Anger over EastEnders stab scenes

Jase Dyer is played by actor Stephen Lord

Scenes of a character being stabbed to death in BBC One soap EastEnders have prompted 156 complaints.

The episode, shown before the watershed on Thursday, saw character Jase Dyer being attacked by a criminal gang then lying dead in hospital.

One writer on the BBC Point of View website said: "My wife was physically sick and my son of 13 years was brought to tears."

The BBC said the violence was "implied rather than explicit".

But the corporation admitted some viewers had found the scenes "uncomfortable".

Glamorised

In a statement the BBC 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.

"We do appreciate that some viewers found the images of Jase's dead body uncomfortable; however, in trying to fully convey Jay's loss and depth of emotion, we felt it was necessary for viewers to see what he was seeing.

"We understand that some viewers were upset, but we signalled the nature of the content of the episode through the pre-programme continuity announcement and billings."

'Well acted'

Writing on the Points of View website, one viewer said the violence was "disgraceful", while another disagreed saying it was "tame" and there was "absolutely nothing to complain about".

One person wrote: "It was a well written, well acted episode which should be praised, especially the young actor who played Jay."

Earlier this year the BBC received hundreds of complaints over a scene in EastEnders in which someone was buried.

Media watchdog Ofcom upheld complaints that the scenes, featuring character Max Branning being drugged and buried alive, were unsuitable for the time they were aired.

Ofcom said the scenes had a "seriously disturbing" element to them.

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