‘Hollyoaks’ has been named the most violent soap on British television.
The channel 4 show – which airs at 6:30pm weekdays – has beaten ‘EastEnders’ to the title after it had 11.5 violent scenes per hour last year in comparison to the BBC One programme’s 2.1, according to Ofcom.
The soap – which is currently following a domestic abuse and rape storyline – has even overtaken ITV’s ‘Coronation Street’, which has remained steady at three violent scenes per hour, as well as ‘Emmerdale’s four.
The show was hit with criticisms from Ofcom last year and was branded too "violent and shocking" for pre-watershed viewing after a character was pushed under a train in a disturbing scene in August 2013.
A Channel 4 spokesman said: "We are committed to ensuring all ‘Hollyoaks’ storylines are appropriate for a pre-watershed audience. The portrayal of violence is appropriately limited and is shown within the context of long-running storyline. Programmes that include scenes which some people may find upsetting are clearly flagged to viewers at the beginning of the broadcast."
Meanwhile, the study, called Violence in UK Soaps, has also found that the 9pm watershed was key in the viewers’ attitudes towards violence and victims.
A spokesman for Ofcom said: "Viewers were prepared to tolerate moderately violent scenes before the watershed; however, all agreed that strong scenes with a vulnerable victim were unacceptable before 9pm."
Hollyoaks named most violent soap on UK TV
