitken, executive producer on the long-running project, promised the new series won’t be “as brutal and scarring”, which is, supposedly, no bad thing.

Compared to the 63 rabbits killed on-screen in the 1978 film, the whole 200-minute mini-series exposes viewers to just 14 rabbit deaths, which is a 350 per cent decrease

The question is, just how much less gory is it? And should viewers be shielded from the brutality of the natural world?

With lush CGI fields, a band of new-look, bright-eyed bunnies voiced by cast of cuddly British actors like Olivia Colman, Anne-Marie Duff and James McAvoy, has the new version been reduced to a cosy British countryside drama like Doc Martin?

On-screen snuffs

Firstly, let’s look at deaths.

Compared to the 63 rabbits killed on-screen in the 1978 film, the whole 200-minute mini-series exposes viewers to just 14 rabbit deaths, which is a 350 per cent decrease. In this much longer retelling, we lose an average of one bunny every 14 minutes, rather than seven bunnies every 10 minutes.

if(“undefined”==typeof window.datawrapper)window.datawrapper={};window.datawrapper[“30AB0”]={},window.datawrapper[“30AB0”].embedDeltas={“100″:685,”200″:534,”300″:467,”400″:442,”500″:400,”700″:400,”800″:400,”900″:400,”1000”:375},window.datawrapper[“30AB0”].iframe=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-30AB0”),window.datawrapper[“30AB0”].iframe.style.height=window.datawrapper[“30AB0”].embedDeltas[Math.min(1e3,Math.max(100*Math.floor(window.datawrapper[“30AB0″].iframe.offsetWidth/100),100))]+”px”,window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(“undefined”!=typeof a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var b in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])if(“30AB0″==b)window.datawrapper[“30AB0”].iframe.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][b]+”px”});

How do the rabbits die?

These charts break down how the bunnies meet their end in both adaptations.

if(“undefined”==typeof window.datawrapper)window.datawrapper={};window.datawrapper[“Y1Tj7”]={},window.datawrapper[“Y1Tj7”].embedDeltas={“100″:623,”200″:539,”300″:497,”400″:497,”500″:480,”700″:480,”800″:480,”900″:480,”1000”:480},window.datawrapper[“Y1Tj7”].iframe=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-Y1Tj7”),window.datawrapper[“Y1Tj7”].iframe.style.height=window.datawrapper[“Y1Tj7”].embedDeltas[Math.min(1e3,Math.max(100*Math.floor(window.datawrapper[“Y1Tj7″].iframe.offsetWidth/100),100))]+”px”,window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(“undefined”!=typeof a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var b in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])if(“Y1Tj7″==b)window.datawrapper[“Y1Tj7”].iframe.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][b]+”px”});

Looking at the postmortem, you wonder whether the cultural seed for things like Andy Riley’s Bunny Suicides books (possibly the only media to kill more rabbits in a shorter time span than this), or the use of rabbits as missiles and window cleaning devices in 2006 animation Over the Hedge wasn’t planted in this cartoon.

if(“undefined”==typeof window.datawrapper)window.datawrapper={};window.datawrapper[“cpKOZ”]={},window.datawrapper[“cpKOZ”].embedDeltas={“100″:404,”200″:354,”300″:329,”400″:329,”500″:329,”700″:329,”800″:329,”900″:329,”1000”:329},window.datawrapper[“cpKOZ”].iframe=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-cpKOZ”),window.datawrapper[“cpKOZ”].iframe.style.height=window.datawrapper[“cpKOZ”].embedDeltas[Math.min(1e3,Math.max(100*Math.floor(window.datawrapper[“cpKOZ”].iframe.offsetWidth/100),100))]+”px”,window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(“undefined”!=typeof a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var b in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])if(“cpKOZ”==b)window.datawrapper[“cpKOZ”].iframe.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][b]+”px”});

Included in these numbers are two of the most upsetting scenes, even though they don’t technically include full-on bunny dust-biting: Fiver’s journey to find his brother Hazel after he’s been shot by a farmer (soundtracked in the original by when Art Garfunkel’s tearjerking ‘Bright Eyes’) and Bigwig choking up blood as his friends try and free him from a snare.

