 The ninth series saw the programme have to answer allegations of animal cruelty against a ventriloquist, while the producers caused controversy over the handling of O'Dwyer's performance in the final that Ofcom later ruled to have been misleading following complaints by viewers.Following open auditions held the previous year between October to December, the Judges' auditions took place between January and February 2015, within Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and London.Unlike previous years, where a guest judge had to stand-in for another, no issues occurred that caused a member of the judging panel to be absent, while the auditions were held in a more standard manner for this year, though with the "Golden Buzzer" format remaining a part of them since its introduction to the show in the previous series.