Prominent classicist and fellow of Newnham College, Mary Beard, has been ‘cut’ from the US version of the BBC documentary series, Civilisations.

Beard, who presents the series alongside historians Simon Schama and David Olusoga, claims that the American version of the show, which airs on PBS, has been heavily edited with her on-screen presence reduced and sections featuring her being drastically altered.

Beard speculated the decision was due to the fact she is a “creaky 63 year old grey haired lady that doesn’t quite fit the bill”.

In a tweet, Beard said the episodes aired in the United States were “very different from original BBC versions” and “have been drastically changed”, specifically mentioning the changes made to the episode focussing on religion “is now much more heavily focussed on Christianity which it wasn’t in BBC version.”

Dr Priyamvada Gopal, a senior lecturer in the English Faculty and a fellow of Churchill College described the decision as “an absolute unacceptable misogynist outrage” and called on the BBC to withdraw broadcasting rights from PBS.

The decision has also raised a wider conversation on the representation of women in the media, with Channel 4 journalist Cathy Newman calling Beard “on of our most treasured classicists” and saying that it is “quite wrong if TV bosses want women to conform”.

In a statement, a spokesperson from PBS said “We value Ms Beard’s contributions to the series, and regret to learn of her criticism, however the PBS version was always intended to be a different presentational style from the BBC version.”