Hollyoaks criticised over train death scene

The regulator will look at viewers’ attitudes towards on-screen violence, assessing whether the amount of violence on British TV in everything from documentaries to dramas has increased over the decades. It will look specifically at shows scheduled before and immediately after the 9pm watershed. Its announcement came as it issued a statement to “remind television broadcasters of the need to ensure that all material broadcast pre-watershed which features violent scenes is appropriately limited”.

“Broadcasters should consider whether individual acts of violence within a programme are suitable, as well as where the overall tone is malevolent, menacing and threatening, that this also remains suitably limited,” it said.

Hollyoaks breached broadcasting rules in an episode, screened at 6.30pm in March, in which a main character was killed by a speeding train.

The scene marked the culmination of a long-running revenge storyline involving a former undercover policeman, Walker, and ex-drug dealer Brendan. It ended with Walker screaming as he fell backwards on to the railway track and into the path of a train before the camera cut away to show the train passing at high speed. There were no images of Walker being hit by the train but the fight in the build-up included several blows to the face and stomach.