EastEnders, BBC One, 6th October 2014

Complaint:

We received complaints from some viewers who were unhappy with an EastEnders storyline in which a character is raped.

The BBC’s Response:

EastEnders has a rich history of tackling difficult issues and Linda’s story is one of these. We worked closely with Rape Crisis and other experts in the field to tell this story which we hope will raise awareness of sexual assaults and the issues surrounding them. We were extremely mindful of the content of the episode and the timeslot of the programme and at no point were there any scenes of a graphic nature - in fact the attack on Linda was implied and never explicit. We took great care to signpost this storyline prior to transmission, both through on air continuity and publicity, and we ensured the episode was followed by contact information for the BBC Action Line which is able to direct callers to organisations which can offer further help and support.