EastEnders cast in danger as parts falling off ‘crumbling’ set threaten to injure actors – as cost of new set spirals by extra £27million
The original set was only meant to last for two years but now it's literally falling apart around them
THE EASTENDERS set is a danger to cast and crew, it has been claimed.
Director General of the BBC, Lord Hall, has revealed parts of the building are falling off in bad weather, threatening the safety of actors and crew.
Defending the new set's spiralling costs, which are expected to go over budget by £27m, said: "When there are winds or rains you have to move the people shooting stuff as things might fall off."
He was speaking to a parliamentary committee to insist the total spend of £87m on the new set, insisting the show is at the heart of the BBC so worth the money being spent.
He added: "EastEnders is the heart of the BBC schedule and it's important we get it right. It's delivering a reach of 9m people a week and it's a really important part of the schedules."
And the 67-year-old promised: "Once we finish this project, the editorial ambition of EastEnders can be even greater than it is now."
In a damning report, last year auditors said the E20 project to rebuild the 1984 set could not provide “value for money”.
Reconstruction of the soap’s set is part of wider improvement works at BBC Elstree set to cost the public broadcaster £86 million in total, with completion now two and a half years late.
The National Audit Office blamed “over-optimistic initial estimates of costs”, inflation, and delays on health and safety grounds such as dealing with asbestos.
The report said: “As the (EastEnders) Front Lot construction only started in October 2018 and the Back Lot is at an early design stage, it is not yet possible to conclude on the value for money of the latest programme plan.”
E20 has been beset by problems, leading to a massive budget increase on the project, which was supposed to save the corporation almost £500,000 a year and allow filming in high definition.
Meg Hillier MP, chair of the Commons Public Accounts committee, slammed the spending.
She said: “It is concerning that the BBC has been unable to keep to budget and time on this project again, given my committee had already heard about the need to revise its scope in 2016.”
The original set of EastEnders was intended to be used for two years, but has been in use for 34.
It has led to problems with health and safety, continual investment in refurbishments, and the inability to shoot in high-definition due to the decaying set.
The NAO report found that the BBC had “inadequate expertise” in construction projects, the EastEnders production team was not properly involved in the work on the set, and there was an 11-month wait to secure a construction contract.
The report concluded: “The BBC will not be able to deliver value for money on the E20 programme in the way that it envisaged in 2015.
“Disappointingly, some of the reasons for this were built into E20 at the outset and could have been addressed earlier.”
A new EastEnders set is expected to be delivered in 2023.
The BBC previously said in a statement: “It’s a large, complex project which has already delivered many other vital improvements at BBC Elstree Centre, but like any building work of this scale there have been challenges on the way, including construction market issues beyond our control and from working on a brownfield site.
“As the NAO recognises, we’ve already made improvements and are keeping the project under close scrutiny.”
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