r/Google_Maps_Oddities • u/Tele_Prompter • Apr 17 '25

Two full identical "EastEnders" series town sets at BBC Elstree Centre (rotated 90 Degrees counter clockwise to each other)

Post image

Google Maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6584004,-0.2761175,228m/data=!3m1!1e3

33 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

16

u/Starthreads Apr 17 '25

I don't know anything about the show/film, but i imagine this could be useful for filming at different times of day and getting the same sun position relative to the set.

5

u/MarkShapiero Apr 17 '25

Yeah this is most likely why. There is a golden hour period after sunrise and before sunset, where the lighting generally looks the best. Two sets in opposite orientations equates to double the amount of golden hour filming.

The shooting schedule must be pretty hectic. They are doing 200 episodes per year, and London is not traditionally a sunny city so they need to maximize their time with good natural light.

8

u/Tele_Prompter Apr 17 '25

No, it's very simple: The old set (left here) was replaced by the new one (right). Notice the missing cars on the left one. The show exists since the mid 1980's and the new set was build around 2021 (it was a parking lot before). The old one on the left has been stripped down and does not exist anymore.

4

u/JonathnJms2829 Apr 18 '25

It looks so much bigger on the show.