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To be clear, I love OB. However, throughout all series, authenticity has been highly questionable. As a Brumny born in the 50's, elements of both the geography and the culture have been questionable, and, of course, the accents have been awful, for anybody who knows the true Birmingham accent (at opposed to the Black Country absent) But the final episode of the current series really pushed it too far with its depiction of Bingley Hall. It is shown as if it were a theatre, from its entrance, shown as a traditional theatre entrance, to the interior which is shown as a full theatre layout, with traditional stage, stalls, circle and balcony. I recall Bingley Hajj well and it was never anything like this, it was an exhibition hall (the first ever dedicated exhibition hall in the world) far more similar to a warehouse or railway station, devoid of railway tracks and platforms. In fact, interestingly, it was built using left over materials from the building of Euston station. When used for the kind of event shown in this programme, it would have had a temporary stage and temporary seating, within the large open exhibition area, not the theatre layout shown in the programme. The entrance was far more like the entrance to a large warehouse. Much as I've been prepared to suspend my expectation of authenticity for much of the series, I do feel that more effort should have been applied to the recreation of a real venue than was applied in this instance. Let's not forget that this was a venue familiar to many people still living, having remained until the 1980's, when it eventually met it's demise through fire, and eventually replaced by the Birmingham Convention Centre.

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