Ben Mitchell Archives

By The Gay UK, Jul 21 2015 02:13PM

Belated as it may be, we are introducing the implied gay sex scene which could land the BBC in trouble with OfCom after 48 complaints were made to the regulatory body (however we now know that the BBC was not landed in trouble – see our previous entry)

BBC/YouTube

A scene between the characters Ben Mitchell (Harry Reid) and Paul Coker saw the pair getting topless and kissing in front of an open coffin in a funeral parlour.Speaking to Digital Spy, a spokesperson for the BBC said,
“The millions of regular ‘EastEnders’ fans who tune in each week know and expect dramatic storylines.
“We are always mindful of our time slot in which we are shown and the scenes in question were implied and not explicit.

76 complaints have been made

TV Watchdog’s Ofcom have ruled there were no grounds to investigate the BBC over ‘implied’ romance between two men next to an open coffin.
The controversial scene features two characters, Ben Mitchell and Paul Coker stripped off above the waist, embracing each other next to an open coffin with a dead woman’s body inside.
The watchdog received 76 complaints after the scene was aired in July and fans of the soap were not afraid to express their anger over Twitter, branding it ‘disgraceful and distasteful’. Other fans tweeted ‘Well. Wasn’t expecting to watch #Eastenders tonight and see a dead body in a coffin… Thanks for that #horrible’.
Ofcom has since dismissed the complaints, which are thought to be about the location of the action rather than the sexuality of the characters, which comes after assessing whether there were grounds to launch a formal investigation.

Ben Mitchell Gay Sex Scene On EastEnders Attracts 48 Complaints

Eastenders' Gay romance scene in funeral parlour cleared by Ofcom