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Eastenders: Pauline Fowler
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Mary Whitehouse argued at the time that EastEnders represented a violation of "family viewing time" and that it undermined the watershed policy. She regarded EastEnders as a fundamental assault on the family and morality itself. She made reference to representation of family life and emphasis on psychological and emotional violence within the show. She was ... critical of language such as "bleeding", "bloody hell", "bastard" and "for Christ's sake". However, Whitehouse also praised the programme, describing Michelle Fowler's decision not to have an abortion as a "very positive storyline". She also felt that EastEnders had been cleaned up as a result of her protests, though she later commented that EastEnders had returned to its old ways. Her criticisms were widely reported in the tabloid press as ammunition in its existing rivalry with the BBC. The stars of Coronation Street in particular aligned themselves with Mary Whitehouse, gaining headlines such as "STREETS AHEAD!
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If there's one aspect of EastEnders that sets it apart from the other soaps on the supermarket shelf of tellyland, it's the fact that everyone seems utterly, inconsolably miserable, all the time. A smile on an EastEnders cast member is a rare beast indeed, and on the rare occasion that viewers manage to spot a surreptitious smirk, it invariably immediately precedes a disaster of Biblical proportions. Laundrette owner Pauline Fowler (Wendy Richard) is the classic example. She has a face like a month of wet weekends, a voice that could curdle milk and a family history so chequered with cataclysmic misfortune you'd swear she must be made up.
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In early 2003, viewers could watch episodes of EastEnders on digital channel BBC Three before they were broadcast on BBC One. This was to coincide with the relaunch of the channel and helped BBC Three break the one million viewers mark for the first time with 1.03 million who watched to see Mark Fowler's departure.[46]
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Pauline Fowler