Beale murder and Oscar short causing locals to have a flutter

Tommy French said he couldn’t get over how many people are placing bets on who killed Lucy Beale in the BBC show. He said: “Normally novelty things like Big Brother or I’m A Celebrity generate a few bets, but the interest in Who Killed Lucy Beale is unprecedented.

“Abi Branning started as favourite, then Sharon Mitchell moved from 100/1 to 5/2 favourite. Then Ben Mitchell came into the running. Bobby Beale is current favourite at 5/2. It’s changing every day.”

He continued: “The people we’re getting in are novice punters. The bets are small but the numbers are big. It’s like the Grand National of TV.”

Short film Boogaloo and Graham, written by local teacher Ronan Blaney, is second favourite for an Oscar.

Tommy said: “It’s generated a lot of interest. Like Eastenders it’s a lot of small bets, but they add up. I went to school with Ronan and much as I’d like to see him win it, from a business point of view it could end up costing me.”