Born From The Same Stranger – a new documentary series narrated by Davina McCall – started on ITV last night (January 22).
Made by the team behind Long Lost Family, Born From The Same Stranger follows donor-born people as they search for brothers, sisters and anonymous donors who never imagined they could be found.
The first episode followed children who were conceived using donor sperm in the 1990s, when donors were promised complete anonymity.
But the four-part series comes as a UK law change takes effect. It sees donor anonymity disappear and anyone conceived by donation after 2005 able to find out more details about their identity when they turn 18.
Born From The Same Stranger complaints pour in
However, despite the highly emotive subject matter, the key complaint on social media wasn’t actually about the content of the series itself, but rather how it was presented on screen…
As those seen taking part in the show were seen explaining their stories, text message boxed popped up on screen. These showed conversations between donor-born people including Liam and Sarah, whose stories featured on the show.
Liam had one for the DNA matches he finds. Sarah, meanwhile, had the support of a group of people who have been through the same experience as her (we won’t spoil it for you, in case you want to watch on ITVX).
However, viewers seemed to find the messages popping up – complete with keypad typing tones – pretty off-putting. And many commented that they were completely “unreadable”.
“Who decided on the green/white text box on #bornfromthesamestranger it’s really difficult to read, please change for future programmes,” urged one viewer. Another added: “The green text messages are unreadable.” “Struggling read the white text on green background. Really interesting though,” said a third.
‘Really struggling’
“Very interesting programme indeed, but really struggling with the white texting on a luminous green background. Did no one check how this would present on screen?” asked another. “Completely agree. It’s totally illegible. @ITV – do you road-test these things ? How do you put something out for broadcast when parts are so obviously incomprehensible?”
Another even called for the graphic designer responsible to be sacked.
“Terrible illegible typography. Graphic designer need sacking,” one viewer told ITV.
Born From The Same Stranger returns on Monday (January 29) at 9pm on ITV. Or catch up on ITVX.
Read more: Davina McCall’s shock admission about her ‘drug of choice’
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