‘We’re boycotting EastEnders’ fumes city as row grows over BBC scenes of drug-loving slum dwellers who ‘eat out of bins’
Watch our video of Milton Keynes locals defending their home from scriptwriters' 'out of touch' barbs
IT is nicknamed ‘Satan’s Layby’ and has become one of the most mocked cities in Britain because of its concrete cows and endless roundabouts.
But after EastEnders script writers portrayed it as a poverty-stricken slum, where children are forced to eat out of bins, Milton Keynes residents have come out fighting.
Locals say the city is a beautiful place to live and raise children – one newcomer even describes it as “paradise.”
H&R business partner Aisha Gorani is one of many saying she will never watch the BBC soap again after it gave her adopted home a kicking.
Aisha, 31, said: “EastEnders is out of touch. I know people that watch it, but I haven’t seen an episode since Christmas and I won’t be watching it again now.
“They’ve got it wrong about Milton Keynes. I’ve only been here a year having moved down from Birmingham and I think it’s a great place to live.
“It’s nice and quiet and there’s no crime at all.
“When my friends and family come down they label it as a ‘dead city’ because it’s very different to Birmingham and London, where my husband and I used to live.
“But the house prices are much more affordable – that’s why we moved here – and it’s easy to get to Birmingham, London and to Coventry, where I work.
“To portray it as a slum shows how out of touch EastEnders is.”
Controversial episode
The controversy erupted on Monday when long running character Bianca Jackson, played by actress Patsy Palmer, was shown living on a sink estate in Milton Keynes.
A gang of feral children desperately rooted through bins during the episode while Bianca – who had fallen on hard times – had hardly any food in her fridge.
But the episode was actually filmed in Barnet, north London.
Last December, the BBC was hit by a report from Ofcom which blasted it for letting down the working class by reducing them to stereotypes.
It read: “People we spoke to made it clear that they want the BBC to do better at authentically portraying their real lives.
“They feel the BBC can miss the nuanced everyday aspects of the lives of people from working-class backgrounds, and often reverts to stereotypical or ‘tokenist’ characterisations.”
We’ve been unfairly maligned and people are upset. When I look at Facebook people are raging, saying: ‘They don’t know Milton Keynes!’
Charity Worker Brenda
Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said he was so unhappy with the portrayal he would be contacting producers to offer them a guided tour.
He told us: “Like many across Milton Keynes, I was disappointed to see how the BBC soap opera depicted our great city.
“The producers’ characterisation doesn’t show the real Milton Keynes and they owe an apology to residents for this negative portrayal.
“We get that it’s fiction, but the BBC is a national broadcaster and have to show it accurately.
“There are people that accept MK is the butt of the joke however, we need to rise above the political opportunism and champion MK as the great city it is.”
‘Satan’s Layby’
Milton Keynes was conceived in the 1960s as a thriving centre off the M1 motorway that would relieve housing congestion in London.
Its creators had grand aims and envisaged a city of the future where people could commute without traffic, live in nurturing urban communities and still be close to nature.
But despite 22 million trees being planted besides 25 lakes and 170 miles of red tarmacked cycle and pedestrian lanes, by the 1970s the fast-growing city had developed a bad reputation, paving the way for its ‘Satan’s Layby’ nickname.
One critic dubbed it “bland, rigid, sterile, and totally boring”. Others mocked the concrete cow sculptures that dot the streets and parks and were created by the American artist Liz Leyh in 1978.
Retired market research analyst Mel Summers has lived in Milton Keynes almost since the first brick was laid 60 years ago.
He believes the stereotype is out-of-date and he is also calling on the BBC to provide more balance in its depiction.
Mel, 83, said: “There are a lot of misconceptions about Milton Keynes because of the bad publicity it’s had in the past.
“It’s been a convenient place to kick for sometime. People know it for the concrete cows, but it’s great living here with lots of things to do. I can’t see anything bad about it.
We have homeless people and there are some poor pockets, but we are not different from anywhere else
Resident Mel
“We moved here in 1968 and have never regretted it.
“I think it’s handy for programs like EastEnders to have a place they can make derogatory remarks about. There is some crime but don’t forget the population is quarter of a million so there is bound to be, along with drug-taking.
“We have homeless people and there are some poor pockets, but we are not different from anywhere else. I think the BBC should give a more balanced view, especially as this is an ongoing plot line.”
‘Paradise’ city
Student Lola Fatoye recently moved to MK from Nigeria and describes it as “paradise,” with one appeal being the easy availability of jobs.
Previous studies have shown that Milton Keynes is one of the most productive cities in Britain with 75 per cent employment and an usual number of start-up businesses.
Lola, 30, said: “I love Milton Keynes because it’s beautiful and it’s safe. I used to be scared to walk the streets at night in Lagos.
“But Milton Keynes is like what we call GRA in Nigeria, which means ‘Government Residential Area.’
“It’s clean everywhere so it’s not like they portray it in EastEnders. I tell my auntie that Milton Keynes is the place where I see myself raising my kids.
“People are friendly and there are facilities like libraries everywhere and there are lots of jobs.
“There are food banks – which means there is no need to route through bins no matter how poor you are – and people take care of each other.
“It’s paradise here compared to Nigeria.”
It’s clean everywhere so it’s not like they portray it in EastEnders. I tell my auntie that Milton Keynes is the place where I see myself raising my kids
Resident Lola
Retired IT worker Roger Moore, 72, says EastEnders got one thing right – that Londoners like Patsy have been moving to Milton Keynes to escape hardship for years.
He said: “We have a strong sense of community here and this is a wonderful city. I’ve been living here for 40 years and I wouldn’t go anywhere else.
“I used to cycle to work and every time a new road was built I would cycle along it before it was finished just to explore. It’s been a great adventure living in Milton Keynes.
“We have beautiful lakes with green space around them and play areas everywhere.
“I tell you something, I don’t watch EastEnders and I don’t care. We have plenty of people in Milton Keynes – we don’t need anymore.”
Tale of two cities
Pharmacist Donna Williamson takes a more balanced view, however.
She works in Fishermead, one of the more notorious estates with high levels of deprivation along with nearby Bradwell, where Everton star Dele Alli, 27, grew up and was at risk of falling in with the “wrong crowd” amidst the gangs and drugs.
She describes a tale of two cities, with poor areas standing in stark contrast to more affluent pockets like Bancroft, where the average house price is £326,000.
Mum-of-four Donna, 62, said: “I find the whole thing farcical because yes, there are rough estates in Milton Keynes.
“If you look at the houses in this area and compare them to the EastEnders clip, they are similar. The big hoo-ha is that it was filmed in north London.
“Now our MP is saying Milton Keynes is not rough, but really? You need to open your eyes and go around some of these estates and see for yourself.
“He probably lives in Bancroft or one of the nicer areas. But he must know.”
Our MP is saying Milton Keynes is not rough, but really? You need to open your eyes and go around some of these estates and see for yourself
Mum-Of-Four Donna
Charity worker Brenda Ingram, 65, added: “Everyone is feeling very defensive since this EastEnders plotline was revealed.
“We’ve been unfairly maligned and people are upset. When I look at Facebook people are raging, saying: ‘They don’t know Milton Keynes!’
“Milton Keynes has its rough parts of course and some of the older estates are being done up. But we have seen it grow and the main worry is that it is getting too big because it is such a nice place to live.
“My message to the EastEnders team would be: ‘Come and see it for yourself.’ They will be shocked.”
The BBC declined to comment when approached by The Sun.
