History UsefulNotes / London

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_End_of_London Not really...]] The East End is a much smaller area, although it's true that it's not well-defined.
** E20 is used for Walford in ''Series/EastEnders''; this was a fictional code but is now taken for the "Stratford City" development.

* North London: Islington, Shoreditch, Hoxton and so on. Trendy, "artistic", lefty sorts of areas often shown as being full of pretentious tossers. Islington is relatively wealthy and "nicer" than the others -- here you'll find the "chattering classes". Hotblack Desiato from ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'' is famously named after a firm of Islington estate agents. Also has its less glamorous areas, as portrayed in the novel ''Literature/WhiteTeeth''.

* Portabello Road -- Another street market road, known for its second hand thrift stalls, though its become more up market in recent years. Had a featured song about it in ''Film/BedknobsAndBroomsticks''.

* The Square Mile: The area of the City of London, a distinct enclave from Greater London demarcated by distinctive red and white bollards (the colours of the City of London flag) featuring the City’s crest, as well as a squadron of awesome dragon statues guarding the main artery routes into the City. Centre of Britain plc and referred to simply as 'the City'. Not at all a residential area, although 8,000 people do live there. Stands on the site of the original Roman settlement of Londinium, where the modern city was re-established by UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat, the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex King of Wessex]], in 886.[[note]]Alfred granted the city to Mercia, then ruled by his son-in-law, Lord Aethelred.[[/note]] Arguably the most unusual ceremonial county in England, not only due to its small size, but its unique political status and legacy of uninterrupted integrity as essentially a city-state, complete with its own independent police force, within England. Indeed, the City of London has closer parallels to micro-states like UsefulNotes/{{Monaco}} than it does to many other English counties.

* The Square Mile: The area of the City of London, a distinct area from Greater London. Centre of Britain plc. Also referred to simply as 'the City'. Not at all a residential area, althugh 8,000 people do live there. Still has its own independent police force, which not unnaturally has a lot of expertise in financial crime. Stands on the site of the original Roman settlement of Londinium, where the modern city was re-established by UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat, the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex King of Wessex]], in 886.[[note]]Alfred granted the city to Mercia, then ruled by his son-in-law, Lord Aethelred.[[/note]]

* The Square Mile: The area of the City of London, a distinct area from Greater London. Centre of Britain plc. Also referred to simply as 'the City'. Not at all a residential area, althugh 8,000 people do live there. Still has its own independent police force, which not unnaturally has a lot of expertise in financial crime. Stands on the site of the original Roman settlement of Londinium, where the modern city was re-established by UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat, the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex King of Wessex]], in 886.

* The Square Mile: The area of the City of London, a distinct area from Greater London. Centre of Britain plc. Also referred to simple as 'City'. Not at all a residential area, althugh 8,000 people do live there. Stands on the site of the original Roman settlement of Londinium, where the modern city was re-established by UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat, the [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWessex King of Wessex]], in 886.

* The Square Mile: The area of the City of London, a distinct area from Greater London. Centre of Britain plc. Also referred to simple as 'City'. Not at all a residential area, althugh 8,000 people do live there. Stands on the site of the original Roman settlement of Londinium, where the modern city was re-established by UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat in 886.

* The Square Mile: The area of the City of London, a distinct area from Greater London. Centre of Britain plc. Also referred to simple as 'City'. Not at all a residential area, althugh 8000 people do live there.

* "[[FogOfDoom Pea Soup]]". London used to have a smog problem due to the burning of soft coal. Following an exceptionally bad outbreak in winter 1952, the Clean Air Act 1956 banned the use of non-smokeless solid fuels, although it took another ten years for the problem to disappear. Nevertheless, it took a while for the message to get through to the makers of some foreign works.

* "[[FogOfDoom Pea Soup]]". London used to have a smog problem due to the burning of soft coal. [[VideoGame/SilentHill2 It's gone now]].

* The red buses. Most notably, the Routemasters, with their open back entrance. The Routemasters were removed by the first Mayor, Ken Livingstone, but were slowly replaced in many routes by a twenty-first century version by his successor Boris Johnson. The original Routemaster can still be ridden on route 15 as a heritage line.

* The black taxis, also massively overused in establishing shots. The Austin [=FX4s=] and later Fairways familiar to foreign film and TV watchers are being gradually replaced by more modern-looking [=TX4=] vehicles, and [[UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism controversially by Mercedes minivans]] with four-wheel steering to achieve the legally-required tiny turning circle. Also, they aren't exclusively black: some eccentrics have always gone for other colours (usually maroon, grey or white), but many now carry all-over advertising. Only drivers who have passed the legendarily demanding Film/TheKnowledge test of London's geography are allowed to pick people up in the street. As well as their knowledge of London, cab drivers are stereotyped as [[DriverOfABlackCab rabid bigots who lecture passengers on their political views at the drop of a hat]]. This is no longer a case of TruthInTelevision (though it used to be), as London is now one of the most multicultural capitals in the Western world (indeed, the current Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is a Muslim whose father was an immigrant from Pakistan and worked as a bus driver). Indeed, most London Cabbies are now more likely to only make pleasant conversation in keeping with classic British reservedness. That said, they are very good to hit up for tourist information.

