Atlanta, GA 12/22/2010 10:34:00 PM
EastEnders' boss has defended the soap's morbid baby swap storyline.
Bryan Kirkwood - executive producer of the BBC One show - explained
the "dark" story, which shows Ronnie Branning discovering her newborn
baby dead and then swapping it with Kat Moon's child, will be countered
with other scenes showing "friendship, fun and festivities".
He said: "We took great pains to make sure the rest of the episode
showed a community with a lot of love. We see a lot of friendships, fun
and festivities, and we hope these counter the inevitable darkness of
this story."
In the graphic scenes, Ronnie (Samantha Womack) is seen brushing her
lifeless baby with the back of her hand, while Kat (Jessie Wallace) is
in blood-soaked pyjamas as she's rushed to hospital by her husband
Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) after suffering from a haemorrhage .
However, Bryan defended the scenes, which have been criticised for being unbelievable.
He told The Sun newspaper: "We went to great pains to see that the
babies were born in different circumstances and we took advice from a
maternity nurse on how the story could come about in real life. I think
there is an absolute believability to how the events unfold.
"It's high drama, which 'Eastenders' has a 25-year history of
delivering. We deliver big, big gritty stories that chime with the
audience, and I think that's what these stories do. It's undoubtedly a
bold storyline. I'm very proud of the episodes."
