Anger at EE Coffin Scene

[Jojo]

From BBC News:

A scene in BBC One soap EastEnders which showed a character being buried alive has prompted 167 complaints.

The episode, shown at 2000 GMT on Friday night, showed character Max Branning being buried alive in a coffin by his wife and her lover.

Viewers complained that it should not have been shown before the 2100 watershed because children could find it disturbing.

The BBC said the number of complaints was proportionately small.

"EastEnders is known for its dramatic and gripping storylines and, from a total audience of 10 million, the number of complaints is relatively small," a spokeswoman said.

Gang attack

In the episode, viewers saw Max's wife, Tanya, spike his drink, causing him to collapse.

She and her lover, Sean Slater, then drove Max to woodland where they buried him alive in a coffin.

Last month, Ofcom ruled that the soap had breached TV regulations in an episode showing a gang attack on the Queen Vic pub.

It said EastEnders had shown "sustained violence, intimidation and menace" inappropriate for a pre-watershed audience in the scene.

[Pinkbanana]

I honestly didnt think it was bad....I would like to know how many peeps complained...a handful? Yet the papers are making it into a story!!! Must be a very slow news day....

[Jojo]

I honestly didnt think it was bad....I would like to know how many peeps complained...a handful? Yet the papers are making it into a story!!! Must be a very slow news day....

167 according to that report. Which when you look at the number of viewers - very tiny minority isn't it

[Pinkbanana]

Cheers. 167 viewers out of what 8/9 million???! Yeah, EE probably gets that number of people complaining about storylines etc...on a regular basis....Soooo the papers therefore trying to make this non story into a story....:thumbsdow


I would have thought more people would have complained about the episode when Lucy and 'friends' were trashing the Beale abode!!

[Jessie Wallace]

Basically 167 people with nothing better to do with their time, and if they are worried about there children watching it then put them to bed, or just don't let them watched it. And if you have kids stop writing stupid letter's and go and look after them! :D

(And yes i'm having a bad day!)

[Abbie]

For godsake this is getting ridiculous now!!!!!
Soon enough all we will be watching are boring chats in the pub cos of all the complaints wont let the writers do anything else
Oh hang on, chats in the pub might promote too much drinking if whole episodes are in there, so it will have to set outside!! But then again maybe people will complain that they'll be too cold

[Bryan]

people need to get a life, honestly - sad acts

[miccisy]

I cant believe someone would complain about a soap. I mean thats all it is... a soap... make believe. It wasnt that bad n i cant believe some people must have such sad lives that they have to complain about a soap. Saddos

[DaVeyWaVey]

To be honest, I didn't think the scenes were that bad. I don't know why people complained - if parents thought it was unnecessary for their children to watch, why didn't they just switch over or stop their children from watching it? Viewers knew what they were expecting with the episode really, as Tanya burying Max, was heavily publicised in the media.

Personally, I wasn't offended and I actually like the fact that Eastenders are pushing the boundaries in what they show before the watershed, instead of taking the safe option, that they know will please all viewers.

[Jojo]

You have hit the nail on the head there Dave. It was well publicised what was going to happen, so if you let your children watch - its down to the parents.

[inkyskin]

What's the matter with these people!..why can't they just turn the tv over!......sheesh,some people have nothing better to do than to complain about what's on tv,i bet half of them have the bbc's number on speed dial!

[thestud2k7]

Do they know they have an off switch or another 4 channels apart from bbc1

get an life

[JustJodi]

guess some curtain twitchers have BBC on their speed dial when they have nothing better to do. it is in the Dutch newspapers too,,:searchme:

[Lizzie Brookes]

I didn't have a problem with it - it was better than I thought it would be. I remember thinking that Friday Octber 12th would be quite violent with the stalker storyline hitting its dramatic conclusion but it wasn't and that was one of my favourite storylines ever. I admit I turned my face awaty when Jase's enemies smashed the pub but I didn't make a fuss about it being on before 9 and actuallyZoe finding out Kat was her mum and the Trevor/Little Mo storylines were shown when I was 12 before 9.00 and I wasn't too disturbed by it. It's silly that they should make a fuss. I think actually some children have more resilience than adults do. Friday's scene wasn't too bad and yesterday's was fatastic. Max and Tanya make a good on screen couple and I hope after Jake's leave they get back together.