* Baker Street -- Home of Franchise/SherlockHolmes (also Literature/BasilOfBakerStreet and WesternAnimation/DangerMouse),and the title of Music/GerryRafferty's infuriatingly catchy song.

* Sloane Street -- A designer shopping street in Knightsbridge. Also famously the living area of many victorian and 60's artisans. Oscar Wilde was arrested at the hotel for sodomy.
* Kings Road -- Known as a major trend setting street in the 60's. Home of Vivienne Westwood and Mary Quant's first stores. Now a very middle class and somewhat arty shopping district.

* Heathrow (LHR). Formerly London Airport, it's the second busiest international passenger airport ''in the world'' (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport in UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}} is the trophy holder.). In 2008, when its fifth terminal opened, it had a spectacular failure of systems on the first day. It features in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E7TimeFlight "Time-Flight"]]. It was also the departure point in several Film/JamesBond novels. It is connected to London via the [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground Picadilly Line]] and by the Heathrow Express train to Paddington Station.

* UsefulNotes/OneLondonThirtyThreeBoroughs- a more detailed description of the GLA area.

** ''Series/CallTheMidwife'' is set in Poplar, which is definitely the East End, but is also definitely the Docklands. (Being set in the 1950s, there's not much of a difference.)

* Gatwick (LGW). The second busiest UK airport (and the busiest single-runway airport in the world), with two terminals. It is connected to London via the Gatwick Express train (and marginally slower Southern Trains services) to Victoria Station. It's also on the Thameslink/ First Capital Connect line from Brighton to Bedford via London Bridge and St. Pancras.

** {{Whitehall}}: Home of various offices of the British Government, though not the location of Parliament. Often referred to in short hand when referencing the bureaucracy of the Government.

* The black taxis, also massively overused in establishing shots. The Austin [=FX4s=] and later Fairways familiar to foreign film and TV watchers are being gradually replaced by more modern-looking [=TX4=] vehicles, and [[UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism controversially by Mercedes minivans]] with four-wheel steering to achieve the legally-required tiny turning circle. Also, they aren't exclusively black: some eccentrics have always gone for other colours (usually maroon, grey or white), but many now carry all-over advertising. Only drivers who have passed the legendarily demanding LiveActionTV/TheKnowledge test of London's geography are allowed to pick people up in the street. As well as their knowledge of London, cab drivers are stereotyped as [[DriverOfABlackCab rabid bigots who lecture passengers on their political views at the drop of a hat]]. This is no longer a case of TruthInTelevision (though it used to be), as London is now one of the most multicultural capitals in the Western world (indeed, the current Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is a Muslim whose father was an immigrant from Pakistan and worked as a bus driver). Indeed, most London Cabbies are now more likely to only make pleasant conversation in keeping with classic British reservedness. That said, they are very good to hit up for tourist information.

* ''LiveActionTV/TheKnowledge'': a comedy about the legendarily difficult test of the geography of London, which "cabbies" (drivers of the famous black taxis) must pass.

** Go to St John's Wood on the Jubilee Line... not Abbey Road DLR, [[http://now-here-this.timeout.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/309968_10151253163377405_1754720259_n.jpg unless you want to be greeted by bad puns]].

* The black taxis, also massively overused in establishing shots. The Austin [=FX4s=] and later Fairways familiar to foreign film and TV watchers are being gradually replaced by more modern-looking [=TX4=] vehicles, and [[UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism controversially by Mercedes minivans]] with four-wheel steering to achieve the legally-required tiny turning circle. Also, they aren't exclusively black: some eccentrics have always gone for other colours (usually maroon, grey or white), but many now carry all-over advertising. Only drivers who have passed the legendarily demanding LiveActionTV/Knowledge test of London's geography are allowed to pick people up in the street. As well as their knowledge of London, cab drivers are stereotyped as [[DriverOfABlackCab rabid bigots who lecture passengers on their political views at the drop of a hat]]. This is no longer a case of TruthInTelevision (though it used to be), as London is now one of the most multicultural capitals in the Western world (indeed, the current Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is a Muslim whose father was an immigrant from Pakistan and worked as a bus driver). Indeed, most London Cabbies are now more likely to only make pleasant conversation in keeping with classic British reservedness. That said, they are very good to hit up for tourist information.

* The black taxis, also massively overused in establishing shots. The Austin [=FX4s=] and later Fairways familiar to foreign film and TV watchers are being gradually replaced by more modern-looking [=TX4=] vehicles, and [[UsefulNotes/MisplacedNationalism controversially by Mercedes minivans]] with four-wheel steering to achieve the legally-required tiny turning circle. Also, they aren't exclusively black: some eccentrics have always gone for other colours (usually maroon, grey or white), but many now carry all-over advertising. Only drivers who have passed the legendarily demanding "Knowledge" test of London's geography are allowed to pick people up in the street. As well as their knowledge of London, cab drivers are stereotyped as [[DriverOfABlackCab rabid bigots who lecture passengers on their political views at the drop of a hat]]. This is no longer a case of TruthInTelevision (though it used to be), as London is now one of the most multicultural capitals in the Western world (indeed, the current Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is a Muslim whose father was an immigrant from Pakistan and worked as a bus driver). Indeed, most London Cabbies are now more likely to only make pleasant conversation in keeping with classic British reservedness. That said, they are very good to hit up for tourist information.

