Albert Square

Albert Square
Aerial view of Albert Square as it was during the 1980s
Genre	Opera
Type	Square
Notable locations	The Queen Victoria
Notable characters	EastEnders characters

Albert Square is the fictional location of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. It is ostensibly located in the equally fictional London borough of Walford in London's East End. The square's design was based on the real life Fassett Square in Hackney, and was given the name Albert Square after the real life history of Prince Albert and the then deprived East End. The public house, The Queen Victoria, was also given its name due to this. One of the key characteristics of the pub is the window twitching by any of the occupants throughout the years. They are often known to look out of the windows, giving a view of the whole Square. This is especially common in dramatic storylines.

Central to the Square are the gardens. The garden is home to Arthur Fowler's bench, which was placed there in memory of him. The bench is also known as the Bench of Tears, as it is often the place where characters will go and cry.

The square is the centre for all of the everyday drama in all of Walford's residents' lives, most of the characters on EastEnders live on the square. Although a major place on the show, there are other places which are used in the show, like the market.

Albert Square within the EastEnders set

In reality, the exterior set for the fictional Albert Square is located in the permanent backlot of the BBC's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, at 51°39′32″N 0°16′40″W / 51.65889°N 0.27778°W / 51.65889; -0.27778Coordinates: 51°39′32″N 0°16′40″W / 51.65889°N 0.27778°W / 51.65889; -0.27778.

The set is outdoors and open to the weather. The main buildings on the square consist of hollow shells, constructed from marine plywood facades mounted onto steel frames. The lower walls, pavements etc. are constructed of real brick and tarmac. The walls were intentionally built crooked in order to give them an aged appearance. The drains around the set are real in order for rain water to naturally flow from the streets. The square was built in two phases with only three sides being built plus Bridge Street to begin with in 1984, in time to be used for the show's first episode, which was aired on 19 February 1985. The fourth side of the square plus further expansion to the exterior set was completed in 1987. None of the buildings on Albert Square have any interior filming space, and most don't have rears or gardens. The grocery shop was originally open fronted, it was turned into a closed front shop, with removable interior walls to allow for filming inside the shop when the set was expanded in 1987. The cafe also has some interior decoration so some limited filming can take place by the door.^[1]

The set was expanded further to include George Street, more shops and the tube station in 1992 in order to create further locations when EastEnders went from two to three episodes per week in 1993. The newer exterior sets including Fish & Chip shop, video shop and beauty salon have some interior filming space to create a greater sense of realism.^[1] As the show is filmed up to six weeks in advance, the trees need to have extra leaves stuck on them during the spring to make them look like they would in summer.

In February 2008 it was reported that Albert Square would transfer to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, where a new set will be built as the current set is looking rather shabby, with its flaws showing up on High-definition television broadcasts.^[2]

See also

• Walford

References

1. ^ ^{a b} EastEnders BBC
2. ^ Sets too shabby for latest TVs force EastEnders out of town Times Online

External links

• BBC - EastEnders
• BBC map of Albert Square
• Fassett Square - "The original inspiration for EastEnders".