A Day at Albert Square
By Paul Field
Matthew Robinson, Executive Producer of EastEnders, apparently has a genuine interest in fans at home and abroad. It was he who gave us the Walford Cam, the much-updated official EastEnders Web site, and the EastEnders Revealed show on BBC Choice.
Enter an obsessed EastEnders fan and his wife. I had been in communication with a number of people at BBC Choice in regards to their new documentary programme that complemented EastEnders. They had asked, through the BBC EastEnders web site, to hear from devoted fans. I had setup a connection between some U.K. fans who were subscribers to our Walford Gazette Web site and the America Online chat group, and some BBC staff members of a U.K. talk show. Unfortunately, I had not been able to travel to the U.K. for the show myself, and so I acted as a go between for them.
During my communications with Matthew, he had subsequently invited my wife and I for a tour around the set. The BBC Choice team decided it was too good an opportunity to miss. An ex-pat and his American wife behind the bar at the Queen Vic. Who would have thought it?
We arrived in Borehamwood, the town where the BBC's Elstree Centre is located. It was 11am, on Tuesday May 18th. We were meeting with Matthew at 2 p.m. We walked through the small shopping centre, immediately recognizing the areas where the EastEnders Revealed show had staged some street interviews the week before. After stopping at a greasy spoon for some fish and chips, we decided to place a call to the interviewer from BBC Choice, Jo Sheinman, who we had previous arranged to meet a little later. She was free and at around 12.30pm, we entered the BBC Elstree Centre. We met her and another lady in the foyer next to the reception area. We learned that Jo had only started working on the programme in January.
We sat and talked about the Gazette, our lives as 'Mega-EastEnders fans,' and they were especially interested in what the Americans thought of the show. The most prominent part of our discussion was the comparison between EastEnders and the U.S. soaps. We talked about the realism of the show and how different it was compared to the ritzy, completely phony atmosphere in its U.S. counterparts. We answered their questions for just under an hour. They were continuously taking video and working from their notes, they were very well prepared and had done their research.
I have to say that, with no disrespect to the interviewers, my favourite part of the interview was when Mr. Robinson stopped by to say hello. For the first time in my life as an EastEnders fan, I was speechless!
The time rushed by and the time to walk across to the lot had finally arrived. THE lot. The place we had watched on our TV screen, myself since episode one, and my wife, pretty much ever since I met her. Thoughts rushed through my head. What would it be like? Would we see any of the stars? Would they let us touch Albert Square? We had no real idea what was about to happen.
We started to spot familiar things. On our left we found the Walford Gazette van. We stopped along side it, took some pictures and told Jo how Larry Jaffee, our Gazette editor, asked to drive it when he was in the same position many years before.
As we walked through the huge gates, we noticed on our left what looked like some offices, with an EastEnders sign above the door. As we entered, we saw framed pictures of the stars of the show, past and present, lined along the walls. There was even an EastEnders doormat. It was my fascination of this item that stopped me from noticing a member of the cast walking by. As I looked up, my wife said, 'You just missed Steve - Steve McFadden (the actor behind Phil Mitchell)?' I asked. 'No, the guy (character) who owns the club [and is not yet on American public television screens].'
Before I could think how disappointed I was (this could, of course, have been the only star we would see in the whole day, and I had missed him!), the young lady who plays Teresa walked past (another new character). She was shorter than I had expected. In fact, nothing would look as big or as small as I expected, which immediately shows you what a wonderful illusion television is.
We didn't bother the actors; we just let them walk past, oblivious to the fact of our excitement.
Matthew appeared and off we went. We walked through a corridor, surrounded by huge cables and what later turned out to be the back of the internal sets.
We stopped beside what appeared to be the control room, possibly the nerve centre of the show. To our left we could just make out the Gent's bathroom door in the Queen Vic, along with numerous other sets, another one of which was the upstairs of the Vic. Matthew asked for some lights to be turned on in the Vic set so that the TV camera that was following us would be able to get some nice shots of us all in there.
He put us at ease by asking us of our opinions of the show. We followed him into the Queen Vic set, which also looked small. Matthew told me to go around behind the bar and pull him a pint. I did so, and he directed me as to where to stand as we posed for some photos. Next he told my wife to join me behind the bar, and how to pose. He took some terrific pictures as you can probably see.
