Casualty, the BBC’s long-running medical series, has been the subject of viewer complaints after featuring a storyline in which a character discusses their top surgery.
The BBC received 142 complaints from disgruntled audience members, who said it was “inappropriate” for Casualty to show non-binary character Sah Brockner (Arin Smethurst) discussing their surgery.
“I booked time off because I finally got the date for my top surgery,” Brockner told colleagues. “Before you say anything, I know a double mastectomy is not to be taken lightly … for now at least, I’m just happy that I’ll look like the person I feel like on the inside. It’s been a long time coming.”
Brockner’s fellow paramedics, Jan Jenning and Teddy Gowan, responded positively to the news and offered to “stick the kettle on” in celebration.
The Casualty Twitter account published a clip of the scene, which generated 3.4M views and stirred debate on the social network.
Fair Play For Women, a women’s rights campaign group, questioned whether the BBC had taken its “safeguarding responsibilities seriously” by broadcasting the scene before the 9PM watershed.
Others were supportive of Casualty. Annie Wallace, a transgender actress in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks, said: “If they think that this abuse will stop us, or make us run away and hide, they are gravely mistaken.”
The BBC has been approached for comment.