Eastenders: Why mention Hillsborough?

I watched Eastenders for the first time in a long time on Tuesday. And for the first time in an even longer time, I actually enjoyed it.

But perhaps that is because I missed the Hillsborough reference when watching it (in my defence, I did what I always do during soaps, and nip in and out of the room and generally not pay attention).

So, before the backlash to the Hillsborough comment erupted, I was going to write how good it was to see Eastenders actually make use of some of its fringe characters for a change - the acting displayed by the characters Billy and Honey as they fear they'll lose the baby was outstanding.

It's a shame the situation had to involve gangsters, who seem to be more common on Albert Square than the Met probably every imagined to be the case, but that is by the by.

But there's no escaping the Hillsborough comment.

They came during a violent episode of the four-times-weekly soap, which itself attracted more than 150 complaints.

To quote from the Daily Post website today: "The Hillsborough row was sparked by a scene following a vicious gang attack on the soap’s Queen Vic pub, where hoodlums were searching for the character Jase, who is from Manchester.

"Scriptwriters then introduced a storyline about his football hooligan past.

"EastEnders mechanic Minty told him: “Five years out of Europe because of Heysel, because they pinned you lot in to stop you fighting on the pitch, and then what did we end up with – Hillsborough.”

So putting aside the difference between Liverpool and Manchester - not like the BBC to get that one wrong, is it? - why make mention to it at all? Is not bringing up a tragedy from the past to effectively insult someone, just because there's a bit of violence going on around you, not a form of racism?

As for the BBC's response: “Minty was actually reminding Jase that football hooliganism at Heysel led directly to the fencing-in of fans at matches.

“He points out this had tragic consequences – for the innocent spectators at Hillsborough."

But it still doesn't address the point as to why it was written in at all. It didn't fit in with the context of what was going on - a gang hunting down someone they thought had wronged them. And it's not the sort of thing I can imagine anyone saying in that situation - and surely that once again proves the point that Eastenders is anything but real.

• Post to:
•  del.icio.us
•  Digg
•  Newsvine
•  Nowpublic
•  Reddit