These instances have been counted as on-screen deaths, because they are as gory as many of the actual deaths, and in both cases the rabbits are believed dead long enough for it to traumatise a child.

Though more restrained in every other category, the new adaptation shows more deaths at the hands of other rabbits

These key scenes take place in both adaptations, but Bigwig’s struggle in particular is far less graphic in the new edition. (‘Bright Eyes’ doesn’t make an appearance in the new series, but Sam Smith croons something far less memorable over the credits.)

Though more restrained in every other category, the new adaptation shows more deaths at the hands of other rabbits. This adds up: with more time to play with, the new series has some extensive paw-to-paw combat scenes. At some moments, when the brassy orchestral number kicks in, or the scripting gets gratingly Hollywood, you feel it has its sights on being a bunny Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.

It’s not all about what you see

The original film shows every death but one, while 24 rabbits deaths are included but not seen in the new series.

if(“undefined”==typeof window.datawrapper)window.datawrapper={};window.datawrapper[“sPNo5”]={},window.datawrapper[“sPNo5”].embedDeltas={“100″:594,”200″:476,”300″:459,”400″:417,”500″:417,”700″:400,”800″:400,”900″:400,”1000”:400},window.datawrapper[“sPNo5”].iframe=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-sPNo5”),window.datawrapper[“sPNo5”].iframe.style.height=window.datawrapper[“sPNo5”].embedDeltas[Math.min(1e3,Math.max(100*Math.floor(window.datawrapper[“sPNo5″].iframe.offsetWidth/100),100))]+”px”,window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(“undefined”!=typeof a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var b in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])if(“sPNo5″==b)window.datawrapper[“sPNo5”].iframe.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][b]+”px”});

It’s clear that the new series contains quantifiably less bloodletting than the original animation. What can’t be measured in the numbers is the effect.

One of the things people love most about Watership Down is the violent picture it painted of the quaint British countryside. Making rural farmhouses and hedgerows the centre of bloody dramas is what made Midsomer Murders so popular, too. Richard Adams denied that there was any political meaning behind his story, but it is unmistakably informed by his experiences in the army. A story so centred on war, exile and an epic struggle for survival can’t be told faithfully without some horror.

Sixty-three per cent of deaths are taken out of shot in the new series, but they are not forgotten altogether. As in the first film, most of the deaths that take place are still caused by humans, and the shockwaves caused by man-made construction, machinery and hunting are as keenly felt.

On screen v off screen in percentages:

if(“undefined”==typeof window.datawrapper)window.datawrapper={};window.datawrapper[“5ptV8”]={},window.datawrapper[“5ptV8”].embedDeltas={“100″:743,”200″:584,”300″:567,”400″:525,”500″:525,”700″:500,”800″:500,”900″:500,”1000”:500},window.datawrapper[“5ptV8”].iframe=document.getElementById(“datawrapper-chart-5ptV8”),window.datawrapper[“5ptV8”].iframe.style.height=window.datawrapper[“5ptV8”].embedDeltas[Math.min(1e3,Math.max(100*Math.floor(window.datawrapper[“5ptV8″].iframe.offsetWidth/100),100))]+”px”,window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(“undefined”!=typeof a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var b in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])if(“5ptV8″==b)window.datawrapper[“5ptV8”].iframe.style.height=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][b]+”px”});

The new adaptation has less blood and less death; the number of scenes that start with reflections in water (four) is disconcertingly high, and the bright green CGI warrens with giant burrows look offputtingly similar to Teletubbyland. But the benefit of extra time allows space to build in exciting things like backstory, character arcs, and light relief, which the first film found hard to include in 91 minutes.

Perhaps it’s 2018 talking, but the tragic politics of it all feels a little more raw

More time has been devoted to the hollow sadness of Cowslip’s warren, where rabbits are fed handsomely by local farmers, but snares are set in exchange. Perhaps it’s 2018 talking, but the tragic politics of it all feels a little more raw. And though it may not be as gory, one particular murder at the paws of General Woundwort’s army in the final siege tugs on the heartstrings more than expected.

It depends if you prefer your killings shocking and frequent or poetic and moving, but while the bloodshed this time may well be less scarring, it is not necessarily any less poignant.

Watership Down begins on Saturday, 22 December, BBC1 at 7pm