Emmerdale star defends Jackson's assisted suicide

Emmerdale star defends Jackson's assisted suicide
Emmerdale star defends Jackson's assisted suicide (Image credit: PA WIRE)

Emmerdale's Marc Silcock has insisted that programme-makers ensured the death of his character Jackson Walsh was not glorified. TV regulator Ofcom is assessing complaints about tetraplegic Jackson's assisted suicide, which was screened on Tuesday night, showing him take his own life after being given a cocktail of drugs by his lover, Aaron. But Marc said: "We ensured it wasn't beautiful - it is horrific, because it's a horrific thing. "Some people might have liked to have seen soft music in the background and for Jackson to slowly drift off to sleep. But that's not reality and not what happens. We didn't want to glorify it for one second." The watchdog said it had received a handful of complaints about the soap's plot, which saw tetraplegic character Jackson Walsh take his own life after being given a cocktail of drugs by his lover. The dramatic scenes were shown on ITV1 at around 7.30pm, well before the 9pm watershed. Ofcom will assess whether the scenes may potentially have breached any harm and offence rules. No decisions will be made until the storyline concludes. Scenes of a real assisted suicide have previously been cleared by the regulator when screened in a Sky documentary in 2008. Viewers have seen Emmerdale character Jackson struggling to come to terms with his paralysis following an accident and choosing to die.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.