Set in concrete

Regular readers will not be surprised by the news that the project to give EastEnders a new set (indoors and outdoors) is running 31 months late and £27 million over budget, at £86.7m.

The National Audit Office has been quite kind to the BBC in this report; it actually started way back in 2013, when first estimate of the construction cost was £15m. The strategic problem throughout has been trying to do the job and keep the show on air. The show's storyliners could have been asked to run with it - to allow 'real-life' development to be seen in shot. The full report more than hints at a lack of co-operation between the project team and the soap management.

Where the NAO might have been useful would have been to find some comparison total costs for the move of Coronation Street from Quay Street in central Manchester to Salford Quays. That might raise eybrows even higher.