Hipsters are set to invade Albert Square after show bosses ruled that the set and story lines should reflect the gentrification of East London.
Producers of the BBC soap have decided that the show must include new buildings and young, tattooed and moustachioed characters you would spot in areas such as Shoreditch.
So we could soon see story lines featuring pop up bars or art galleries and tales of middle class kids living in London on an allowance from the bank of mum and dad while trying to start a band.
Bosses at the Beeb issued an ultimatum that EastEnders has been ‘frozen in aspic for too long’ and are aiming to introduce a modern London feel, where property prices have risen starkly and where a new generation of fashionable, young professionals have made their home.
The original set, built in 1984 and used ever since, has changed little since it was first envisioned as a realistic representation of working class life.
New EastEnders executive producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins told Radio Times the show must take in more of modern London.
It will now aim reflect the buildings and residents of the 21st century, including the fashionable area of Shoreditch, in the east of the city.
The area has now become a byword for the home of hipsters with an array of “pop-up” restaurants, bars and markets.
Made In Shoreditch magazine defines the area as ‘one of the most vibrant and innovative areas in the world,’ revered for ‘alternative fashion, innovative arts, buzzing digital startups, unique independent shops and the crazy party culture.’
Treadwell-Collins, who took over as executive producer of EastEnders in August last year following the departure of Lorraine Newman, told the Radio Times its set now needed to feel fresh.
He said: “It should feel more like London. It’s been frozen in aspic for too long.
“Sharon (played by Letitia Dean) said recently that she’s looking to be a landlady and as a result you’ll see the edges of Shoreditch creeping into EastEnders. It’s got to reflect the modern world.”
Dean’s character is expected to buy the square’s salon, with the aim of opening a modern bar insiders say will be “very different to the Queen Vic”.
Treadwell-Collins added he wanted to see the soap focus less on action and more on character, with the return of familiar faces, including Lacey Turner as Stacey Branning and new characters such as Danny Dyer as patriarch Mick Carter.
He added: “It’s good to have one foot in the past while looking to the future.
“My idea is to make the show feel fresh with the Carters, but also a bit nostalgic by bringing back characters we love. And there should be more secrets that will make the viewer gasp.”
The original Albert Square was based on Fassett Square in Hackney, London, considered the ideal setting for working class East End community spirit. Situated near Dalston, a terraced home there sold for £729,000 in 2011.
Characters in the current EastEnders work in cafes, on market stalls, as beauticians, postmen and classroom assistants.
In reality, Ed Mead, executive director of Douglas and Gordon estate agents, said areas on the edge of Shoreditch, like the fictional Albert Square, are now likely to be populated by professionals in their 20s who wanted to feel ‘close to the cutting edge.’
It is expected that preparatory work will begin at BBC Elstree later this year, and is due to be completed by 2018.