Anna’s kiss is the least of our worries

Anna Friel reveals that she is terrified of her first lesbian role since Brookside, but she needn’t be. The kiss that shocked the nation 23 years ago is now so commonplace in soaps that no one bats an eyelid.

What was once a competition to see how risque programmemakers could be has now become a free-for-all to churn out as much offensive content as they like, with the only caveat being that it doesn’t offend minorities.

The relentless stream of gutter language and crude innuendo make a lesbian kiss not even worthy of comment.

The popularity of Channel 4’s Gogglebox provides a depressing snapshot of the state of family viewing these days. To see parents and their teenage children engaging in the kind of language once reserved for dockers and miners as they sit together on the sofa shows just how far into the slurry we have descended.

And the most depressing thing of all is that this state of affairs is certain to be passed on to future generations, who will regard it as normal. David Hallas, Birstall, West Yorkshire