Yahoo News EastEnders writer explains racism story after backlash
EastEnders writer Leo Richardson has explained the decision behind the 'Poles Go Home' story this week, after it received backlash from angry viewers online.
Leo has already been defending the soap on Twitter – after a plot during an episode he'd written tackled the issues of racism and xenophobia in the UK. And he has reiterated the the importance of covering these topics in a candid guest blog for The Huffington PostHuffington Post.
Tuesday night's visit to Walford saw the message "Poles Go Home" get scrawled on the front of the Queen Vic in graffiti, following the events at the pub's recent Polish-themed night.
Although Mick was horrified by the incident, new Polish character Konrad (Piotr Baumann) simply made the topical post-Brexit reference of "it's "the Britain we live in now" – a line which divided fans on social media.
Leo said: "Whatever your view, I think it's pretty clear that EastEnders has always tackled challenging topics. In the last two years alone, Lee Carter's mental health story, Stacey Fowler's postpartum and the Linda Carter rape storyline have all been praised by charities and organisations for bringing an awareness to a larger audience and tackling those stories correctly and in a real way. It's been doing this for three decades now.
"It's easy to get defensive, but I think there are darker forces in the world right now, so where does it get us to spend all day fighting each other?"
He added: "Now, more than ever, in a divided world, it is the job of artists, of writers, of TV comedy and drama, not only to entrain us, but to reflect the things happening in our world, on screen.
"To show us not only what is familiar, but also wildly different. To reflect the lives of people who are underrepresented, so we can understand those who we didn't before. If getting a brief glimpse into the mind of a man struggling to find his place in the country he lives in makes you uncomfortable, then perhaps you needed to see it."
Leo was also keen to address that he was not speaking on behalf of EastEnders or the BBC – and that these are entirely his own views on TV drama. You can read the rest of the blog here.
EastEnders continues tonight (February 23) at 7.30pm on BBC One.
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