The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities
S01E05: Episode 5
Love is in the air in the Tower and on the estate. Kelley Garcia finally weds Wayne Tapper, with half of the estate in tow. Newcomers Saima and Usman are now in Pakistan for their arranged wedding and any room for doubt is rapidly running out. For devout Muslim Shakor, life after an arranged marriage means coping with a wife and kids and making a life on the estate. However the summer of love on the estate is abruptly disrupted. The 7/7 bombings send shock waves through the community.
Overview
The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities is a British television documentary series based on the Pepys estate in Deptford, south-east London. The eight-part series premiered on 25 June 2007, on BBC One.
In 2004, Lewisham council sold one of three adjacent public housing tower blocks on the economically deprived Pepys Estate to a private property developer. The tower was converted into luxury apartments and sold to people who, for the most part, did not grow up in the local area. The documentary was filmed over three years and chronicled the difficulties faced by some of the local residents in adapting to the changes sweeping the neighbourhood. Notable characters included heroin-addicted Leol and his alcoholic best friend Nicky, and the landlord of the local pub who is struggling with the challenges of satisfying his conservative 'old guard' and tempting the new arrivals - mostly young and relatively wealthy - into his traditional boozer.
The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities won the best factual series BAFTA award in 2008.