Photos Frank Leppard
Scenes for BBC soap Eastenders are currently being shot in Margate.
Crews are filming scenes at Wildes café this morning (April 17). Characters spotted so far are Lola Pearce-Brown played by Danielle Harold, Amy Mitchell played by Ellie Dadd, Bailey Baker played by Kara-Leah Fernandes and Lols’s husband Jay Brown, portrayed by Jamie Borthwick.
Parking bay restrictions in Market Place for the filming are in place until 8pm tonight.
In the soap terminally ill Lola has discovered she only has a few months left to live and will have to break the news to her grandfather Billy Mitchell (Perry Fenwick) when he returns to the Square.
Brain Tumour Research worked with EastEnders on the storyline as Lola was diagnosed with a glioblastoma (GBM).
Lola’s diagnosis with a GBM means that, like many patients with this devastating disease, she faced a bleak prognosis. GBM is the most common type of primary high-grade brain tumour in adults. This tumour type is very challenging to treat and the average survival time is distressingly short – just 12-18 months.
EastEnders has been working with Brain Tumour Research and Macmillan Cancer Support on the storyline to ensure it is portrayed as realistically and as sensitively as possible.
Sue Castle-Smith, Head of PR and Communications at Brain Tumour Research, said: “We are grateful to EastEnders for helping to raise awareness of brain tumours.
“Lola’s story is all too familiar to thousands of families; brain tumours are indiscriminate and can affect anyone at any age, they kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer.
“Increased awareness is vital as we campaign for the Government and the larger cancer charities to invest more to improve outcomes for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.”
Find support at: https://www.braintumourresearch.org/
The Eastenders crew were last in Thanet when filming took place at Joss Bay in October for the exit scenes of Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer.
The scenes for the 2022 Christmas Day Special and Boxing Day Special featured dramatic car crash scene at Joss Bay involving Linda Carter (Kellie Bright) and Janine (Charlie Brooks). Mick Carter (Danny Dyer) manages to rescue them from the ocean, but he never returns.
In 2015, the Eastenders production visited Broadstairs and Ramsgate in an episode where Tina (Luisa Bradshaw-White ), Shirley (Linda Henry) and Mick (Danny Dyer) go on the hunt for their father Stan’s (Timothy West) stolen ashes.
Locations featured included the Port of Ramsgate, Victoria Gardens and Morelli’s in Broadstairs, and Stone Bay where the Carter family scatter Stan’s ashes.
