Horrified BBC viewers ask if there was 'any need' for gruesome horse scene in first episode of new drama

It's a BBC drama that's been compared to Happy Valley, but some viewers of the new show have been left pretty shocked by what happens in the first episode.

The show stars Jenna Coleman as Detective Constable Ember Manning, who is busy investigating cases in Lancaster.

Viewers did not really enjoy seeing the horse. (BBC)

However, while Happy Valley was so gritty you could have used it to clear the ice from a road, The Jetty kicks things off with an old yacht club burning down.

Happy Valley never had a yacht club, but as Ember investigates the arson case she discovers that a local teenager is pregnant and she may have been the victim of statutory rape.

Her investigation leads her to an old missing persons case and the drama rather carries on from there.

However, the bit of the show that has The Jetty viewers tip-tapping away at their keyboards is a moment in episode one where Amy (Bo Bragason) has a friend round at her house and is showing them a horse.

Amy then goes over to the horse and does something to it, which prompted a lot of people to write out some responses.

"First episode in and I didn’t have a horse getting tugged off on my tick list," one viewer commented on the show, and many more seemed to be displeased at what they'd been shown.

Viewers wondered 'what's with the horse abuse', and said the scene was 'gross and unnecessary' as well as being 'just for shock rather than plot development'.

Others said it was 'the only way to get people talking about an episode', and to be fair a lot of people did talk about the episode because of the horse scene.

Despite the criticism of the horse scene lots of people have been enjoying the show. (BBC)

Some people declared that they tapped out of The Jetty after the first episode as the horse scene was the 'final straw' for them and they were 'ready for turning off'.

It seems as though the people have spoken and they'd really rather not see anyone doing that to a horse again.

However, plenty of other viewers were able to look beyond that and focus on the show as a whole.

Other viewers said The Jetty was an 'intriguing story' that was 'captivating and well worth your time'.

There was plenty of praise for Jenna Coleman's performance as it definitely cut the mustard with viewers, who said she delivered a 'masterclass in acting'.

Some of the viewers are saying they've become 'hooked' on the show, so perhaps it'll be your next obsession.

The next episodes of The Jetty are available to watch on BBC One at 9pm on 21 and 22 July. The series can also be streamed on iPlayer.