EastEnders spoilers: BBC soap set for MAJOR unexpected revamp twist 'It's crucial'
EASTENDERS fans have enjoyed watching the show’s set since the 1980s, but it looks like the ongoing revamp of the show’s surroundings are not going quite as planned.
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EastEnders viewers will remember having the show’s set around for some decades.
While show stalwarts such as Phil Mitchell (played by Steve McFadden) and Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) have been wandering around the same set for years, the BBC recently announced it would be getting a new look.
However as plans to redefine how EastEnders ought to look are underway, MPs heard that the project had been “managed badly.”
Reported by The Telegraph, MPs at a committee discussing the soap’s plans first heard the set, which was originally built in 1984, was “no longer fit for purpose.”
The project, which has been dubbed E20, will now cost £27 million more than originally expected.
As well as this, the new set was deemed “crucial to the future success of EastEnders.”
While a new set may initially seem like a minor change, this will surely have enormous repercussions for the inherent style of the soap.
The new set is being built to “better reflect East End London,” according to the BBC, and to extend Walford as Albert Square and the Queen Victoria are also rebuilt.
However the Public Accounts committee said: “The BBC has managed [the] project badly.”
They went on to say they were “disappointed by the BBC’s complacency in managing” the project - particularly in its early stages.
The ongoing gargantuan project will no doubt change how the show will continue to run, but the committee went on to explain the BBC “underestimated the scale and complexity” of the project.
The committee went on to add: “EastEnders is being outperformed by its soap rivals, such as Coronation Street, and its overall audience has reduced as fewer people watch traditional linear TV.
“Therefore it is important for EastEnders that the BBC completes E20 so that the programme os best placed to not only succeed but to also secure its long-term future.”
The BBC replied to the statement given by the committee, saying: “We welcome the committee’s recognition of the importance of the E20 project.
“However we strongly reject the notion that there has been any complacency.”
The set is supposed to be completed in May 2023, and it will surely change things up for the stories within the show going forward.
The new set won’t be the only change on its way to the show, as brand new characters have been introduced this year.
Most recently, Albert Square saw the arrival of two new members of the Ahmed family - Habiba Ahmed (Rukku Nahar) and Iqra Ahmed (Priya Dadra).
And although they have not yet made any drastic decisions or revelations, their time to rupture the status quo will certainly arrive soon enough.
But will it have something to do with the continually evolving set?
EastEnders continues tomorrow at 7.30pm on BBC One.