Is This Necesary?

[sir.prize]

David Tennant will be seen raping his wife in a horrific 70-second scene in The Politician’s Husband.

The scene will be shown just after the 9p.m. watershed.

[woofgang]

define necessary

[sir.prize]

I think my question is well-defined.

[Sharingan]

Possibly, it might be key to the story line and necessary to tilt the audience towards an avid dislike of the character.

[AB Editor]

The writers, director and actors clearly think so.

[Baldric]

/// just after the 9p.m. watershed///

Well that should be OK then!

[ummmm]

I doubt it will be too graphic.

[woofgang]

well TV itself isn't necessary....actors aren't necessary....

[Old_Geezer]

What is necessary when it comes to drama anyway ? I would be inclined to think the question might be rephrased as to whether it was necessary to leave it out or censor it. Not watching the programme I'd find that difficult to know. Although I do take your point that it is a little strong for an hour when the "watershed" has barely started.

[Sharingan]

I think drama is quite watered down enough without worrying too much about it.

[aelmpvw]

any director worth his salt would be able to get the message across without showing any graphic details

[Sharingan]

Sex and violence has been key to drama for thousands of years. Why do we have to be so sterile and keen on censoring these days?

[sir.prize]

Thanks for your answers. Apparently the general opinion is that it is ok.

In that case, I wonder why the BBC is expecting a backlash over this sadistic
episode of The Politician's Husband.

[Zeuhl]

To be precise - the scene involves anal rape

The text of the entire drama is about power and the relative positions of two married politicians so I'm sure it is not gratuitous or titillating

Attendance for the screening is not compulsory

[andy-hughes]

The concept of the 'watershed' has become virtually redundant with the advent of recorder boxes, and 'watch again' software.

[jackthehat]

70 seconds?
Isn't that about the average 'time', anyway? ;o)

I shall have my stop-watch to hand just to confirm that I have been out-raged for 70 seconds before sending off a stern letter to Points of View.

[Zeuhl]

/wonder why the BBC is expecting a backlash/

even a tiny proportion of the audience complaining is often inappropiately described as a 'backlash'. There is inevitably a misguided minority who like to fret about these things and seek to impose their views on the majority who aren't bothered

/this sadistic episode of The Politician's Husband/

who says it's 'sadistic'?
Have you seen it sir.prize?
If you have, what are your precise reasons for defining it so?

[aelmpvw]

'relative positions of two married politicians' ... pun intended?

[hellywelly4]

No, I saw that there was going to be something along those lines, so have decided not to watch the rest of the series. I often think there is too much violence shown on the TV and, let's face it, some people are turned on by things like that. So, No, it's not necessary.

[Zeuhl]

^ LOL ael

Well politicians need to be flexible.

'Power Couples' like Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper (the crooks) both deserve it - after all they've been doing it to us for years

[Canary42]

Soames and Irene Forsyte got away with it in the Sixties (albeit with much "public outrage") so why not.

And there's far worse on freely-available porn channels.