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Design Cardiff as London's East End?
The idea that you can design Cardiff into a completely different city, complete with different architecture and accents may sound a crazy one, but that’s before you take into account Cardiff as the biggest media capital outside of London. As such, its media expertise, TV studios and sets and talented TV crews mean it’s possible to design Cardiff into London’s East End, with a bit of media magic.
Design Cardiff into Albert Square?
That’s what the producers of EastEnders are hoping for. A report in the Western Mail says Cardiff is being tipped as the next location for the London soap; and not just one of those episodes where the cast take a day trip. The soap may move lock, stock and barrel to the Welsh capital as the TV show will design Cardiff into soap-land London, complete with Albert Square and the Queen Vic.
EastEnders meets Doctor Who
Millions of people watch the TV soap, which has been running on the BBC for 23 years. It’s associated with red buses, tubes and cockney accents, but it could be forced to move to Cardiff due to on-going repairs and problems with Elstree studios – it won’t meet High Definition TV standards once introduced in the UK. As well as having their design on Cardiff, Bristol, Belfast and Buckinghamshire (Pinewood) are all in the running. The idea that producers can design Cardiff into Albert Square is feasible considering the success of Torchwood and Doctor Who – major TV hits that prove Cardiff has the right talent and resources for TV and film.
Cardiff is Media Capital
It’s hard to visualise a series so dependent on place to be moved to a completely different location. The Yorkshire Dales for instance became Herriot country after All Creatures Great and Small and has found fame with series such as Last of the Summer Wine, Heartbeat and Emmerdale. But it’s believed it’s quite possible to design Cardiff as Albert Square, evidenced by the strength of BBC Wales: the current series of Dr Who starring Catherine Tate has been hailed a major success. Cardiff’s profile has been raised to become one of ‘TV’s pedigree cities’, and if the EastEnders producers were to design Cardiff in the shape of Albert Square, it could bring a further boom in employment and reputation.
High Definition TV improves picture quality, which means that the creaks and cracks on studio sets will be noticeable; other TV shows that are also rumoured to be moving as a result of HD demands include Holby City and Casualty. Whether TV producers will design Cardiff into a filming hotspot remains to be seen – but the city certainly has a strong national skill-base.
Limegreentangerine is a Cardiff based design agency with strong marketing, branding and digital expertise. Our portfolio includes everything from advertising, direct mail and exhibition projects to packaging, websites and cd-roms. And our client list ranges from financial and legal firms to insurance, IT and retail companies. See how we can boost your brand identity, call 029 20 462 544.