ITV Emmerdale is most-complained about soap after sick Tom King abuse scenes

Emmerdale's Tom King sparked outrage with his sick behaviour (Image: ITV)

Emmerdale has sparked the most Ofcom complaints out of all of the soaps, the watchdog has revealed.

The long-running ITV series sparked 1,193 complaints after shocking scenes showed domestic abuser Tom King harm his wife Belle Dingle's dog Piper.

Tom was seen looming over the dog with a syringe in his hand as he said: "Don't worry, this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you... then again, maybe not," as the camera cut away to the sound of the dog whimpering.

After being inundated with messages from concerned viewers, Emmerdale was forced to clarify the dog was alive and well, writing on X: "These scenes can be distressing to watch, but we want to remind you that Minnie (AKA Piper) is a very good actor and is always living her best life on set!

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Emmerdale's Tom King has been sentenced to three years in prison (Image: ITV)

"We can confirm that no harm has come to her whatsoever.”

Tom has since got his comeuppance as December 19's episode saw him receive a three year prison sentence for coercive control in court.

Ofcom said in a statement: "While we recognised that this scene was an uncomfortable watch for some viewers, no graphic detail of animal abuse was shown, and Tom’s actions were not portrayed in a positive light. We also took into account that this long-running storyline depicting coercive control in a relationship would have been within audience expectations of this soap, which often tackles challenging themes and issues."

Ofcom also confirmed the statistics exclude complaints about BBC programmes. Under the BBC Charter, these are initially dealt with by the BBC itself this is referred to as the BBC first process.

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The top 10 most complained-about shows of 2024 are as follows:

Julia Hartley-Brewer's conversation with Palestinian politician Dr Mustafa Barghouti on her TalkTV programme (17,366 complaints).An interview featuring Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on ITV's Good Morning Britain (16,851 complaints).Behaviour of Love Island stars Joey Essex and Sean Stone (1,832 complaints).A debate on whether XL bullies should be euthanised on ITV's Good Morning Britain (1,777 complaints).An Emmerdale plot involving a dog being poisoned (1,193 complaints).A remark made by Big Brother participant Sarah, which some viewers deemed racially offensive (747 complaints).ITV general election debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer (710 complaints).Interview with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on ITV's Good Morning Britain (705 complaints).Remarks made by broadcaster Nick Ferrari on ITV's This Morning, which some viewers argued trivialised nut allergies (647 complaints).Complaints about an image on a Big Brother contestant's T-shirt, alleged to feature a pro-Palestine symbol (553 complaints).