Emmerdale

A few Emmerdale viewers were 'shocked' after Victoria Barton (Isabel Hodgins) was raped in last night's flashback episode by a stranger called Lee.

And some were so 'outraged' that they made official complaints about the pre-watershed scene.

TV censor Ofcom has confirmed that 39 complaints were made about the scene last night, according to metro.co.uk.

An Ofcom spokesperson told metro.co.uk:

We are assessing these complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.

Ofcom has rejected about 100 complaints about a recent murder scene in Emmerdale .

Ex-prisoner Gerry Roberts, played by Shaun Thomas, was killed by Lachlan White (Thomas Atkinson) in a scene broadcast last month.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said complaints were dismissed because they found no graphic details were shown on screen. She said:

We carefully assessed complaints that scenes involving violence were not suitable for broadcast before the watershed. The scenes were also part of a long-running storyline, which would have been within regular viewers' expectations.

Ofcom also received 11 complaints about a male suicide storyline in Coronation Street, where Aidan Connor, played by Shayne Ward, took his own life. The Ofcom spokeswoman said:

We considered a small number of complaints about this storyline involving a character ending his life. However, neither the suicide nor the body were shown. We also took into account that clear warnings were provided at the start of the programme, and that ITV worked closely with the Samaritans when creating the storyline.

Ofcom has received 62 complaints over Emmerdale scenes which saw the character Pierce Harris rape his wife Rhona Goskirk. The scenes, which aired in an episode which started at 7pm, showed Pierce being extremely aggressive and, while the camera panned away so that the scenes were only implied, Rhona's screams for Pierce to stop made it clear what was happening.

A spokesperson for the TV censor Ofcom said: We will assess these complaints before deciding whether or not to investigate. A phrase which usually suggests that the complaints are already on their way to the litter bin.

Emmerdale have worked closely with Rape Crisis and Women's Aid throughout the preparation and execution of the storyline and an Emmerdale spokesperson said:

Emmerdale has a history of raising awareness of difficult subjects and consequently Rhona and Pierce's story was thoroughly researched and carefully signposted prior to transmission including a warning advising viewers of a shocking assault. In accordance with rigorous compliance regulations, the drama was intentionally implicit rather than explicit.