Did Greek TV Censor 'Downton Abbey' Gay Kiss?

We had heard the hints that Downton Abbey's dastardly Thomas would finally find love this season, with actor Rob James-Collier, who plays the character, saying he finds "forbidden" love. Now the kiss from season 1 of the popular British TV show is causing unexpected shockwaves since a Greek TV channel is accused of censoring Thomas's kiss with another man.

According to The Guardian, it's become a political cause, with Greek people using social networking sites to "complain about the NET channel's decision to axe a scene from episode one of the series showing a kiss between a visiting duke and Downton's unscrupulous footman Thomas. NET defended its move, citing parental guidance viewing rules."

"As incredible as it may seem for a democratic country in the 21st century, officials of the NET television channel censored the scene of a kiss between men from the TV drama Downton Abbey," the Syriza party said in a statement. "This is of course an obvious case of censorship, an extreme act of homophobia and discrimination which unfortunately, after what has been happening recently, we cannot characterise as unprecedented."

But Greek state television said the kiss wasn't censored but rather "edited out to comply with rules on the time slot and parental consent label given to the show, which was aired at 10.05pm."

"The love affair between the two men ... was not censored," said Costas Spyropoulos, managing director of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. "The kiss was not shown because of the time the program was broadcast and the corresponding parental guidance warnings."

We will get our own chance to see the infamous kiss stateside later this fall when it airs on PBS.