MP says Milton Keynes misrepresented by EastEnders

An MP has said that the way Milton Keynes has been portrayed in EastEnders was "out of order".

On Monday the character of Bianca Jackson, played by Patsy Palmer, returned to screens in scenes set in her home in Milton Keynes.

One viewer, who has lived in Milton Keynes since the 1970s, said: "They've chosen my city, my home, as a place to depict as being a slum."

The BBC press office declined to comment.

In one scene a child character living in Milton Keynes was described as not being in school and instead "roaming the estate, carting drugs around, eating out of bins".

Shortly afterwards an argument began and a brick was thrown through a window by Bianca.

Ben Everitt, the MP for Milton Keynes North, said he was unhappy with the portrayal.

He said the programme's characters could be shown to walk around Willen Lake. He added: "I am quite positive about Milton Keynes and I want them to show the good side as well."

He added: "Like every city we got parts that aren't as good as the others, but the characterisation is completely out of order."

The scenes for the episode were filmed in Barnet, London, and saw characters Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty) and her partner Zack Hudson (James Farrar) visit Bianca who has not been seen on the programme since 2019.

A caller to the JVS show on BBC Three Counties Radio said he had to switch off BBC1 when he watched the programme.

Arthur, who has lived in Milton Keynes since the 1970s, 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."

Destination Milton Keynes, the city's official tourism service, said: "We'll leave it up to a fictional soap opera to choose how they want to depict Milton Keynes.

"But we know it to be a thriving, multi-cultural community with more than 6,000 acres of free green spaces for residents and visitors to enjoy and with a booming visitor economy worth over £230m a year.

"[The city] regularly features as one of the fastest-growing and most prosperous cities in the UK."

Mr Everitt said that although the depiction was not a major political issue, it was important to him that the city be represented fairly.

He said: "It's fiction, it's a soap opera, it's just the telly... I'm just not happy it's Milton Keynes."