Coronation Street viewers took to Twitter to slam scenes aired in tonight’s episode, which saw Alya Nazir subjected to disgusting racist abuse.
For some weeks her and Aidan’s new business clients Justin and Dale Parker have avoided meeting with her, seeing the Connor entrepreneur alone instead.
Aidan assumed that they were sexist – not that THAT is okay – but ensured Alya was present at their latest rendez vous.
One of the Parkers was immediately hostile, referring to Aidan’s business partner as his assistant.
And when Dale was left alone with Alya, he began a tirade of offensive racist attacks.
She was told to “lighten up”, before he said she couldn’t; she was told “her kind” were boring and “her lot” don’t have a sense of humour.
The scenes – aired at just after 7.30pm – were excruciatingly uncomfortable to watch
When Aidan returned and heard one of Dale’s disgraceful remarks, he slammed his fist down angrily and warned that they weren’t amused.
As the Parkers left, Aidan assured Alya that they would never have to deal with them again, but she wanted to go ahead with the deal for the sake of the business.
Some viewers praised the soap for tackling the issue.
@DarrenAmos tweeted: “brave move #Corrie tackling a racist storyline. it’s shocking hearing them things on tv but im glad corrie are going all out to show what a lot of people have to put up with on a daily basis.” [sic]
@Nasuddin wrote: “Fair play to corrie I don’t have any bad feelings towards them, they are just highlighting racism and sadly it still exists in real life.”
@MickDavies posted: “It’s good that #Corrie has exposed just how blatant #Racism in this country can be.”
But others felt the way it was handled was inappropriate and too strong.
One said: “Despite the pre-episode warning, hearing such a disgraceful remark is still shocking.”
A second said: “Corrie is a bit brutal tonight, how can ITV even think that’s OK to air?”
Ahead of the episode airing, viewers were warned there would be “scenes of racial abuse and language that some viewers may find upsetting”.
A spokeswoman for the soap said: “This storyline tackles the issue of racism, behaviour which is completely abhorrent but that sadly still occurs in society and the storyline reflects this.
“There was a clear warning of ‘scenes of racial abuse with offensive language’ before the episode aired.”