Channel 4 viewers have slammed the broadcaster over the domestic abuse scenes in new drama The Accident, with some branding them ‘gratuitious’ and others ‘ludicrous’.
After episode two of the four-part drama starting actress Sarah Lancashire aired last night (31.10.19), viewers took to Twitter to lambast the show’s depiction of domestic violence and abusive behaviour.
Warning! Spoilers ahead.
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One viewer demanded: “Why are they normalising domestic abuse? Wtf? #TheAccident.”
Another said: “#TheAccident uncomfortable watching the domestic abuse – not sure why it’s part of the show? I do hope their little girl gets better though, although I definitely think the dad is hiding something and the boss of the company involved is too.”
It had no place in the story at all, as far as I’m concerned.
A third tweeted: “@Channel4 you really should have pre-warned viewers about the domestic violence in #TheAccident. Huge trauma trigger for those who have experienced this type of relationship. Not very responsible airing and I’m not sure it’s necessary to the series either. #domesticviolence aware.”
Someone else put: “As I said last week, I’m boycotting #TheAccident. I will not give any kind of viewing figures to something that casually inserts such gratuitous physical and domestic violence when it had no place in the story at all, as far as I’m concerned. I like Sarah Lancashire, but NO.”
In response, Channel 4 clarified to ED: “There was an appropriate warning at the top of the episode on Channel 4 alerting viewers to the content. This was followed up with a message directing viewers affected by the issues covered to the support page on the Channel 4 website.
“There are also warnings on the episode on All4. This is a post watershed drama and has been well researched in collaborations with relevant charities.”
https://twitter.com/katiephipps/status/1189887348147970048
#TheAccident uncomfortable watching the domestic abuse – not sure why it’s part of the show? I do hope their little girl gets better though although I definitely think the dad is hiding something and the boss of the company involved is too.
— Rosie_emmaxo (@EmmaxoRosie) October 31, 2019
@Channel4 you really should have prewarned viewers about the Domestic violence in #TheAccident. Huge trauma trigger for those who have experienced this type of relationship. Not very responsible airing and I’m not sure it’s necessary to the series either. #domesticviolence aware.
— Jennifer Sellers (@jc_ot_29) November 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/AmandaHoldened/status/1189960388068204544
In the second installment of The Accident, Polly (former Coronation Street star Sara Lancashire) suspected that her husband Iwan (Mark Lewis Jones) had something to hide, following the devastating explosion that took the lives of multiple children and first responders in the opening episode.
One scene showed Iwan coming home drunk and using foul, abusive language towards his wife.
It followed scenes in the first episode that saw Iwan pressing Polly to the ground and beating her.
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Anticipation was high for this Jack Thorne-penned drama, but a number of viewers reacted negatively to the opening episode.
Some had trouble getting past the actors’ Welsh accents, with some calling them “dodgy” and others “shockingly bad”.
What do you think of The Accident so far? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.