As someone who has lived in the area for 12 years, please note Peckham has been portrayed through the warped eyes of a TV producer for cheap and easy entertainment value. It truly is a gross misrepresentation of the area. All that guff about having to do Kung Fu was just laughable. Had I had to take up self-defence lessons to 'stay-alive on the streets' I would have moved out years ago. Believe me when I say it's hardly Helmand Province.
During my time here I can honestly say I have never seen anyone with a knife, gun, shooting up in alleyways blah, blah, blah... That's not to say it doesn't happen (as in most places in the UK it does), it's just not part of how the majority of us live here everyday.
As with all areas of London it's an area of contrast: the shop shown serving the giant snails and goats' heads on Rye Lane is right opposite Morrisons, council estates brush alongside grand Georgian houses, and had the girls walked along a street not 500 metres away they could have found an independent shop selling designer clothes they might have preferred.
It really was a shameful p*ss-take.