Most complained about episodes of Emmerdale ever

Emmerdale has landed itself in the top most complained about TV shows of 2024, according the reports.

Broadcasting regulator Ofcom keeps track of audience complaints and The Star claims their data shows the soap is the third most complained about programme of the year so far.

All of these complaints, which total 1189 are about the Tom and Belle abuse storyline. And most of them correspond to episodes in which Tom injected Piper the dog with drugs to make her poorly.

And it’s not the first time animal abuse has landed the show in hot water, as these most complained about episodes of Emmerdale ever show.

Emmerdale: Most complained about episodes ever

Tom goes to inject Piper in Emmerdale looking murderous — Step away from the dog, Tom (Credit: ITV)

Piper’s abuse by Tom – 1189 complaints

Tom felt he had lost control of wife Belle when she checked into a mental health unit in May. She refused to speak to him or let him visit while she got her head together.

In order to get things back as he wanted them, Tom plotted to hurt Piper. He injected Belle’s beloved pooch with drugs to make her ill – therefore causing Belle to rush home believing Piper was on her last legs. Piper then of course made a miraculous recovery all put down to Belle’s return.

The scenes received almost 1200 complaints in total. And that’s not including recent scenes which saw Tom abuse Piper again by locking her outside overnight. Something tells us, more complaints are set to come in very soon.

Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw defended the scenes in a recent interview with Entertainment Daily! and other media.

“It’s research-led,” she said. “One of the things that we’ve found was that that is what abusers use. They will use family pets, people that you love, they will use them as weapons against you. So, this is all based on research. I promise you it’s not just us being mean to the dog for the sake of it.”

Ross and Charity in Emmerdale sitting in a car together looking suspicious — Ross and Charity’s plan didn’t work out, despite the uproar it caused (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Dog-napping – 550 complaints

Back in 2016 Ross Barton and Charity Dingle ran a dog-napping scam. They wanted to steal a dog to claim a reward. This proved once and for all that the British public will not tolerate harm coming to their beloved pooches.

Viewers were disgusted. They claimed the plot would encourage copycats.

Between the two main episodes the storyline featured in, Ofcom received more than 550 Emmerdale complaints.

Ross Barton promo shot with acid attack scars on his face — Ross was left scarred for life after the attack (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Ross Barton’s acid attack in Emmerdale – 366 complaints

Bad boy Ross Barton crops up again. This time it was when he was doused with acid in his face in horror scenes in 2018. Sadly for Ross he wasn’t even the intended target after Debbie Dingle had planned to get revenge on her ex Joe Tate.

Things went horribly wrong and horrified viewers turned to the regulator to express their disgust.

However, the show was cleared after Ofcom assessed the complaints thoroughly.

Manpreet battered and bruised and tied up on a bed as Meena loom over her — This was where the storyline went too far according to fans (Credit: ITV)

Meena’s murder spree – 150 complaints

Murderous Meena was a huge storyline for the soap throughout 2021 and 2022. But for such a big plot her antics only attracted a relatively small number of complaints.

The serial killer’s attempt to gas her sister Manpreet as well as innocent Vinny Dingle in the woods was what finally tipped the balance for some. They’d had enough and this was just too much.

More than 150 complained to the watchdog.

Pierce pins terrified Rhona against a wall in Emmerdale — Rhona was terrified of her husband (Credit: ITV)

Pierce rapes Rhona – 101 Emmerdale complaints

In 2017 Rhona Goskirk married boyfriend Pierce Harris even though she knew things weren’t right. He had shown his abusive tendencies before, but this time it got worse and he raped her while she was still wearing her wedding dress. He then tried to gaslight her into believing it was normal.

The disturbing scenes attracted 101 complaints from viewers, and Ofcom launched an investigation. However the soap was later cleared.

The roof collapses on Gerry Roberts causing debris to fall everywhere in Emmerdale — Gerry was a fan favourite (Credit: ITV/Shutterstock)

Lachlan murders Gerry – 101 complaints

Evil serial killer Lachlan White broke fans hearts when he claimed Gerry as his latest victim in 2018.

He tried to kill Gerry by knocking a support column over and letting the Grange roof collapse on him. But when that didn’t kill him, he bashed his friend over the head with a large rock to finish the job. This was all because Gerry discovered Lachlan had murdered most of his family.

The disturbing scenes attracted 101 complaints and Ofcom launched an investigation, but didn’t punish the soap over the scenes.

Victoria tries to flee as Lee looks aggressive behind her — The scenes of Victoria’s rape were tough (Credit: ITV)

Victoria Sugden’s rape ordeal – 39 complaints

On a night out, Victoria Sugden was raped by Lee Posner in her own home in 2019. The brutal attacked played out before the watershed as he locked her in her bedroom and threw her down onto the bed.

Although the rape itself was not shown, the harrowing scenes caused horror amongst fans as disturbing sounds could be heard.

Ofcom received 39 complaints over the scenes. No further action was taken, however.