EASTENDERS has received an avalanche of complaints from soap fans who were upset by Linda Carter’s rape blackmail storyline.
Hundreds of viewers contacted the BBC over the scenes, finding them ‘insensitive’.
In recent episodes on the show, Linda was rocked by her rapist Dean Wicks returning to Walford.
The poor woman was already terrified of him returning to harass her, and sure enough, he threatened to sue her for slander because she had told people about the sexual assault.
After a heated exchange George Knight stood up for the Queen Vic landlady and slapped Dean, but this unexpectedly caused him to fall down a flight of stairs.
The villain then threatened to go to the police and have George sent to jail if Linda didn’t agree to tell everyone in town that she had lied about him raping her.
Linda’s family convinced her to take the offer – leaving her with no choice but to take back what she had said about the hell Dean put her through.
Soap fans were left disturbed by the blackmail incident, and it has now been revealed that 160 complaints were made to the BBC’s audience services about the storyline in November.
Some viewers even threatened to boycott EastEnders at the time, saying the broadcaster had gone ‘too far’.
One hit out: “F***ing disgusting storyline…end this s**t..”
Another agreed: “Absolutely disgusted in this show for that.”
A third raged: “I’ve watched this show my whole life but this storyline is too far and for the first time I actually think I’m gonna tune out.
“It’s so triggering for victims, don’t know what the writers were thinking.”
Some fans made clear their intentions to put in a report to the Beeb, saying: “I’m doing a formal complaint. Made me sick to the stomach.”
The BBC has responded to the objections with the statement: “EastEnders is a fictional drama that has a rich history of tackling sensitive issues and Linda’s story is one of these.
“Since Linda’s rape storyline aired in September 2014, viewers have been aware that Dean has never admitted his guilt.
“Whilst dramas often portray situations that may not be the same as real life, we believe our audience know to expect such storylines and, we are also confident that regular EastEnders viewers will be aware that these scenes will form part of a bigger storyline where the issue will be tackled again.”
