EastEnders fans ‘absolutely disgusted’ over BBC soap’s depiction of Milton Keynes
EastEnders has been highly criticised by viewers for its portrayal of Milton Keynes after Whitney Dean and Zack Hudson left Walford to visit her step-mum Bianca Jackson
EastEnders fans slammed the soap for its portrayal of Milton Keynes.
On Monday (March 4), Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) and Zack Hudson (James Farrar) left Walford to visit Bianca Jackson (Patsy Palmer). They met two local children and Whitney began to form a bond with one of the girls named Britney.
Later, Whitney was concerned when she spotted Britney rifling through bins for food. Bianca then revealed that Britney’s mother struggles with drug addiction.
The events of Monday’s episode, which took place across a period of five weeks, sparked fury amongst fans who criticised how Milton Keynes had been portrayed on screen, reports OK!.
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, was “disappointed” with the scenes and demanded the soap issue an apology to the residents of the city.
“Like many across Milton Keynes, I was disappointed to see how the BBC soap opera depicted our great city,” the MP told The Sun. “The producers’ characterisation doesn’t show the real Milton Keynes and they owe an apology to residents for this negative portrayal.”
He added: “We get that it’s fiction, but the BBC is a national broadcaster and have to show it accurately.” Some people accept MK is the butt of the joke but we need to rise above politic opportunism and champion Milton Keynes.
Another Milton Keynes resident also shared their fury after their hometown was depicted as a “slum” on national TV. They told Three Counties Radio: “They’ve chosen my city, my home, as a place to depict as being a slum. If [the city] was a business the producers would have lawyers sitting on their doorstep looking to sue them.”
EastEnders fan Lene Chilvers has lived in the city for 40 years and admitted she was “absolutely disgusted” by what she saw. “I was so angry, I was absolutely disgusted, it’s just so rude,” the 69-year-old said.
“To actually single out a real place and portray it as the awful area they did, with kids running around the streets, drug addicts – the whole episode was so disgusting.”
