East

Filming yesterday at Elstree with Vox Simba for the East Enders Christmas Special. Seen close to, Steven Keogh's set designs are extraordinarily lifelike, so that you really do have the sense of being in a part of east or south-east London - a slightly dreamlike telescoping of Bow, Bromley, Deptford, Lewisham and somewhere else, not defined. This year V.S., billed as a gospel choir, sang with Laurie Brett, and also took part in the carol singing on Albert Square. It was a long day, but an enjoyable one.