A new series of online maps celebrating Bristol’s rich movie heritage have been launched to help tourists and residents explore the city’s famous film and TV locations.
From Only Fools and Horses’ Nelson Mandela House to key Casualty and Skins filming hotspots, and taking in Clifton Suspension Bridge – which appears in many movies including The Inbetweeners 2 – the maps illustrate Bristol’s strong reputation as a backdrop for a wide range of TV and film production.
Produced by Bristol Film Office, the Bristol Movie Maps aim to tap into the growing trend for screen tourism by letting browsers view collections of locations that have starred in some of the most popular films and TV shows made in the city over the past 60 years.
In keeping with the city’s reputation as a hub for innovation, the maps harness the latest technology such as Google Maps software to give users much more than a two-dimensional experience.
Residents and visitors can follow in the footsteps of their favourite film and TV characters, searching by theme or production title, to take a virtual tour online or head out with their handheld device to visit key locations on foot.
YouTube clips at selected destination points also enable fans to watch clips of scenes filmed at each location while they visit it.
Natalie Moore of Bristol Film Office, part of the city council, said: “The Film Office works all year round to support producers using Bristol locations, and by pinpointing key locations from iconic productions, we hope to increase Bristol’s sense of pride in its longstanding excellent reputation as a filming destination.
“We also hope to boost levels of screen tourism in Bristol, an increasingly popular phenomenon which is shown to generate significant revenue to local economies. We hope that this interactive and fun tool will make it easier for screen enthusiasts to explore Bristol’s famous film and TV locations up close.”
Figures released by Bristol Film Office last month revealed that film and TV production in Bristol generated almost £17.5m towards the city’s economy last year. Bristol Film Office has been supporting filming in the city since 2003 and The Bottle Yard Studios – also owned by the city council and where many of the more recent titles to film in the city have based production – has been attracting new productions into Bristol since 2010.
In 2014-15 Bristol Film Office issued 406 filming licenses and recorded a total of 572 filming days in the city.
The four maps are ‘Bristol TV Favourites’, ‘Bristol Feature Films’, ‘Sherlock Bristol Movie Map’ and ‘Skins Bristol Movie Map’. More are due to be added later in the year, including ‘Historic Bristol’ and ‘Bristol Adaptations’ maps.
A series of printable walking trails will also be developed.
1. Bristol TV Favourites: Featuring locations used by some of the most popular TV shows to have come out of Bristol in the past 40 years, including:
- The Casual Vacancy: The BBC One drama based on the first novel for adults from bestselling Harry Potter author J K Rowling attracted outstanding ratings when it aired in February this year. Silbury Road in Ashton Vale doubled for The Fields housing estate where much of the action took place, and Flax Bourton Mortuary featured in the morgue scenes.
- Wolf Hall: Pulling in nearly 4m viewers with its first episode in January 2015, Wolf Hall became the most successful drama on BBC Two in a decade. Production was based at The Bottle Yard Studios. Bristol locations featured in key scenes, including the city’s harbour walls and Bristol Cathedral, which doubled for Westminster Abbey for the coronation of Anne Boleyn scene. Movie Mappers exploring on foot will be able to enjoy the new Wolf Hall trail inside Bristol Cathedral, which launched earlier this year.
- Being Human: BBC Three’s supernatural drama series about three Bristol housemates (Aidan Turner, Russel Tovey and Lemora Crichlow) and their paranormal alter-egos, filmed its pilot and first two series in Bristol before moving to Cardiff in 2011. The show’s loyal followers can tour its many locations including the trio’s house on Totterdown’s Windsor Terrace, Bristol General Hospital where George and Mitchell worked and the garage on Alma Vale Road in Clifton which featured as the Bristol Vampire Base.
