Thousands outraged by EastEnders baby swap plot
BBC bosses have been forced to defend the New Years Eve edition of EastEnders after 3,400 viewers complained about the soap’s baby swap plot line.
The story centred on actress Samantha Womack whose Ronnie Branning character lost their baby to cot death.
Anguished by the loss Branning subsequently substituted the dead tot for the live new born of Kat Moon, played by Jessie Wallace.
Executive producer Bryan Kirkwood said: “We appreciate this is a challenging storyline and have taken care to ensure viewers were aware of the content in advance of transmission.
“We also provided action-line numbers at the end of each show, offering advice and support to those affected by the issues.”
Branning is no stranger to controversy however, the character retains the title of racking up the most complaints in any one episode after more than 7,000 viewers objected to an April 2009 scene depicting the death of her teenage daughter in a car crash.