What is it like living next door to Albert Square?

As all EastEnders fans know, the TV soap's famous Albert Square is not really in the East End of London.

Since its beginnings, the show has been shot on an outdoor set at BBC Elstree Centre, which is tucked away in the centre of Borehamwood in Hertfordshire.

To an outsider, the terraced houses complete with satellite dishes could fool you into thinking it is just another residential street.

Get closer though and you will find fans camped outside the security gates with umbrellas and chairs, hoping to meet their favourite actors as they sneak out on a lunch break.

So what is it like for the people of Borehamwood who, for the last 40 years, could technically call The Queen Vic pub their local?

A few weeks ago, Darren Bloch was washing up when something exploded.

"I started panicking. I could see smoke and all that," he said.

"I quickly shouted to my wife to call the fire service and she called down to say, 'Oh, no, don't worry, it's EastEnders. They sent a letter around to say it was going to happen'.

"I was panicked for a bit."

The couple live so close to the set that Albert Square hardman Phil Mitchell's house overlooks their back garden.

Mr Bloch said: "From our bedroom, you can see the whole set, the tops of the buildings and all the set, so we're right on the set.

"When we tell our friends where we live they find it's amazing... They've definitely come up to our bedroom and had a good look."

The 37-year-old only moved to the area four months ago. He is originally from South Africa where they have never heard of characters like Ian Beale, Dot Branning or Kat Slater.

Although Darren lives closer to the fictional London borough of Walford than anybody else in the world, he has never seen an episode in his life.

"I've Googled it a few times, just to see if I know any of the faces that I regularly see walking around, nothing so far, I haven't been so lucky," he said.

"We did watch Strictly [Come Dancing] this year, that was my first reference of an EastEnders actor."

Alongside the couple's home is a road that leads into the set, which is blocked off by a large security gate.

Fans are often sitting on the edge of Darren's driveway hoping for a glimpse of their favourite characters on their way to the local shops.

He said: "When we first moved in it was something we definitely had to get used to, having so many people just walking and looking over.

"You think, 'Are they looking into our property?' and then you realise they're just trying to get a glimpse of the studios.

"I sometimes see people getting autographs or signatures or something. I just don't know who they are."

Somebody who would recognise the cast is Mr Bloch's neighbour and fan of the soap, Pamela Waple.

The 74-year-old, who moved to Borehamwood eight years ago, said: "They are all so friendly and so charming. If I'm out in the front garden, they will stop and they chat and they admire my roses.

"They sometimes film out the front of the house. There was one a few weeks ago with [character] Jack Branning."

Behind Ms Waple's garden shed are two houses, part of the soap's set, but through the gap between them you can catch a glimpse of Albert Square itself.

She said: "We do hear the occasional bang, and shouting and hoorays. At Christmas, we see the decorations when they decorate the square.

"Christmas goes up about August and there's all snow on the rooftops. It is very odd."

In 2022, the show started using a new set after the original one, used since 1984, had deteriorated to the point it was no longer usable.

During construction, residents were invited for a tour of the £86.7m replacement.

Ms Waple said: "We could walk around Albert Square which was quite surreal, but the neighbours I went with didn't watch it so it didn't mean much to them, but for me it was bizarre walking around Albert Square."

On Thursday, there will be a live episode of the soap, broadcast from the set in Borehamwood.

Ms Waple said: "To think when they do the live performance they're actually going to be there, and I'll be here watching it on my TV - I can get it in stereo.

"There's a child that lives next door, he cries a lot and screams a lot, I wonder if that interferes with their filming because you do hear them shout 'action'."

She added: "I dread to think anything happens to EastEnders. We'd have a housing estate there."

If BBC Elstree Centre is the EastEnders equivalent of a Hollywood studio then Borehamwood high street is the walk of fame.

Ask anybody in the shops, cafes or pubs at the centre of town and they will probably have a story about meeting or serving the show's cast.

Aziz Chatt, a cook at Golden Plaice fish and chip shop, said: "Bianca was here a couple of weeks ago, she came twice in the last couple of weeks.

"Minty used to come nearly every week.

"Phil Mitchell loves his fish and chips. He comes and takes his cod and chips. I saw him a few weeks ago, he's a nice and chatty man... He likes salt and vinegar."

Michelle Smith, the manager of Peace Hospice Care, has noticed that things bought in her shop have ended up on screen.

"We used to be a furniture shop so they bought a lot from us... we've spotted sofas and things," she said.

"Ten years ago it was a Jubilee or something, they had a big episode with Dot and another lady. I watched it and was like, 'Oh my God, there's all the bits they bought from the shop'."

She has lost count of how many cast members have visited the shop over the 22 years she has worked in the area and recalls regularly spotting Max Branning actor Jake Wood getting some exercise in between filming.

"Max Branning used to run round in his little 80s shorts. You used to see him jogging all the time in his teenie weenies," she said.

Karen Whitehouse works in the same shop, and her son was an extra in one of the show's first episodes.

She said: "He was just in a carnival scene where the kids are running around.

"The funny thing is, when people come into Borehamwood to see if they can spot the actors, you do get a lot."

Ms Smith added: "We've had to take a few out the back door when they've really been harassed.

"They're all really lovely people, because they come in so often you see them in the street, and they shout 'all right?'."

To mark the soap's 40th birthday, Hertsmere Borough Council presented Chris Clenshaw, the show's executive producer, with a special award.

Council leader and Elstree Film Studios chairman Jeremy Newmark said: "EastEnders has been totemic of the growth in the screen sector here in Hertsmere and proven a trailblazer with its treatment of the important social issues of the day.

"It's played a critical role in our national conversations over the past 40 years and we are very proud to have the BBC EastEnders team right here in the heart of our borough."

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