'Casualty' Scottish drug jibe attracts 60 complaints

An episode of Casualty has attracted more than 60 complaints over a line of dialogue that described drug abuse as a "national pastime" of Scotland.

Outraged viewers bombarded the BBC after seeing English doctor Nick Jordan (Michael French) make potentially offensive comments to Scottish junior Lenny Lyons (Steven Miller) as they attempted to save the life of a heroin addict.

In the pertinent scenes, Jordan tells an uncomfortable Lyons: "I thought you would be more sympathetic to heroin users... You are Scottish. It's a national pastime."

"This is just insulting nonsense, which has no basis in fact," MSP Jackie Baillie told the Daily Record. "They should not engage in this type of ill-informed cultural stereotyping."

In response to the episode, a BBC spokesperson clarified that Dr Jordan's jibe had not been intended as a comment on the integrity of Scottish people as a whole.

"Dr Lyons is well known to viewers as a patriotic and passionate Scot," a spokesperson said. "His banter with Dr Jordan about his lack of sympathy towards the death of a drug addict is a reflection of his hot-headed temperament and strong moral code. There was no intention to cause any offence to viewers."

Casualty was reprimanded by Ofcom in 2007 for airing graphic scenes in a pre-watershed slot without a warning.