Eastenders Whitney and Tony

[LaylaandSethsmum]

OK they are having it off from what I can gather but what is their relationship? She isn't Bianca's daughter is she?

he's a peadophile, she's under sixteen, she's not Bianca's biological daughter, step daughter or something

there's another thread from after friday's episode that has an interview from the EE site with the bloke that plays tony. he entered the family as a saviour when bianca was struggling and even got himself put down as morgan's dad on the birth cert, and he's basically been grooming whitney ever since apparently

another heavy EE storyline....

Oh I thought she was at college with that Libby so 'old enough' but guess not!

He isn't a paedophile, paedophile has a very specific meaing and that is to be sexually attractive to pre pubseant kids, not 15 year olds.

He might be amoral or immoral - he might be an exploitative bastard, but he isn;t a paedo. I don;t know what Eastenders is playing at.

Well, to be fair he did say he'd been in love with her since he first saw her when she was 12. Sounds quite paedophile-ish to me..

he is a paedophile, MT, it's been a storyline long in the planning. EE just felt that viewers would murder the actor if the girl was any younger, i bet.

MT the backstory (acc to quite in-depth article in Guardian at weekend) is that he's been grooming her since he met Bianca, when Whitney was just 12

I don't like this storyline. I find it very uncomfortable viewing at 8pm or 7:30. They know alot of kids watch EE at this time. I'm no prude but I'm not happy about it, cos it can be misinterpretted if not understood properly by kids.

got to say i trust ee to get this right. the little mo/trevor domestic violence storyline was a gratifyingly slow burner, much more realistic than the usual 'you hit me, pack your bags' shite.

this is a horrible storyline. Why do EE feel the need to do this.
I am not watching anymore.

yup. they lost viewers with teh little mo story too. saved lives, though, apparently.

yes, very creepy to watch

am hating it

Whitney is coming across as a very sexually-knowing young woman

far far too early in the evening to show this sort of stuff

I'm with Aitch on this one.
It will be uncomfortable viewing, but it will also allow lots of families a reason to talk about these things.

yep, and children in schools. cos they don't watch panorama etc, ee is ideal platform.

I kinda see it from both angles, if someone in real life is going through the same ordeal he/she will finally see they were groomed and realise it is wrong but in no way their fault. Thus hopefully gettig children to speak up.

On the other hand I do find it uncomfortable watching, but neseccary if it saves just one child

I am finding it uncomfortable viewing as well, but it will be interesting to see where they go with it. They do handle RL situations well ime, better than t'other side anyway.

the horrible part for me is that Whitney is positively enjoying herself and doesn't appear to have been "groomed" or coerced in any way

I am finding it creepy and upsetting,a friend of mine at school was abused by her father for years and committed suicide at 32 leaving two children, so it is painful to see this,i hope it helps someone.I did find it confusing last week though as she had seemed much older(I thought she was about 17).Whole subject is horrifying to parents anyway isn't it? I have just started to brooch the "stranger danger" thing in a light way to my three year old as she has a couple of mornings at school,but I honestly don't know how I will begin to tell my daughters about the more likely danger from someone they know and like.Hopefully this thread (on EE) will open up conversation in families(? )

Watched EE tonight for the first time in ages and it totally creeped me out, the part where Tony was telling Whiteny not to wear so much make up as he wanted her to look younger yuck.

he's representative of a paedophile but still technically not a paedophile.

The problem is 12 is a lot diffrent from 15 - in some western countries that is the age of consent. If they are worried abotu vigilantism they should nto be blurring the boundaries so much!

Any by casting a good looking guy next to a (actual age 17) actress, they are basically just doing titilation, which is worse in the context of the story line.

Basicallym they haven;t had the courage of their convictions and have ended up being highly questionable as a result - good writing takes courage and honesty - this story line is bereft of both.

that whitney seems to be enjoying herself will, I suppose be the point, that is the nature of the grooming, the abusive relationship is presented to her as a loving one.

Grooming her for what - till she passed puberty? That could be viewed as trying at least to be a tiny bit responsible. If he was a true paedophile, he'd have lost interest at puberty.

I am at a loss at what the BBC are trying to say here.

the point is that 15 yr olds deserve protection- even if they appear 'sexually knowing'
a good looking abuser is necessary so that people understad it can be anyone.
actually I think it's moving a bit too fast- a longer period of vague unease would have worked well.

actually I'm not - they are trying to be 'shocking' and get the most viewers.

But this has obvioulsy ben written by a majority of peopel who arenn't parents, to whom these issues are abstract and barely a concern.

It might have saved lives. Lets measure if cases of statutory rape (which doesn;t come under paedophilia) increase. That would be a good comparision.

how do you know the writers aren't parents?
according to the guardian it was all very thoroughly researched and discuused with/approved by NSPCC