After taking a look around, especially at the smashed Queen Victoria bust, we moved out from the interior sets, stopping to take a sneak peak at some of the others including the launderette.
The main foot entrance to the set is through the subway station. The back of it is not actually a train track or platform; it is the gateway back to reality.
We stepped out onto the roadway in front of the station. Everything was quiet. No movement could be seen or heard. The external scenes are only usually filmed on a Monday and Tuesday, and so there is very little action on the external set at any other time. We looked around. It was like a regular street in the East End of London, just with no people!
We walked across the street, up the steps, past the playground and a new gym.
We stepped out onto the street on the left of Albert Square. We were less than 30 feet from the Queen Vic. This was it. Our, well my, Mecca. We were standing by the infamous Albert Square sign. Again, I said to myself, this was it. We were really here!
Our eyes circled around in awe. We noticed Ian's car, and Mark's market stall.
We were instructed to stand behind the sign for our version of the BBC's promotional photograph, usually reserved for new cast members.
Matthew went on to tell us some anecdotes of life on the set, my favourite of which was how the supplier of the fruit for Mark's stall came to be said supplier. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time. They went down to the local fruit and veg stall and told them about this new show they were doing. The guy agreed to supply some stuff for them at a reasonable price, and has been doing so ever since, for over 13 years!
I managed to get an apple from the stall, which days later I found our baby daughter eating. We have half of it left in our freezer. Next time, I'm going to get a non-perishable souvenir!
Another funny moment was while the BBC team were asking us some questions as we were sitting at the table outside the cafe. Matthew was constantly bringing us table items, and then proceeded to try to take our food order! You just can't beat the feeling, being on the set of your favorite television show, and being served lunch by the Executive Producer!
It was shortly after this he was whisked away to another area of the exterior set, to join the rest of the production crew where they were filming. We did take a sneak peek, but decided against being too intrusive. Didnt want to outlive our welcome.
Mr. Robinson allowed us to hang out in Albert Square for a couple of minutes and take some more pictures. We walked slowly towards the underground station, knowing full well that we may never be here again, and our trip was nearly over. We dragged our feet just long enough to see a few of the current stars in the distance, including Robbie.
We stood in the reception area of EastEnders once again, and just as we were getting to the point of thinking we would not see any more of the actors from the show, who walked through the door but Tony Caunter and Shaun Williamson, Roy and Barry on the show.
It was as if we were back in Albert Square, they were talking and joking just like the characters they played. I was struck dumb, my wife was yet to notice them at this point. My mind was jumping from thought to thought. Should I say hello? Should I give them a Gazette? Would it upset them to be bothered?
I took the plunge, 'Hi, I'm Paul from the Walford Gazette in New York, and this is my wife Denise.' 'Glad to meet you,' they said. It turned out that Shaun had only just recently been interviewed by Tim Wilson for the Gazette (see page 1), and was very familiar with us all. We chatted for quite a while until some staff member told Tony he was wanted on D', which turned out to be Stage D where they put up the temporary sets on a weekly basis.
We cut back through the internal set area and got an opportunity to see some of the other internal sets, including the Vic's kitchen. As left the building, we began to notice some push hand trucks and trailers piled up with pieces of the set. Each one was labeled as to which set it was. Among others, we saw Roy & Pat's and The Jacksons'. It looked like a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be solved.
Shaun introduced us to newcomers Martin Kemp and Joe Absolom in the makeup room outside the studio. We gave Joe a copy to read, and he said he would save it for his train ride home. He then explained to us, with the help of the makeup artist, how they make him look like he hasn't had any sleep and seem really rough.
We finally adjourned to the reception area of BBC Elstree Centre, answering the last of BBC Choice's many questions on how we felt now we had actually been on the set. It was totally amazing. Everything was better than we expected, and everyone was most courteous.
My wife and I would personally like to thank Matthew Robinson for the invitation to visit the set, and for making two devoted fans' dreams come true.
We hope all of the other fans back here in the United States will enjoy the pictures and the above article. The complete set of Albert Square pictures can be found on our web site at:
http://www.lookupuk.com/aboutus/ee.html
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