Soaps are full of entertaining and dramatic storylines, but on certain occasions, viewers have accused the writers of going too far with their often triggering concepts
Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks are all renowned for their explosive and gripping storylines.
However, none of the shows are free from audience scrutiny, with fans often criticising the writers for taking things too far. Over the weekend, Corrie fanatics were left furious after the news emerged that the programme will revisit Toyah Battersby’s harrowing rape from 2001.
It will be revealed that the victim suffered a stillbirth and had to bury her baby in a local park. When the story first hit our screens, while the press complimented Georgia Taylor’s acting, they took aim at the show’s idea of turning a very sensitive topic into a ‘whodunnit?
We’re looking back at the moments that have actually sickened the viewers to their core and led to the most Ofcom complaints as ITV prepares to return to one of its most contentious storylines in its history.
Ronnie Mitchell’s baby swap – 13,400 complaints
The audience wept together for the loss of an innocent child when Ronnie Mitchell lost her baby. However, their compassion for the woman quickly gave way to revulsion as the Londoner replaced the corpse of her dead child with Tommy, Kat Moon’s newborn son.
13,4000 viewers were so incensed with the BBC that they felt compelled to file formal complaints. As a result of the writers cutting the plot abruptly after realizing it had touched a chord, actor Samantha Womack left the role.
In the end, Ofcom stood up for the station, saying that the disputed scenes fell within the bounds of what is deemed appropriate.
Pat Phelan’s double murder – 541 complaints
In terms of bad guys, Pat Phelan is right up there with the worst of the worst. The Corrie serial killer was renowned for his despicable antics, including a scene in which he blackmailed Anna Windass into sex and shot his daughter Nicola, before eventually being stabbed to death himself.
But of all the horrific storylines he was involved in, there was one in particular that really spooked the audience. In a darkened warehouse, Phelan held a gun to the head of a man he’d kept in a cellar for a year. Horrifically, the villain forced his victim to shoot his own henchman dead in a scene that went on a little longer than necessary.
Rather than spare the life of his sobbing prisoner, Phelan decided to kill him too, leaving both men in a pool of blood, rendering the Loose Women panellists livid. But despite their complaints, Ofcom cleared the show, saying: “While the threatening tone of the 20:30 episode reached the upper limits of what audiences are likely to expect pre-watershed, we considered this was mitigated by other factors which ensured that overall the material was suitable for a pre-watershed audience on ITV and ITV2.”
They defended the violence, which they claimed was limited and not ‘graphic nor gratuitous in nature’. They added that hardcore fans knew what Phelan was like and that his actions were the ‘culmination of an established storyline’.
Emmerdale Dognapping – 448 complaints
While kidnapping humans is almost the norm on soaps, viewers draw the line at harming a dog. Ultimately, we adore our furry friends, thus the thought of anything happening to them is beyond heartbreaking.
So, when Charity Dingle and Ross Barton hatched a plan to kidnap a dog to hold for ransom money, the viewers hit the roof. Unsurprisingly, those offended made their opinions clear to Ofcom, with many concerned that nasty individuals may take inspiration from what they’d seen on screen.
The communications regulator responded: “We received a number of complaints about the risk that a storyline involving an attempted theft of a dog could encourage similar behaviour.
“We found that the scenes were not likely to condone or encourage people to attempt dog theft, taking into account the dramatic context and that the characters involved were clearly not role models. It was clear to viewers they were behaving in a morally questionable manner, and the attempt to capture a dog failed.”
Emmerdale and Coronation Street acid attacks – 438 viewers complained in total
Back in 2018, the Yorkshire Dales were rocked when drug dealer, Simon, drenched bad boy, Ross Barton, in acid, in scenes that were aired before the watershed.
Ofcom was concerned that children may have been left frightened, but ITV stood by their decision to air the story. A spokesperson said: “Emmerdale has a long track record of tackling difficult and topical storylines and the unprovoked acid attack upon Ross is another example of this. We take our responsibility seriously when portraying what happens in these circumstances.”
Not learning the first time, ITV went back for more, this time in Corrie. Ryan Connor dived in front of acid launched by stalker Justin Rutherford, in a bid to protect his target Daisy Midgley.
Geoff murders and cooks Yasmeen’s chicken – 350 complaints
Geoff Metcalfe was undeniably one of Corrie’s most manipulative characters. Over a period of months, he used his vindictive mind to control poor Yasmeen Nazir, whom he regularly gaslit and belittled.
But when he killed, cooked and fed his partner her pet chicken, Charlotte, the viewers had truly reached the end of their tether. Over 350 people complained about the character, who eventually met his demise on the 60th anniversary of the show where he fell off the roof and died surrounded by Charlotte’s sisters.
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