London Bridge is a British television drama/soap opera made by Carlton for ITV and shown in the London region. It ran from 15 February 1996 to 31 March 1999. It featured many actors who have gone on to star in bigger TV shows, including Bad Girls actresses Simone Lahbib and Mandana Jones and No Angels star Sunetra Sarker. London Bridge revolved around a restaurant, SE1, and the neighbouring block of flats. It started out as a late-night drama which ran for 26 episodes in 1996, before returning as a twice-weekly soap opera later that year. It was not as popular as other British soaps due to only being shown regionally, although did on many occasions beat rival soap Hollyoaks shown on Channel 4. The show was axed in 1999. As of February 2015, the show started a repeat run on local TV channel London Live.
Characters
Major characters included:
Nick Kemp, the head chef and part-owner of SE1, a cockney with a violent temper and criminal connections
Isobel 'Bel' Kemp, Nick's wife, a middle-class accountant and part-owner of SE1
Liz Kemp, Nick's sister and manager of SE1, a sarcastic woman who doesn't suffer fools gladly
Jed Kemp, Liz's son who works behind the bar at SE1 and drives a mini cab
In its late-night format the show featured a gritty storyline involving newcomer Mary O'Connor being raped by a stalker. On becoming twice-weekly the soap introduced Cliff Lewis as Nick's former friend and the link to Nick's mysterious past. It was revealed that Nick and Cliff had been involved in an armed robbery together which had left a man dead. When Nick was murdered by being locked inthe fridge at SE1, Cliff was the prime suspect. Cliff eventually told Nick's wife Isobel that he had seen her kill Nick and they embarked on a relationship. Isobel was eventually put on trial for Nick's murder, but was acquitted after the jury heard about the violence Nick had inflicted on her.
Location
Despite the title and ostensibly being set on the South Bank, the series was in fact filmed in and around 3 Mills Studios in Bow, east London.
DVD releases
London Bridge Volume One, featuring the first 13 episodes, was released on DVD by Network on 14 November 2011. Volume Two was due to be released by Network in the summer of 2013, but as of 1 September 2015 it has not yet been released.