[StarsOfCCTV]

From DS:
:thumbsdow

A internal BBC report has upheld complaints about the EastEnders storyline in which character Max Branning was drugged and buried alive.

Episodes of the soap on March 21 and 24 prompted three people to complain to the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit that they were inappropriate for broadcast before the watershed. Max was buried by his wife Tanya, who later rescued him.

In its ruling, the unit said programme makers had "extensive consultation" on how to present the storyline. There was no explicit physical violence and producers thought it would "not exceed the expectations of the audience".

Ofcom is also investigating the episodes and a decision is expected in coming months.

The Complaints Unit statement continued: "The nature of the response registered with BBC Information (and with Ofcom) suggested that the emotional impact of the storyline was somewhat stronger than had been considered likely, and that it had caused upset among a segment of the audience which was neither anticipated nor intended."

The EastEnders production team has discussed the finding and promised to take it into account in future stories.

[Abigail]

A internal BBC report has upheld complaints about the EastEnders storyline in which character Max Branning was drugged and buried alive.

Episodes of the soap on March 21 and 24 prompted three people to complain to the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit that they were inappropriate for broadcast before the watershed. Max was buried by his wife Tanya, who later rescued him.

In its ruling, the unit said programme makers had "extensive consultation" on how to present the storyline. There was no explicit physical violence and producers thought it would "not exceed the expectations of the audience".

Ofcom is also investigating the episodes and a decision is expected in coming months.

The Complaints Unit statement continued: "The nature of the response registered with BBC Information (and with Ofcom) suggested that the emotional impact of the storyline was somewhat stronger than had been considered likely, and that it had caused upset among a segment of the audience which was neither anticipated nor intended."

The EastEnders production team has discussed the finding and promised to take it into account in future stories.

Gosh OFCOM are busy these days. Out of the several million people who watched those episode, three conplaints is a very small segment of the audience. Obviously the majority of people who watched either weren't affected by the scenes or had better things to do than complain to OFCOM.

[di marco]

A internal BBC report has upheld complaints about the EastEnders storyline in which character Max Branning was drugged and buried alive.

Episodes of the soap on March 21 and 24 prompted three people to complain to the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit that they were inappropriate for broadcast before the watershed. Max was buried by his wife Tanya, who later rescued him.

In its ruling, the unit said programme makers had "extensive consultation" on how to present the storyline. There was no explicit physical violence and producers thought it would "not exceed the expectations of the audience".

Ofcom is also investigating the episodes and a decision is expected in coming months.

The Complaints Unit statement continued: "The nature of the response registered with BBC Information (and with Ofcom) suggested that the emotional impact of the storyline was somewhat stronger than had been considered likely, and that it had caused upset among a segment of the audience which was neither anticipated nor intended."

The EastEnders production team has discussed the finding and promised to take it into account in future stories.

Gosh OFCOM are busy these days. Out of the several million people who watched those episode, three conplaints is a very small segment of the audience. Obviously the majority of people who watched either weren't affected by the scenes or had better things to do than complain to OFCOM.

i know, when i read this on digital spy i was like whats the point if it was only 3 people its hardly a mass complaint!

[Perdita]

That this would be happening was widely advertised, I imagine that the people who watched this episode did not accidently watch a soap they don't normally watch, I also presume that most people buy a TV guide, where this was also mentioned in all the guides I have seen on sale, so why would they complain? And if they find too horrendous, they should have switched over to another channel or turned the telly off alltogether. The complainants do not appear to have much of a live, in my opinion.

[Abigail]

That this would be happening was widely advertised, I imagine that the people who watched this episode did not accidently watch a soap they don't normally watch, I also presume that most people buy a TV guide, where this was also mentioned in all the guides I have seen on sale, so why would they complain? And if they find too horrendous, they should have switched over to another channel or turned the telly off alltogether. The complainants do not appear to have much of a live, in my opinion.

:clap:

Well said. If people aren't happy with what they see on tv they should change the channel. There's more to life than deliberately watching a program to find something to complain about.

I know OFCOM are duty-bound to investigate all complaints but come on, three people out of millions that watched? Hardly significant enough to warrant an expensive investigation.

[Katy]

i dont get how three people is a small segmant of EE viewing figures. I know they have gone down recently but not that much! 3000 maybe!