Shock moments

Every now and again a TV show has to resort to sock methods to gain attention. Here are 3 examples.


Emmerdale

Once known as a cosy soap opera that went by the title of Emmerdale Farm, the show courted fury by having a storyline in which an airliner crashed in to the village of Beckingdale. Some viewers expressed concern of it having similarities to the real life Lockerbie disaster.


Eastenders

In 1989 Leslie Grantham's Dirty Den Watts looked to have died in a gangland shooting. 14 years it turned out that Den had survived and was living in Spain before making to Albert Square. This time he was killed off for good.


Casualty

In the days of when it ran in limited run number of episodes the long running medical drama finished one episode in which the A&E department was burned down by a group of hooligans. There was some talk the storyline was concocted to justify set changes though when you see what the A&E looks like now it is very different thanks to a production move to Cardiff.