EMMERDALE has been hit by hundreds of Ofcom complaints regarding a ‘violent and tasteless’ soap death.
Viewers were left heartbroken when killer John Sugden claimed his latest victim.
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The August 21 episode saw Mackenzie Boyd shot in the back with an arrow.
The mechanic had worked out that John had killed Nate Robinson months ago.
Mackenzie fled into the woods, but John prevented his escape by firing an arrow at his back.
A final flashback saw John throw a heavy rock down at a helpless Mackenzie.
Viewers later saw blood stains in John’s van and a body covered by a sheet – seemingly confirming Mackenzie’s death.
The latest data shows Ofcom received 158 complaints following the grisly scenes.
After John’s brutal actions played out, fans soon took to X to complain.
One wrote: “Love emmerdale but this all seemed a bit much with the violence and the crossbow seemed in bad taste what with the recent real life tragedies.”
Another added: “@ofcom complaints incoming and this time you take action.”
A third said: “The writers have really crossed line bow and arrow after crossbow killings not right.”
A fourth chimed in: “Isn’t this a tad violent for early evening.”
While a fifth remarked: “A bit distasteful isn’t it having a serial killer kill someone with a bow and arrow havent you got any compassion for a presenter who lost his entire family by a bow and Arrow in real life.”
It came after the real life murder of three people by crossbow killer Kyle Clifford in July of last year.
The Sun previously revealed that Lawrence Robb, who played Mackenzie, had filmed devastating murder scenes for his character.
Ofcom complaints in soap
Soap viewers are no strangers to complaining to Ofcom when it comes to harrowing scenes.
Here are some of the most notable recent examples:
- Vinny’s attack: Emmerdale received hundreds of complaints following Vinny Dingle facing a homophobic attack. Vinny realised that Mike, a man who he met on an online support forum, had a dark ulterior motive for befriending him, which lead to Vinny being attacked Viewers were left horrified by the distressing moment, with a total of 279 contacting Ofcom with their concerns.
- Mick’s Corrie exit: Corrie’s killer villain Mick Michaelis bowed out earlier this year – but not before seeking revenge on former best mate Kit Green. He beat Kit up, putting him in hospital – with fans complaining over the grim scenes.
- Tom King’s animal abuse: Emmerdale viewers were furious over harrowing scenes which saw villain Tom King harm his pet dog in an effort to bring his wife Belle Dingle (Eden Taylor-Draper) back under his control. He was seen injecting the dog, Piper, with an unknown substance.
- Martin Fowler’s death: EastEnders viewers were shocked and heartbroken when Martin Fowler died in the soap’s 40th anniversary live episode – with many claiming they were ‘calling Ofcom’ after the distressing scenes.
A source said at the time: “The scenes are going to be really harrowing for fans to watch.
“Mackenzie has been in so many scrapes and dangerous positions but this time it looks like he’s bitten off more than he can chew.
“Viewers will be on the edges of their seats watching what happens.”
Some fans believe Mackenzie may still be alive – as his corpse was not directly shown.
Emmerdale airs on ITV1 and ITVX.
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