Where's rougher than Walford? Balham

EastEnders is set in the fictional East London borough of Walford.

Walford is hardly the most affluent place in the world, but sometimes the scriptwriters need the action to take place in an even rougher, more dangerous part of London - and for that they look south.

One current plotline has several scenes set in the South London neighbourhood of Balham. It is portayed as a wasteland of council flats, dark alleys, and menacing gangs:


EastEnders gang scene set in Balham

I lived in Balham for a year not so long ago, and saw more yummy mummies than hoodies. Wikipedia notes: "Property prices have risen as middle class professionals have moved in, causing the district to lose some of the working class feel it had up till the 1990s."

There are plenty of places in South London that make Walford look like Knightsbridge, but Balham isn't one of them.

4 comments:

Aidan Gray said...

I live in Balham. And I can confirm that there are many gangs made up menacing yummy mummies! No problem here!

Gareth said...

Thing is, they can easily get away with it. No-one in North London or anywhere else in the country would willingly set foot in South London so have no idea what it's actually like. And people in South London are too busy stabbing each other and stealing stuff to watch TV.

JD (The Engine Room) said...

No one else in South London watches TV because they've all had their television sets nicked:

http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/tn/news.cfm?id=4453

Balham said...

there are many gangs and Escorts in Balham. the police need to use more force in order to push the crime out of Balham.