It is already £27million over budget and full filming could be delayed for months....but this is Albert Square 2.0.
The latest images of the EastEnders set have been unveiled after being previously shrouded in scaffolding – including the New Queen Vic.
The old pub featured deep red cladding while the new one has a light exterior although it’s not expected to be the final look.
The new set is entirely built in brick allowing the soap to be filmed in HD – something they couldn’t do before because the crumbling sets were in such bad shape.
It replaces the current set at BBC Elstree Centre, in Herts, which was built to last just two years back in 1984 and has been beset by health and safety problems and maintenance costs.
Filming is currently suspended on the soap with bosses saying “no dates have been set for filming to resume”.
Pictures of the set comes amid increasing controversy over the spiralling costs of the project.
The total bill for rebuilding the soap’s HQ is set to cost £87million of licence fee money rather than the £60million originally planned.
The set was supposed to be completed by August 2018 but now will not be finished until 2023.
Labour MP Wes Streeting, who represents East London constituency Ilford North, has previously said of the project: “This looks like a case of art imitating life as the cost of Albert Square seems to have rocketed as fast as East London’s house prices.
“Even avid fans of the soap will raise eyebrows at these costs.”
A damning report by watchdog the National Audit Office blamed the 45% increase in costs on over-optimism, lack of expertise and delays in construction.
The watchdog concluded the BBC was no longer delivering value for money on the project.
It 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 cited “overoptimistic initial estimates of costs”, inflation, and delays on health and safety grounds such as dealing with asbestos.
Other MPs were critical of the corporation for its poor planning.
Lib Dem Layla Moran said: “The Queen Vic and Albert Square are dear to my heart like lots of people, and there is no doubt in recent years the show has played a major role is raising many important societal issues.
“However, I can’t imagine any of the straight-talking characters accepting this outrageous overspend of public money.”
The BBC has argued that the many problems encountered with the building work were beyond its control.
The current EastEnders set is currently a ghost town as the soap stopped filming due to the current coronavirus pandemic.
As such, the number of weekly episodes has been reduced to keep the London-set soap on air for as long as possible.
Current storylines are focusing on the deteriorating mental health of Jean Slater, the legal troubles of Whitney Dean, and the sale of the Queen Vic from Mick and Linda Carter to Phil Mitchell.
EastEnders continues on Mondays and Tuesdays on BBC One.
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