Is it just me or has Emmerdale gone too far with Debbie?

Andy just took her to bed, without having anything to drink, being emotional or even having a long talk with her.

The shots of her getting out of bed were actually quite worrying, since I think that the actress who plays Debbie is still only about 14 or 15.

I thought that the Debbie and Ethan stuff was acceptable, but tonight's episode really shocked, and to some extent upset me.

the actress who plays Debbie (Charley Webb) is 16 in real life - dont see what the fuss is as all the soaps tackle underage sex these days - look at the EE Demi Miller storyline

I know, they kiss, and then suddenly they decide to go to bed. As both the actress & character are about 14/15 this storyline is upsetting, especially given the last scene with Debbie crying.

They tackle teenage pregnancy, but rarely show them in bed, and show how these teenagers feel afterwards, like Debbie.

Yeah, it's nothing new. I was more distracted by the bizarre pink/blue colour combo in the bedroom she was in which I presume was Andy's.

Yeah but Demi Miller, and even Sarah Platt have been only focusing on teenage pregnancy storylines as opposed to teenage sex.

Obviously sex does come into it, (I'm not that stupid) but I thought the way that Emmerdale portrayed Debbie & Andy in tonight's episode was distasteful.

I think it's just you.
Why should Andy have had a long discussion with her ? It's not Neighbours or Home & Away.
And do you have to drink before going to bed ?
Why would getting out of bed be worrying ?
You're really getting upset about nothing.

It wasn't done very well, it was very rushed, but I'm glad they're showing stuff like this since it does happen and like you say, you rarely see how people feel afterwards. Makes a change to focus on the teenage sex than all the other possible side effects...though who knows how it will be handled from here on..

Boo hoo.
what if it had been the eve of her 16th birthday ?

Chill out msf...!

you can talk

Andy looked very guilty afterwards, he obviously regretted it. He's probably worried about what Cain will do to him when he finds out.

I thought it was fine. It's a good storyline, and they've clearly striven to film it with the minimum need for the young actress to be seen in a sexual way with Andy. I'm glad she wasn't being passionately kissed, or shown post-coitally in the bed with him. The fact that you still feel it was too strong means they've managed to be convincing at the same time. I don't see what else they could have done. At least a) it certainly wasn't underaged teen sex being glamourised and b) it isn't objectifying the young actress.

I think it was well done. The fact is that Andy is behaving in a terrible, unacceptable way, so it shouldn't look respectful or romantic. Would be wrong if it did.

I'm glad they are tackling this issue as most of the soaps seem to focus on the result of underage sex i.e. teen pregnancy. To the best of my knowledge they end up in bed AGAIN later on, Andy asks her back into his bed.

But I think part of the point of the storyline is not what she does but why she does it. Bearing in mind until recently she's had no stable parental influences, and shes just in part rebelling against her upbringing. At the same time, she is probably looking at her parents and looking at how they conduct their lives and some would say following their lead!

I think it was more a case of 'when' rather than 'if' regarding Debbie doing this.

Andy was drinking before he went to bed with Debbie, he drank in the pub and opened cans at home.

I thought it was quite realistic, to think everyone who has sex is a) over 16 b) in love is naive. People make wrong choices about sex every day of the week and neither Andy or Debbie have good role models when it comes to partners.

i think it is superb that emmerdale are tackling this storyline. i cant see that they have glamourised underage sex in the slightest, far from it, debbies hurt at the end proved that. he fact of the matter is that it does happen, and is becoming more and more common, and not to tackle it would be wrong.
i believe if you felt that stropgly about the situation then emmerdale,and both the actors involved, must have done a convincing and sterling job.

How old is Debbie suppossed to be incidently?

I think the thing is the actress is a very young looking 16 which makes it look more "troubling" than it actually is. I did think the scene in which they decided to have sex was rushed but I did then appreciate that it meant the young actress did not have to feel uncomofortable - nor Kelvin as an older man - having to be excessively passionate. The one thing that did bother me was the shot of her naked thighs as she got out of bed, i think we got the point she was naked and didn't need that shot to bring the point home.

how many times did they do it, i know they did it once the other night, but i thought they ended up together again tonight when they was laying together at the end in the bed.

I may have got this wrong but Chairity seemd to be quite proud of what she had done.

As another poster above asked - how old is the character Debbie supposed to be ? I thought she was playing a 15 year old ?

I thought the scene was rushed. Normally (in my mind anyway) you would snog and grope on the sofa .... then move to the bedroom.

I can only assume that Andy is rubbish at foreplay !!!

i like that charity was supportive to her daughter, but wouldnt she also be a little concerned? she's only a child!

thought andy was a bit silly for letting her in to his bed again, albeit innocent, i doubt very much that debbie will see it in that way!

I think it was mixed feelings, but it came out is proudness.

You may have forgotten but Charity gave birth to Debbie when she was 13 (Officially).
The reason I say officially is because the dates do not really add up.

Andy has a history with underage girls - although when he slept with Katie I think he was 16 and she was 15, so it wasn't quite as bad as this time around where he really, really should know better and he is too old for her and sleeping with her is the wrong thing to do.

I agree that the actress, if she is 16, does look VERY young - I think the character is supposed to be 15 now, but she looks 12 or 13.

Is anyone watching it tonight by the way? Daz's reaction was about right!!

"You dirty get!!"
Last edited by Vodka Squirrel : 16-09-2004 at 19:27

I am sorry to say this , but this dirty old man would have trouble kicking her out of bed