The second series of ‘Ordinary Lies’ is now underway, but the biggest tear-jerker moment of episode two came from a surprising place.
No, viewers weren’t crying tears of nostalgia at the sight of former Hear’Say singer Noel Sullivan, nor were they tears of empathy for the character of Holly, as she tried desperately to win back her ex by any means necessary.
In fact, most of people’s attention was centered on the fate of a cat.
Yes, in one shocking scene, Holly’s cat found itself crushed in a sliding door, leaving the exasperated character to hunt high and low for a nearby vet.
The shocking moment was a sticking point for ‘Ordinary Lies’ viewers, who took to Twitter to voice their concern for the cat, whose fate was never revealed, with some even criticising the show for airing such an upsetting scene about an animal:
Scriptwriter Danny Brocklehurst later wrote: “Several articles in newspapers today focusing on the ‘cat incident’... WTF. We didn’t really kill it!!!!”
Coincidentally, this isn’t the first time that a TV cat has stolen the spotlight from its human counterparts in recent times.
Just two weeks, a twist in ‘Emmerdale’ saw an injured James Barton feeding some food prepared by Emma to the cat (in scenes clearly inspired by the film, ‘Misery’), only for him to discover that she was trying to drug him when the cat promptly died, sparking a similar reaction among soap fans.
‘Ordinary Lies’ continues on Tuesday (1 November) at 9pm on BBC One. Let’s just hope we don’t have to endure any more animal casualties in episode three...