UK NEWS

VIOLENT EASTENDERS RAISES VIEWERS’ HACKLES

Plotline that had Tanya Branning drugging and burying husband Max were singled out for criticism

Wednesday July 9,2008

By Elisa Roche Showbusiness Editor

EASTENDERS attracted more complaints than any other BBC programme in the last 12 months, it emerged yesterday.

The BBC1 soap was the subject of 5,500 complaints, more than double that of any other BBC programme.

The Corporation dealt with about 124,000 unsolicited complaints in 2007-08, according to its annual report.

Issues ranged from the BBC not referring to The Kurdistan Workers’ Party as a terrorist organisation to the Corporation losing the rights to broadcast Neighbours.

Last month it was ruled that two episodes of EastEnders that showed the drugging and live burial of Max Branning by his wife Tanya breached broadcasting standards.

The regulator Ofcom received 116 complaints from viewers about scenes and the storyline and the BBC a further 600.

The watchdog body said at the time: “Taken as a whole, the scenes of the burial alive shown in both episodes had a seriously disturbing element to them.

“Overall, the storyline and its treatment had more in common with a dark psychological thriller than a pre-watershed drama.”

Ofcom added that it found the scenes involving the burial were “harrowing and dark in nature”.

Earlier this year the watchdog also ruled that the soap had breached TV regulations in an episode that showed a gang attack on the Queen Vic pub.