Eastenders snubs move to... the east end
Popular cockney soap opera Eastenders has elicited the ire of London mayor Boris Johnson after show bosses vetoed a mooted flit to Stratford, east London.
Despite its title the show is currently produced in the corporations Elstree studios in North West London, prompting City Hall to accuse the drama of “snobbery”.
A BBC insider informed the guardian however that the issue was a 23ft privacy wall around the set – which would interfere with sightlines of broadcasters covering the 2012 Olympic Games.
The corporation further protested that nearby City Airport would preclude filming around 30% of the time by 2015.
Unperturbed Johnson told the London Evening Standard: “"There was the chance for the BBC to show genuine commitment to the East End – an area it has harvested for audiences for decades. I'm astonished that the boss class don't see the obvious advantages of rooting a popular drama in an area it claims to portray.
"Perhaps if they seized this opportunity their plots and script lines would reflect the vibrancy and optimism of this critical part of the capital and not the relentless negativity that often comes across."