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When I was very little, and out in London for the day, I saw a man with no nose, just holes in his face. I was very frightened at the time, and the image haunted my dreams for some time afterwards. It's an image I can still mentally see.
Perhaps it's true that seeing people who aren't the same as we'd expect can be frightening. But fear doesn't have to be the reaction - maybe it stems from lack of knowledge, understanding, and empathy. Maybe also from a lack of appreciation of an essential personhood - as campaigners for those with disabilities say, "see the person, not the disability". There certainly were, historically, religious connotations too. Later I was also taught that disability is a social construction. That doesn't deny that people's bodies work in different ways - but brings home the concept that disability, thereby exclusion, is also created. An example would be not having ramps and access for people who use wheelchairs.
Parents who complained perhaps should look carefully at themselves, and look also at what they are teaching their children and why. I'm with Chris on this - maybe one way, if the parents have difficulties, would have been for the BBC to send in response a couple of books written for children, about differences, to read together, or maybe, if reading doesn't happen in that particular family situation, an AV production.
Having said that, here is a thought. If we are promoting a multicultural or diverse society, to what extent are we prepared to accept as valid a view that disability is frightening or should be concealed?