Mrs Mary Whitehouse, upset by the EastEnders soap opera, has written to the chairman of the BBC and to every BBC governor, seeking an assurance that the rule not to transmit material unsuitable for children until after 9pm is still operating.
Mrs Whitehouse, president of the National Viewers╒ and Listeners╒ Association said that in its book of guidance to staff, Portrayal of Violence in Television Programmes, 1983, the BBC said: ╥It has been accepted since 1960 that programmes shown before 9pm should not be unsuitable for children.╙
The former guide, dated 1979, said: ╥Children are likely to be particularly disturbed by violence in a setting which closely resembles their own.╙ Mrs Whitehouse suggested that EastEnders offended against these guidelines.
She said that how far the thinking of Mr Michael Grade, controller of BBC1, was from the responsibility laid on him by his job was illustrated in his reported response to NVLA criticisms of the storyline about Mary, the unmarried mother.
Mr Grade was reported to have said: ╥The point of Mary becoming a stripper is that it is a solution for many unsupported mothers like her with no qualifications at all.╙
Mrs Whitehouse wrote: ╥If that is the level of thinking, then heaven help us all ╤ not least those young girls who find themselves in dangerous and demoralising situations.╙
