Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Tower

Finally got round to watching The Tower last night, BBC's documentary about life on the Pepys Estate in Deptford. The programme attempts to wrestle some human interest from the contrast between the Pepys Estate council tenants and the affluent residents of the Aragon Tower, the former council block sold off to developers Berkeley Homes and converted to 158 luxury flats (riverside views now being too good to waste on the poor, evidently). According to Planet Pepys things might not be quite as they appear - as with most 'reality shows' there is a suggestion of scenes being staged or even semi-scripted.

Still some truth still shines through. Last night's episode followed the wedding plans of couples on both sides of the social divide, with the universal theme of love and marriage on the one hand and on the other the different class experiences of havng to get into debt to buy a ring rather than having parents buying you a starter home overlooking the Thames.

See also Andrew; Ragged School; Kate

1 comment:

kate said...

Hello, I was originaly told that i would have to pay to get the information about the pepys estate and berkley homes then they just sent it, but hopefully it will let others know what happened to the money.