- Only Fools and Horses: Devoted fans may already know that the tower block Nelson Mandela House, home to Del Boy and Rodney, was in fact Bedminster’s Whitemead House from the sixth series onwards. But less well known are the other Bristol locations that featured in the comedy – the famous Batman and Robin scenes were shot in Broadmead shopping centre, as well as Penn Street, Welsh Back, Brunel Lock Road, and many more.
- Doctor Who: The BBC’s cult sci-fi series filmed in Bristol as far back as 1977 when it shot at Hengrove’s Imperial Park, and has returned to Bristol frequently over the years, most recently featuring a number of Bristol’s Victorian streets and squares between 2010-12.
- Casualty: Officially the longest-running emergency medical drama TV series in the world, Casualty filmed 25 series over 25 years in Bristol while based at studio warehouses on St Philip’s Road before it moved to its new base in Cardiff in 2011.
2. Bristol Feature Films: Plotting some of Bristol’s most famous big screen moments over the past 60 years, the Feature Films map takes browsers on an enlightening tour of cinematic Bristol locations featured in major titles, including:
- Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990), the BAFTA-winning movie starring Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman which filmed at Goldney Hall in Clifton.
- These Foolish Things (2005), the 1930s romance starring Zoe Tapper, Andrew Lincoln, Terence Stamp and Angelica Huston which featured Kings Street and Bristol Hippodrome Theatre.
- Starter For Ten (2006) starring James McAvoy as a university student who wins a place on a University Challenge quiz team, which featured locations including University of Bristol’s School of Chemistry, Christmas Steps and Royal York Crescent.
- The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953), the first Ealing comedy to be made in Technicolour, which features Temple Meads Station in its closing scene.
- The Adventurer: Curse of The Midas Box (2013), the big budget fantasy starring Michael Sheen and Sam Neill, which used a host of Bristol locations including Blaise Castle, the Central Library and The Victoria Rooms.
- The Inbetweeners 2 (2014), sequel to the hugely popular teen comedy which features Clifton Suspension Bridge and Observatory in its opening scenes.
- The Duchess (2008), the Oscar and BAFTA award-winning period drama starring Keira Knightley, which featured Theatre Royal Bristol on King Street, home to the Bristol Old Vic.
3. Sherlock Bristol Movie Map: Bristol has played host to the hit BBC TV crime drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman – which was named the BBC’s most watched series last year – on various occasions since the series began in 2010. The opening stand-off between Sherlock and Moriarty in A Scandal in Bohemia, the nail-biting Guy Fawkes moment in The Empty Hearse and John Watson’s unforgettable wedding in The Sign of Three, among others, were all filmed in Bristol. More recently, the production also used The Bottle Yard Studio and various Bristol locations for the upcoming Sherlock Special. Fans can take a tour of the many locations that have featured on screen so far, including Portland Square, The Victoria Rooms, Goldney Hall and Bristol South Swimming Pool, where the dramatic standoff between Holmes, Watson and Moriarty took place at the end of the first series and start of the second series.
4. Skins Bristol Movie Map: E4’s hit teen drama about a group of Bristol sixth formers began in 2007, and for the following six years explored controversial storylines including dysfunctional families, mental illness, sexuality, substance abuse, death and bullying. An ever-changing cast of young actors, many chosen from Bristol open auditions, included many faces that have since gone on to find Hollywood success. Names such as Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, ’71, 2015 BAFTA Rising Star Award-Winner), Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class, X Men: Days of Future Past, Jack the Giant Slayer), Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones, New Worlds) and Kaya Scodelario (Moon, Clash of the Titans, Wuthering Heights) all starred in Skins. After seven series, critical acclaim and a number of awards, the series came to an end in 2013. Fans can reminisce by touring key locations that became the visual backdrop to the drama over the years, including Brandon Hill, College Green, Pero’s Bridge, St Nicholas Market, Thekla and many more. For the purposes of the production, all of the locations used were fictional and therefore were not named as part of the television series.
Pictured: Brandon Hill was among the locations used in Skins. Photo courtesy of Company Pictures and E4
