A Stevenage chancer allegedly tried to ruin Christmas for EastEnders fans by stealing scripts full of spoilers for the festive episode of the popular TV soap and trying to sell them to the Daily Mail.
The MailOnline yesterday posted an ‘exclusive’ video which claimed to show a 24-year-old from Stevenage trying to flog the top secret screenplays to a reporter.
The paper said the scripts in question reveal “dramatic storylines for characters Abi and Lauren leaving to soap”.
It claimed BBC bosses were investigating the scam and that the man was asking for £4,000 for the scripts – but today the BBC issued a statement saying the matter had been “resolved”.
The media worker allegedly showed MailOnline investigators his BBC pass at a bar in King’s Cross, north London, as he tried to sell the confidential papers last week.
He claimed to work at the BBC’s Elstree studios in Borehamwood, where the hit TV show is filmed.
He told the Mail reporter he had found the scripts outside on a kerb and simply picked them up.
He allegedly tried to barter for a price with the Mail – but rather than paying him, they reported him to the BBC.
The online video shows the perpetrator taking a large brown envelope out of his rucksack allegedly containing the script, made up of 11 pages of type with handwritten notes on the front.
The Mail reported it had a disclaimer at the bottom reading: “The programme must store the (this) information securely, not disclose it to anyone who does not have a clear business reason to see it and destroy it securely once the shoot is complete.”
The man allegedly said that if he got £10,000 it wouldn’t be worth getting the sack for.
EastEnders fans are already well aware that Abi and Lauren Branning are due to exit the show at Christmas in an explosive storyline, but the details of the script are still top secret.
TV soaps regularly try to outdo each other with their plots for the Christmas episodes.
You can watch the video online here.
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