The Avenue

The Avenue (acronymised as either 'TA', or by its project code 'AVE') is a Writers Express forum serial drama created in December 2011 by the production company eventually known as Red Lion Pictures (RLP). This company has had several names and staff over the years, but since 2015, consists only of Noxy and founder Ross. The original version of the project (now retroactively known as The Avenue 1.0) ran for 167 episodes from 19th December 2011-19th December 2016 - exactly five years (although its demise was not announced until a year later, 19th December 2017). This makes it the third most volumous project on Lit in terms of episodes, behind (Noxy project) These Days 1.0 (173 episodes) and unbeaten title holder Uncertain Nights (270 episodes) - a project which also involved Noxy and Ross.

In January 2017, RLP relased a statement on Lit (known as Writers Express until 28th December 2017) announcing that the project was to 'take an extended break'. However, in a new statement posted on 19th December 2017 - the project's sixth anniversary, and a year to the day since the most recent episode was published - it was revealed that the project had come to an end. This decision was in part due to Noxy and Ross feeling that five years to the day was a good point to draw a line, but also because a brand-new version of the project had been in discussion and development for some time, beginning in 2016. Hence, RLP wanted to put the project on ice to make a final decision about whether to continue with the then current version, or start afresh. In the end they chose to do the latter. As such, the original version is now retroactively referred to as The Avenue 1.0, whilst the contemporary version - which will begin on 20th April 2018 in AVE time but 3rd September 2018 real time, for a five-episode run - will simply be known as The Avenue.

It was originally intended that The Avenue become the first project on Lit ever to publish five episodes per month in a five-day strand, to reflect its 'AVE time' publishing schedule of five episodes per week. However this was later dropped in favour of publishing an episode every week, including one double-bill per month, to create five episodes per month overall. The project is set in 2020, which means when it started, continuity was actually around 18 months ahead of real time. Over time this will recede, and at the propsed publication rate, the project will reach real time in 2022, before eventually falling four years behind real time in the long term.

As of 12th April 2019, there have been 5 episodes of the project to date.

The Avenue 1.0
Main article: The Avenue 1.0

Title Card
The title card depicts a blurred backdrop of the fictional overground Tube station of Catford Grove in Catford, Lewisham, SE London. The logo uses the word 'the' stacked on top of  the word 'avenue' in the southeast corner of the title card, a nod to both the soap's London setting, and the southeast of London itself, in a Walkway Bold font which is coloured yellow, the project's trademark colour since 2014. A number of title cards were experimented with before this one.

Theme Tune
The theme tune to this contemporary version of The Avenue is not one of those used in The Avenue 1.0. It is an instrumental cover version of the song 'When We Were Young' by The Killers (2006). RLP agreed on using a 'warm, jangly and lively' cover version as they felt the original version of this song was 'too rocky'.

Births, Marriages & Deaths
To date there have been no births, marriages or deaths in The Avenue.

Locations
The Avenue consists of a wide variety of sets; these principally include the following: Some sets are either unseen or little seen, but may be mentioned from time to time. For example, Albion Street Primary School which is attended by pupils Alfie Anderson, twins Devon and Harry Wilkins, and Jasmine Leung; Radio Thames, a fictional radio station; and The Waterloo Arms, which enjoys a friendly rivalry with The Red Lion.
 * Albion Street bus stops (northbound/southbound)- adjacent bus stops situated in the heart of Catford Grove
 * Bellisimo! (Italian restaurant) - owned and run by Luca Rossi, with part-time waiter Rory Westaway - NB: This set was discarded and has been removed from the AVE wiki, but will remain here because it will be used at a later date
 * Bricks 'n' Mortar (builder's merchants) - owned and run by Greg Learner, with Feliks Nowak an employee
 * Call The Shots (bar)- owned by Vik Nowak but run by Alex Mercer
 * Castle News (newsagent)- owned and run by Darcus and Trish Castle, with long-time shop assistant Claire Learner
 * Catford Academy (secondary school)- attended by students including Bobbie Anderson, Jess Westaway and Perry Castle
 * Catford Clinic (general practice) - surgery run by Ray Leung, alongside GP Jo Wilkins and medical receptionists Linda Brannigan (full-time) and Nina Anderson (part-time)
 * Catford Grove (suburb)- home to all these sets
 * Catford Overground (tube station)- situated centrally in Catford Grove
 * Drop Dead Gorgeous (salon) - owned and run by Georgia Castle
 * Fit As! (private gym) - employees include fitness instructor and personal trainer, Feliks Nowak - NB: This set was discarded and has been removed from the AVE wiki, but will remain here in case used again
 * Motors Nowak (garage)- owned and run by Viktor Nowak, with mechanic Graham Rossi and apprentice Reece Wilkins,
 * Nosh (café)- owned and run by Maria Nowak, with part-time waiter Rory Westaway
 * The Red Lion (pub)- owned and run by Charlie and Leyla Westaway, who also live there with two of their three children, Jess and Rory, dog Bella and rabbit Roger. Nina Anderson, Steven Carwell and Yasmin Brannigan all work there as bar staff, whilst Luca Rossi is head chef
 * This'n'That (charity shop)- run by Shirley Wilkins, with part-time shop assistants Lexi Learner and Michael Brannigan
 * Yes, Lets! (lettings agent)- owner and run by estate agents Nikhila Ganesh and Tom Wilkins
 * University of Lewisham Thames (ULT) - attended by local undergraduates such as Lexi Learner and Rory Westaway