Who has a sideboard like that?

What in the world goes on in the heads of the prop people on the sets of these shows?

To bring you up to speed, last night the staff of Holby dealt with the aftermath of Maddie the doctor's murder. A memorial service (in the bar?) was organised and a book of condolence opened in the foyer. No problems with any of that except the aforementioned choice of the afterwork bar for the service, but that's by the by.

At any rate, as is usually the case, the condolence book was flanked by a photo of the deceased in order to remind everyone what she looked like... and here's where my problem rears its head(shot).

The picture they had in the frame couldn't have looked more like a BBC publicity headshot if it had sported a corporation letterhead. I reckon you could go to 1,000 memorial services and never see anything like it.

It would be like me having this shot of myself front and centre on my Welsh dresser:

But, in the words of the great Tom Jones, this is far from being unusual (I'm paraphrasing slightly).

Cast your mind back to the days of the Fowlers in Eastenders. Remember their family-photo-littered sideboard? Pretty much every photograph involved one of Fowler brood leaning against the Albert Square sign like they were the new poster kid for Walford.

Coronation Street follows the trend too... the photos sported on the mantelpiece at the Duckworth's have surely been commandeered from the ITV1 press office.

And I haven't seen Emmerdale since I was 12, but I'm betting there'll be a perfectly framed photo of Mr Wilkes and Amos standing outside the Woolpack somewhere in the background.

Would it really be so difficult to get some photos of the respective casts which don't resemble front cover shots from Inside Soap magazine?

That said, although this photo was taken for a gusto-soaked pantomime feature and not technically a true reflection of Sam Wonfor the woman:

... I'd like to request right now that this gets some sort of prominence when I step off the mortal coil.