Sky 1 comedy Trollied has returned to Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios for its fifth series – with the show’s production head describing it as a “great place to shoot”.
The show, produced by Roughcut TV, has been made at The Bottle Yard in Hengrove since it launched on TV in 2011.
For the latest series the production company has also pledged to reduce its carbon by using innovations introduced at The Bottle Yard.
The comedy centres on the everyday lives of staff, customers and managers at a supermarket in Warrington.
The Bottle Yard Studios’ Managing Director Fiona Francombe said: “The Trollied team have established a real home with us over the past five years and are always a joy to have on site. Last year marked a real period of growth which saw more productions than ever coming through The Bottle Yard’s doors, yet as we grow, we remain proud to work with those companies who recognised the potential of our space in the early years, as Roughcut TV did when they built their impressive supermarket set here. After half a decade of working together, it’s second nature having them here.
“It’s also fantastic to see Sky and Roughcut TV’s proactive approach to cutting carbon across Trollied’s production, by using sustainable transport, props and lighting and implementing albert+, the industry’s best practice carbon reduction scheme. This really chimes with the green ethos we are continually developing here at Bottle Yard, particularly during Bristol’s year as European Green Capital.”
The Bottle Yard Studios is the largest dedicated film and TV studio facility in the West of England and a Bristol City Council initiative.
Sky1’s sitcom Trollied debuted in 2011 with two million viewers – the highest rating multi-channel comedy launch in British TV history. The show has made more the 40 episodes since then.
Head of Production at Roughcut TV Tim Sealey said: “We are delighted to be returning to the Bottle Yard for the fifth time. The team here do a great job of making us feel welcome. We were the first to use the Bottle Yard in 2011 and since then we have seen the studio grow each year so that now it has established itself as a great place to shoot. With Sky’s support, we hope to be coming back here for years to come.”
The new series sees the return of long-term cast member Jason Watkins, who recently won the Best Leading Actor Bafta for his performance in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, which was also made at the Studios.
Other cast includes Stephen Tompkinson (Wild at Heart), Sarah Parish (W1A), Jack Carroll (Britain’s Got Talent), Channel Cresswell (This is England 86) and Aisling Bea (Edinburgh Fringe So You Think You’re Funny Award).
The site operated for more than 50 years as a former winery and bottling plant, now an established base for UK film and television production in the West of England, the site attracts major UK and overseas productions of all sizes.
Recent productions to film at the studios include; CBeebies Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures, BBC One drama Sherlock, BBC One drama Poldark, BBC Two drama Wolf Hall, Disney/ABC Studios’ musical comedy Galavant and Channel 4 Deal or No Deal.
