The team that made The Outlaws, Stephen Merchant’s new six-part comedy thriller filmed in Bristol, have lavished praise on the city as an ideal location for TV production.
The series starts on BBC One on Monday after an extensive shoot that took place at Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove and more than 20 locations across the city, assisted by Bristol Film Office. 
Made by Big Talk Productions and Bristol-born Stephen Merchant’s own company Four Eyes, The Outlaws follows seven strangers from different walks of life forced together to complete a Community Payback sentence in Bristol.
While its cast includes Academy Award-winning actor Christopher Walken, pictured below filming in Bristol, in his first lead British television role, the production team admit that the real star is Bristol itself.
Producer Nickie Sault said: “I would return to shoot in Bristol in a heartbeat. After the very first national lockdown happened in March 2020, the co-operation and support from both the Bristol Film Office and The Bottle Yard Studios was integral to us being able to remount our show and come back both safely and stronger than ever.
“We were only 12 days into shooting series one of The Outlaws when we had to shut down.
“We were firmly planning to shoot everything on location – we had no plans to build any sets at all – but during the lockdown series two was commissioned and so when we came back up we came back with not just six but 12 hours of TV and due to Covid, for safety, we made the decision to build most of our locations at the studios instead of shooting live on location.
“The Bottle Yard Studios and Bristol Film Office could not have been more flexible and more supportive to our ever-changing circumstances.”
Senior Bristol film manager Laura Aviles said viewers who know and love Bristol were in for a treat. “The Outlaws is as Bristolian as they come, with the city taking centre stage,” she said.
“So often Bristol doubles for other settings on screen; it’s rarer that the city has the chance to star as itself, in all its vibrancy and colour.
“The Outlaws has been a vitally important production for Bristol, generating jobs for crew and valuable knock-on income for other sectors.”
Around 200 people a day were working at The Bottle Yard Studios, which is owned by Bristol City Council, throughout series one production, an estimated 70-75% of which were crew from Bristol and the surrounding area.
“Stephen and Big Talk Productions have done a fantastic job of championing Bristol and have treated the city with great respect,” she added.
Sea Mills Community Centre served as the main location and was decorated for the role by Bristolian graffiti artist Inkie, while the production team based its headquarters at The Bottle Yard Studios, where sets were built for key interiors. 
Laura added: “A major series like this requires a great deal of liaison on the part of our Film Office team, who have assisted at every stage, arranging the recces that led to the disused Sea Mills Community Centre building becoming the main city location, and ensuring residents were updated about filming plans and special arrangements over many months of filming for two series shot back-to-back.
“The Film Office also advised the production team on charities and community groups that would welcome donations in return for the patience and cooperation of residents.
“We’re pleased that donations have been made to the Sea Mills Community Initiative Charity, Sea Mills & Coombe Dingle Climate Action Group, the Friends of Sea Mills Library and Dove Street Friendly Neighbours Group.” 
Stephen Merchant, who was born in Hanham, described Bristol as a very visual city, “covered in graffiti – it’s where Banksy got started – and it has a real mix of people”.
He added: “Obviously, I know the city quite well, but I’d never worked here. You’ve got the gentrified Clifton neighbourhoods and the more inner-city urban bits, the Suspension Bridge and the vast gorge.
“And yet it still hasn’t played itself on screen very often; it’s used mainly for period pieces or doubling as somewhere else. So it’s fun to try and make the city a character in the show.”
The Outlaws team’s comments echo those made two years ago by TV executive Douglas Rae, who described Bristol as the best place in the UK to film a drama after spending four months in the city shooting the six-part BBC TV production The Trial of Christine Keeler. He had previously made three series of TV drama Mistresses in the city.
Bristol’s profile as a vibrant hub for film and TV production has soared in recent years and, since the last lockdown ended, the city has had its busiest ever schedule – underpinning its reputation as one of the UK’s most successful TV and film hubs outside of London.
More than 60 titles have been produced at South Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios since they opened 10 years ago in disused wine warehouses on a seven-acre site owned by the city council.
Productions have ranged from high-end TV dramas Poldark and The Trial of Christine Keeler to films such as Hellboy and The Festival and light entertainment shows The Crystal Maze and Tipping Point.
All images courtesy of BBC/Amazon Studios/Big Talk/Four Eyes
