BBC defends EastEnders burial scene after complaints
Wednesday, 26 Mar 2008 14:44
Complaints to BBC after EastEnders scene in which Jake Wood's character was buried alive
The BBC has responded to complaints from around 600 viewers after a scene in EastEnders in which a character was buried alive.
The scene in question showed Max Branning (Jake Wood) being drugged by his wife Tanya (Jo Joyner) and put into a grave dug by her lover Sean Slater (Robert Kazinsky) and has provoked viewers' ire after being shown before the 21:00 GMT watershed.
The BBC has said it is sorry that some audience members "did not enjoy" the episode, which was shown on Friday at 20:00 GMT, but said the burial was "implicit, rather than explicit".
The dramatic storyline occurred after Tanya Branning discovered her husband Max's affair with Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) in the EastEnders Christmas Day episode.
However the BBC said it believed audiences would have been expecting an explosive culmination to the long-running storyline and said it made an effort to alert viewers to the shocking scenes.
A statement on the BBC complaints website also added that Max escaped from the coffin after Tanya was unable to go through with her plan.
"The burial is in no way glamorised or glorified, rather we see that when pushed to the edge, Tanya's behaviour becomes out of character, and indeed that it's Tanya herself who ultimately suffers because of her actions," the statement continued.
"We took great care to signal the nature of the content to the audience through pre-programme announcements, billings and programme publicity in order to prepare viewers for what to expect."