Jase's Death Gets 134 Complaints

[RitaLittlewood]

From the Daily Mail:

EastEnders knife murder leads to 134 complaints

By Paul Revoir
Last updated at 12:14 AM on 30th August 2008

Violent scenes in a prewatershed episode of East-Enders have once again led to scores of complaints.

The BBC received angry responses from 134 viewers after a character was shown being killed on its flagship soap opera this week.

Thursday night's episode saw the death of character Jase Dyer, played by Stephen Lord, as he was set upon by a criminal gang who stabbed him.

Scenes afterwards depicted the character's dead body lying in a hospital.

One viewer complained the episode had left his wife ' physically sick' while his 13-year-old son was reduced to tears.

Yesterday the BBC defended the scenes claiming that the actual violence was 'implied rather than explicit'.

The corporation said it had made it 'clear from the outset' that the character's life was in serious jeopardy.

A statement from BBC bosses said: 'This was the climax of a long-running story involving Jase and his former "firm", and we believe this was the outcome that many viewers would have been anticipating in the context of this storyline.

'Whilst issues of violence and knife crime may be in the news currently, they were not glamorised or glorified in any way within this episode, rather we saw the devastating consequences of such actions and the clear message was that crime does not pay.'

It admitted that some viewers would have found images of the dead body uncomfortable, but said it was part of showing the emotion of the story.

The broadcaster claimed it had 'signaled' the nature of the content of the episode through the pre-programme continuity announcement and billings.

Media regulator Ofcom censured the BBC in June this year for EastEnders scenes in which a character was drugged and buried alive.

The regulator had received 116 complaints from viewers who said the scenes featuring character Max Branning were 'unsuitable' for the time when they were aired.

In February the BBC1 soap was once again found to have breached TV regulations after showing a gang attack on the Queen Vic pub.

The episode also showed a pregnant woman going into premature labour after being knocked over during a fight.

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I hadn't even realised he'd been stabbed until it was said. I thought they'd just kicked the crap out of him.

Patsy

[*Ishtar*]

I don't get what the big deal is, the aim is to get an emotional response, so doesn't someone crying just show that they're doing their jobs properly.

The violence was implied, you never saw him get stabbed, it just looked like he was being hit, which all eastenders viewers should be used to seeing by now, besides, over the years people have been pushed off of bridges and cliffs, the vic has been raided, people have been shot, how many complaints did they get, because you can hardly say that those aren't violent.

[RitaLittlewood]

That is very true, Ishtar, and I agree with everything you've said. There has been worse. I could understand if you saw a flash of the blade and it going in but that was never shown. I remember when Brian Tilsley was stabbed in Corrie. The original ep did that and there were complaints so they cut it from the omnibus. No complaints about him being stabbed at all, just the knife.

Patsy