eastenders cot death outrage the AA grumpy column

the grumps · Post by **the grumps** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:46 am

well after a very nice warm sunny day i think spring is just around the corner ( hollyhocks grumps ED)

now eastenders isnt a show i tune in to but being northern im strictly coronation street.

but the latest EE storyline has caused controvosy and outrage.

EASTENDERS star Samantha Womack has quit the show over its heavily-criticised cot death storyline.

Sam, 38, was horrified by heartbreaking scenes in the BBC1 soap where her character Ronnie Branning lost her baby James - then swapped him for Kat Moon's newborn lad Tommy.

Samantha decided to quit EastEnders after viewing its shock cot death storyline "as a mother first and an actress second", it emerged last night. Samantha Womack quits EastEnders over cot death | The Sun |Showbiz|TV|Soaps

AAG

now im not going to steam in like a bull in a china shop about this i intended to write this column subject with some sensitivity and decorum and not outrage or upset FG members reading my column.

now im of two minds about this.

many subjects have been covered in soaps ie death,rape,murder,

lesbianism,homosexualty,abortion etc so why should cot death be such a taboo subject ?

im not sure if child death has been covered in corrie street but theres such a thing as fantasy and reality and EE is just another soap like corrie.

yet i cannot understand why the actress wishes to quit because of the storyline.

to me its an acting part something that isnt real a role thats being played by an actor/ actress and albert square is just a set in tv studio.

and as for the outrage caused by this people are being encouraged to boycott EE untill this storyline concludes.

saddo,s who should join the real world? or does it raise awareness of SIDS

or cot death syndrome what do you think?

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 1:11 pm

many subjects have been covered in soaps ie death,rape,murder,

lesbianism,homosexualty,abortion etc so why should cot death be such a taboo subject ?

Why indeed? There are still many who think cot death does not happen and someone must have killed the baby.

Post by **Betty Boop** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 1:45 pm

It's been more like Bleakenders recently for sure. There is no reason why they shouldn't highlight SIDS. I'm disappointed it's going on so long, I haven't checked but I recall thinking one baby was really fair and one was dark (hair) so I'm not convinced no one would have noticed the switch. Kat did cry out that the baby was not hers but it was taken as her refusal to believe, it would have been far more convincing if she continued to make those protests.

There are plenty of counter stories out there stating that the actress is not leaving because of the story line

EastEnders actress denies leaving over baby-swop plot - TV & Radio, Media - The Independent

I wouldn't like to begin to imagine if this could happen in real life, I suspect it could, who knows how you would react until it happened to you.

gmc · Post by **gmc** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 2:22 pm

Doesn't make any sense that she would resign AFTER making the episode if she felt that strongly about it. Surely she would have refused point blank to do it in the first place.