* The red buses. Most notably, the Routemasters, with their open back entrance. The Routemasters were removed by the first Mayor, Ken Livingston, but were slowly replaced in many routes by a twenty-first century version by his successor Boris Johnson. The original Routemaster can still be ridden on route 15 as a heritage line.

* South London ("Saarf London"): Home of TheYardies, but the two most famous things set there are ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' and the new ''Series/DoctorWho'', where it's the home of Rose Tyler. Also the place where {{Dubstep}} came from. The parts just south of the river (i.e. Waterloo, Lambeth and Kennington) are effectively a transplanted bit of North London in terms of both culture and appearance.

In real life, London is very much a combination of the two and there's very much a sliding scale. London does have a rather notoriously high cost of living, so it tends to be like a lot of cities, full of both people who can comfortably afford it, and people who can't but have to live where the jobs are. On one end, you've got ludicrously posh places in the west central part of the city. In places like Holland Park, Belgravia, and Mayfair, the richest people in the world conspicuously consume like it's going out of style. At the other end, you'll find some of the most deprived places in the nation, known as "sink estates", in areas like Peckham, Hackney, and Harlesden. The ''really'' poor places -- as seen in ''Literature/OliverTwist'' -- started disappearing with slum clearance in the 1920s and 30s, with the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Luftwaffe]] obliterating the rest (and some posh places too) during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The important thing to note however is that most neighbourhoods are very mixed income. Council estates can be found in the wealthiest boroughs and million pound properties in the poorest.

* In video games, London is definitely shown to be a mix of both, with perhaps more emphasis on the paved with gold side. In the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series, Dudley's home stages are always set in central London and both versions he has had are suitably glamorous, featuring Big Ben, old style Minis, horse-drawn carriages and the Harrod's building in ''Third Strike''. This suits his gentlemanly vibe. London is also featured as a stage in ''Capcom Vs SNK 2'' and is again given a fairly sophisticated look. London features as a stage in ''King of Fighters '94'', which depicts Tower Bridge and a pleasant parkland setting. In contrast to all of the above, Birdie, also of the ''Street Fighter'' series, has had some horrible London stages -- in ''Street Fighter'', he had a run-down back street and in ''StreetFighterAlpha 2'', his stage was a public toilet at King's Cross station -- can't get more excremental than that.

* In video games, London is definitely shown to be a mix of both, with perhaps more emphasis on the paved with gold side. In the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series, Dudley's home stages are always set in central London and both versions he has had are suitably glamorous, featuring Big Ben, old style Minis, horse-drawn carriages and the Harrod's building in ''Third Strike''. This suits his gentlemanly vibe. London is also featured as a stage in ''Capcom Vs SNK 2'' and is again given a fairly sophisticated look. London features as a stage in ''King of Fighters '94'', which depicts Tower Bridge and a pleasant parkland setting. In contrast to all of the above, Birdie, also of the StreetFighter series, has had some horrible London stages -- in StreetFighter, he had a run-down back street and in StreetFighter Alpha 2, his stage was a public toilet at King's Cross station -- can't get more excremental than that.

In real life, London is very much a combination of the two and there's very much a sliding scale. London does have a rather notoriously high cost of living, so it tend to be like a lot of cities, full of both people who can comfortably afford it, and people who can't but have to live where the jobs are. On one end, you've got ludicrously posh places in the west central part of the city. In places like Holland Park, Belgravia, and Mayfair, the richest people in the world conspicuously consume like it's going out of style. At the other end, you'll find some of the most deprived places in the nation, known as "sink estates", in areas like Peckham, Hackney, and Harlesden. The ''really'' poor places -- as seen in ''Literature/OliverTwist'' -- started disappearing with slum clearance in the 1920s and 30s, with the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Luftwaffe]] obliterating the rest (and some posh places too) during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The important thing to note however is that most neighbourhoods are very mixed income. Council estates can be found in the wealthiest boroughs and million pound properties in the poorest.

To UsefulNotes/{{Hollywood}} (and depressingly often to British media as well), BritainIsOnlyLondon. How they portray the place is generally split into two approaches:

* Heathrow (LHR). Formerly London Airport, it's the busiest international passenger airport ''in the world'' (now second to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport in UsefulNotes/{{Atlanta}}.). In 2008, when its fifth terminal opened, it had a spectacular failure of systems on the first day. It features in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E7TimeFlight "Time-Flight"]]. It was also the departure point in several Film/JamesBond novels. It is connected to London via the [[UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground Picadilly Line]] and by the Heathrow Express train to Paddington Station.