EastEnders viewers in Milton Keynes have voiced their anger after the BBC soap portrayed their city in a negative light during a two-part special this week. The episode featured a child character described as 'roaming the estate, carting drugs around, eating out of bins', prompting complaints from residents who felt the depiction was unfair and inaccurate.
Karl Downey, 28, a lifelong fan who has watched the show since the age of four, said he was 'disappointed' by how Milton Keynes was shown. 'Don't get me wrong, as with all towns and cities, Milton Keynes has its nicer and less than savoury areas, but for show producers to decide to film all of Milton Keynes scenes on a rundown council estate in the north London borough of Barnet was a bit insulting,' he said. He added that the episode 'gave Milton Keynes the image of being some ex-communist republic of the 1990s'.
Lene Chilvers, 69, who has lived in the city for 40 years, described her reaction as 'so angry' and 'absolutely disgusted'. 'To actually single out a real place and portray it as the awful area they did, with kids running around the streets, drug addicts - the whole episode was so disgusting,' she said. She urged other fans to visit Milton Keynes, calling it 'open and green' and 'attractive'.
Lesley Scott, 70, a resident of 18 years, said the city 'gets a rough deal all the time' and that it has 'everything you want apart from the sea'. Joan Shaw, who has lived there for 36 years, said she was 'infuriated and felt very insulted'. She pointed to major businesses such as Red Bull, Santander and Volkswagen basing their UK headquarters in the city as evidence of its success.
The scenes set in Milton Keynes were actually filmed on a council estate in Barnet, north London, rather than in the city itself. EastEnders is typically filmed at Elstree Studio in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, about an hour's drive from Milton Keynes.
