Residents of an upmarket road in north London have criticised the makers of the BBC comedy series Amandaland for transforming their street to appear 'grubbier' to resemble a more deprived area. The show, a spin-off from the hit sitcom Motherland, follows Lucy Punch's character Amanda as she downsizes from leafy Chiswick to South Harlesden, a less affluent postcode.
Filming for the series took place last summer on Ferntower Road in Islington, an elegant tree-lined street where houses cost up to £2 million. Locals revealed that shopping trolleys and bags of rubbish were strategically placed along the road to make it appear more rundown, causing frustration among residents.
Laura Cain, 31, who has lived on Ferntower Road for most of her life, told MailOnline: 'I loved Motherland, but I haven't watched Amandaland yet. It is a bit of a joke that they used our lovely clean road to make it look more like Harlesden. A lot of people weren't happy when filming was taking place because it caused a lot of nuisance.'
Lorna MacFarlane, 50, another resident, fumed: 'Our road was made a lot grubbier during filming and to be honest, the whole thing was a pain in the neck. Not only did they cause a lot of mess, but they also took up all the parking spaces.'
The resident of number 48 Ferntower Road, which serves as the exterior of Amanda's home, said: 'I saw Motherland and loved it and we're very happy that the outside of our home was filmed. But I don't understand why the programme wasn't filmed in Harlesden if it's set there.'
