Netflix applies for ‘One Day’ plaque in Edinburgh amid backlash
Netflix has made a bid to include a plaque at a popular Edinburgh tourist spot to commemorate its show One Day, which blew audience figures out of the water when it arrived on the streaming platform. The motion has now been slammed by a heritage watchdog who has condemned the idea.
The streaming giant want the red plaque to be placed at The Vennel where the characters have a key scene and have had to apply for permission owing to the fact the plaque would need to be fixed to a listed building.
Based on David Nicholls’ novel, where characters Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew meet and continue to meet on St Swinthin’s Day, it was a huge hit when it arrived on Netflix. The series tracked the couple through their lives as they endured break-ups, families and everything in between.
On particularly pivotal scene took place at The Vennel and marks the area Netflix wish to add a plaque. The proposed location for the One Day commemorative sign is at the bottom of the stairs, on the side opposite the 16th-century Flodden Wall, which once marked the boundary of Edinburgh.
The sign reads: “It’s one of the great cosmic mysteries. How someone can go from being a total stranger to the most important person in your life,” a quote from the show.
Cockburn Association director Terry Levinthal told BBC Scotland News: “Edinburgh is a very popular city for filmmakers world-wide. If every production or every connection with a novel or film or TV series did the same, one wouldn’t be able to see parts of the city due to the proliferation of plaques.
“Is Netflix’s One Day a hugely important cinematic masterpiece? No. Are the characters Emma and Dex that important for such commemoration? Again, the simple answer is no.
“Is this a simple exercise in product marketing? Yes.”
Levinthal claimed that Netflix didn’t care about improving the sightseeing tourism of Edinburgh but was concerned only with marketing potential. “People will travel long distances to stand in the spot of their favourite film characters and the causation impacts of that can be considerable,” Mr Levinthal said.
The wider issues of huge tourism continues to be a hot topic, but whether One Day will get its commemorative plaque remains in the hands of Edinburgh’s councillors.