This week is the 30th birthday of EastEnders, the BBC soap set in East London. Its title sequence has since the start been an ariel shot of the east end. And over the last 30 years, this area of London has been subject to rapid change from docklands via the Dome to the Olympics.
Over time, of course, the titles have changed and so, after 30 years, they act as a pop culture record of these changes – both the physical form and the character of the east end.
Of course its also a record of the changes in aerial and satellite imaging. The original sequence was produced from around 800 photographs taken from an aircraft flying over the east end of London at about 1000ft over several days, developed and pasted together like a mosaic.