'EastEnders' Receives Wide-Spread Praise For Shakil Kazemi And Keegan Baker Knife Crime Plot

‘EastEnders’ fans praised the soap for tackling the growing problem of knife crime in hard-hitting scenes on Monday.

Viewers of the BBC One soap saw schoolboys Shakil Kazemi and Keegan Baker stabbed by a gang of youths after Keegan riled them by stealing a bike.

Their lives hung in the balance at the end of the episode, as they both laid helplessly in the alleyway of the Queen Vic.

Two precious young lives hang in the balance. Both victims of knife crime. It cannot go on like this. #EastEnders pic.twitter.com/TGV4bV32ur
— BBC EastEnders (@bbceastenders) May 21, 2018

The powerful scenes showed the grim reality of London’s current knife crime problem, as over 40 people have so far been stabbed to death in the capital this year.

The soap received wide-spread praise on social media for drawing attention to the issue, and dealing with it in a realistic way:

#EastEnders #shakil scared the 💩 out of me tonight, the way he seemed to appear from nowhere before collapsing. It's sad though. Glad they're highlighting the problem of knife crime. Saturday was 22 years since my friend Stephen Cameron was stabbed to death. Nothing's changed!
— Sarah-Jane Stanley (@SarahJaneStanl1) May 21, 2018

The fact those scenes are very much real in today’s society & over such trivial things like a bike, or in shakil’s case, wrong person wrong place - is sickening! Well done #EastEnders for highlighting this - the characters used were spot on too 😢😢💔💔
— Lisa Barnes (@LiseMB3) May 21, 2018

Wow, wow, wow😲
Powerful scenes tonight, highlighting knife crime!
I had a lump in my throat watching this tonight, also brings back some memories of my own. 😓
It is heart breaking that this happens day in day out!!💔#EastEnders
— Cat mayo (@missmayo1984) May 21, 2018

Wow! @bbceastenders what an episode that was! I laughed & then cried. And Bravo for highlighting knife crime that is happening way too often. I feel this weeks episodes are gonna be very emotional 😢😢 #Eastenders
— Lynsey B [H] #GG2D (@Livelylivy) May 21, 2018

With rising gun and knife crime in London #eastenders did a good job highlighting the impact it has
— Megan Marie 🇺🇸🇬🇧 (@KreayHeffnerr) May 21, 2018

Well done #eastenders for highlighting something that happens everyday in London! That shattered lives, families and communities #knifecrime
— LillyLy (@LillyLyla) May 21, 2018

Knife crime, poverty, and homelessness all drowned out as people are distracted by the royal wedding and sing Land of Hope and Glory. Cleverly done #EastEnders 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
— Claudia Boleyn (@ClaudiaBoleyn) May 21, 2018

After losing two friends and a brother to a knife, todays episode really got to me and made it unbearable to watch, however I’m so glad that knife crime is being highlighted as a common issue in society💔😭 #EastEnders
— saph reid (@miss_tia8) May 21, 2018

@bbceastenders That ending was chilling. Poor Keegan and Shakil. Hard hitting, sensitive and emotional SL. Knife crime needs to stop. Hope it raises more awareness. #EastEnders
— Faizal Perager (@man18united) May 21, 2018

I don’t usually tweet about soaps, but hats off to #Eastenders for their storyline around knife crime. I guess anything that raises awareness can only, surely, be a good thing. Hope the rest of the story is covered with the grim reality of knife crime so lessons can be learnt.
— Steve Tolcher (@SteveTolcher) May 21, 2018

So I feel like @bbceastenders Keegan and Shaki getting stabbed over a BIKE is a bit crazy. However it’s an accurate representation of the knife from going on right now where people are getting stabbed for no reason. My heart goes out to all affected by knife crime. #eastenders
— Easstenders (@easstenders) May 21, 2018

#EastEnders was deep tonight, kudos to them for raising awareness with knife crime, a shocking reality of what is going on in our society today, its NEVER ok to carry/use a knife! We need tougher laws and sentencing, step up and end it NOW #KnifeCrime #London
— Jade-Marie McSorley (@jadeymcs) May 21, 2018

Bosses worked with former star Brooke Kinsella MBE on the plot, after her 16-year-old brother was stabbed to death in a knife attack in 2008.

Brooke, who played Zoe Slater’s best friend Kelly Smith from 2001 to 2004, said: “It is now 10 years since we lost Ben to this horrific crime and it is impossible to put into words how Ben’s murder has affected my family.

“I commend the ‘EastEnders’ team for choosing this storyline to portray the realities of knife crime. With knife crime on the increase it is vitally important that we help people understand its lasting impact. Carrying a knife won’t protect you, it won’t give you status, harming or stabbing someone isn’t a trivial act. It simply destroys lives forever.”

**Brooke Kinsella's brother Ben was stabbed to death as a 16-year-old**

Brooke, who has become and anti-knife crime campaigner since Ben’s death, added: “We need to do more to help people understand this, especially young people. That’s why my family and I set up the Ben Kinsella Trust to help educate young people away from knife crime. I believe that this storyline will bring home the realities of knife crime to a wider audience and show how it damages the lives of victims, offenders, their families and friends forever.”

Previously released spoilers have revealed Shakil will lose his life following the attack, and in the coming days, viewers will see the far-reaching consequences his death has on his family and friends, with his mother Carmel attempting suicide.

It will also prompt the arrival of his and Kush’s brother Darius and father Omar on the Square, after the news reaches them.

‘EastEnders’ continues on Tuesday at 7.30pm on BBC One.