EE: Violence complaints upheld

[pirtybirdy]

I just watched a Little House on the Prairie yesterday, and let me tell you, Laura and Nellie came an inch close of going over a waterfall! They were spared their lives at the last minute when their nest of tree branches they were holding on to snagged on a rock. That was so intense and quite traumatizing! ;-)

[faceless]

Those Wilders! They're always up to something ever-so-slightly dangerous!

(Wilder was their name wasn't it?)

[eefanincan]

[pirtybirdy]

Yup, you would be correct eefan. To this day, I still want to beat the crap out of Nellie, and how old is that show and how old am I? LOL!!

[eefanincan]

Well, I don't know how old the show is, but I watched it as a kid and I'm 38.

[eefanincan]

[pirtybirdy]

This reminds me that I took a picture of a very large spider on a very large web at my father's house in December. I think I'll upload it in the picture section later..LOL!

[eefanincan]

[faceless]

haha - the fear is gone now, so bring it on!

I'm not sure which Bond it was, but it was set in Hong Kong I think.

[faceless]

Walford burial 'breached standards'

Two episodes of EastEnders that showed the drugging and live burial of Max Branning by wife Tanya breached broadcasting standards, Ofcom has ruled. The media watchdog received 116 complaints from viewers about scenes and the storyline - and it found the plot more akin to a dark psychological thriller than a pre-watershed drama.

The episodes, shown over the Easter weekend on Good Friday and Easter Monday followed Tanya, helped by accomplice Sean, as she dragged Max's sedated body through a dark wood, throwing him in a shallow grave. As the effects of the sedative decrease, Max is clearly aware of the coffin lid coming down on him and frantically telephones for help, only for the signal to decrease as the burial is completed.

It said: "In Ofcom's view, 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."

The BBC, which itself received some 600 complaints, stated the storyline had been crafted in a responsible manner, with steps taken to alert viewers including pre-transmission announcements. It said there was a natural expectation of intense storylines climaxing over public holidays.

The Corporation said the lead-up to the burial scenes, which later saw Max go free, was "carefully paced with several indications of the direction of the storyline offered". But it admitted the number of complaints suggested the emotional impact was greater than anticipated, implying the handling of the storyline went beyond the expectations of some of the audience.

The BBC accepted the two programmes were in breach of the Broadcasting Code rules relating to children being protected by scheduling; violence being appropriately limited before the watershed; and broadcasters ensuring any potentially offensive material was justified by the context.

Ofcom found the scenes involving the burial "harrowing and dark in nature". It said the first episode had no lighter storylines to balance the plot and there was no resolution to what happened in that episode.

Ofcom said: "Further, in our view, the information supplied at the start of the programmes did not adequately prepare viewers for the extent of the distressing scenes that followed ... The level of distress generated by the treatment of the storyline and the lack of contextual justification, which resulted in the scenes exceeding audience expectations, also resulted in a breach of generally accepted standards for a popular pre-watershed soap opera shown on the flagship BBC television channel."

[pirtybirdy]

Yeah, lets not blame the parents for not taking responsibility for what their kids watch on tv. It's much easier to point the finger at someone else. ;-)

[11antoniacourt]

Oh FFS. It's called "change the channel." I do it all the time. It's free, try it. Burying someone alive is most assuredly "dark" and even I can bet a little claustrophobic now and again. But I don't remember Max running out of air down there, gasping to breathe and while dying slow death. It gave me the creeps, but in looking back I think it was well executed.

[faceless]

[eefanincan]

Well said pirty and antonia --- I agree. Change the friggin' channel if you don't like it. And quite frankly, I didn't think the scenes were all that bad. If you can't tell the differene between real life and fiction, you probably shouldn't be watching tv at all.

[11antoniacourt]