Hundreds of complaints over EastEnders rape storyline
The BBC has sparked public controversy after last night's airing of an EastEnders episode in which Queen Vic landlady Linda Carter was raped.
Nearly 300 complaints have been made about the episode which showed actress Kellie Bright's character being attacked by Dean Wicks (played by Matt Di Angelo) and which was watched by an audience of 7.3 million when it was broadcast on BBC1 at 8pm.
Since receiving the complaints the BBC has defended its decision to run the storyline and said it had "taken great care" to publicise the storyline before it was shown so viewers would be prepared for the dramatic scenes.
Last week Di Angelo said he was prepared to be on the receiving end of "abuse" for playing a rapist if the storyline helped real-life victims.
He said: "This show is so popular and you're in people's houses every night so to be associated with that crime, like I said if I have to get abuse on Twitter or a punch in the mouth, I'm fine with that as long as one person speaks out."
The BBC added that it had worked closely with Rape Crisis and other experts in order to tell the story in a way that "will raise awareness of sexual assaults and the issues surrounding them".
They released a statement which said: "We have been extremely mindful of the content within the episode and the timeslot in which it was shown and at no point have there been any scenes of a graphic nature. In fact, the attack on Linda was implied and was not explicit."