Bristol’s burgeoning film and TV industry generated nearly £17.5m towards the local economy in 2014-15, figures out today show, as the city further grew its reputation as a hub for major drama production.
Top BBC dramas filmed in the city included Poldark, Wolf Hall, The Casual Vacancy and Sherlock, further enhancing Bristol as the location of choice for many productions. 
Smaller, home-grown productions also made their home in the city, including BAFTA-winning ITV drama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, upcoming MoliFilms comedy heist movie Golden Years and Channel 4 comedy The Mimic.
While the total income generated was down on the previous year’s £19.6m, Bristol Film Office – which released the figures – said the number of filming licences issued had gone up by 10% to 406 and the city hosted a total of 572 filming days.
Bristol Film Office manager Natalie Moore said: “This degree of fluctuation from year to year is normal given that certain productions are required, due to their storylines, to film more days on location outside the city than others.
“Overall the figures point to a consistently strong and reliable level of production in the city, which is great news, and the calibre of productions we attract to Bristol has certainly been rising in the last 12 months.”
Bristol has long been a popular filming destination for TV and film producers due to its range of locations spanning period properties, urban cityscape and open green spaces.
Classic TV series such as Casualty, Skins, Being Human, Only Fools and Horses and The Young Ones were shot in the city. However, its standing was dealt a blow when the BBC switched production of Casualty to Cardiff, leading to fears that its TV production heyday was over. 
But last year a marked rise in bookings at the city’s production hub, The Bottle Yard Studios, further boosted the city’s offering, leading it to attract fresh interest from heads of production on both sides of the Atlantic.
Disney/ABC Studios’ musical comedy fairytale Galavant, made at The Bottle Yard Studios, was the first US broadcast TV pilot to be made in the UK in early 2014, following the introduction of the Government’s new high-end TV tax relief in 2013. It went on to film its first series at the studios last summer.
Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson welcomed today’s figures, saying: “I’m delighted to see Bristol’s growing success as a hub for TV and film production, which continues to deliver consistent levels of investment, fuelling a strong new era of film making in the city. Having not had a full-time drama based here for some time now, this is a particularly encouraging achievement.
“With an established production hub at The Bottle Yard Studios and a responsive support service from Bristol Film Office, we’ve developed a comprehensive film making infrastructure making Bristol a national location of choice. Amongst the many benefits generated are employment and skills development, raising Bristol’s profile across the world and vital investment in this city’s cultural and creative landscape.”
Bristol Film Office has been supporting filming in the city since 2003 and The Bottle Yard Studios has been accommodating productions on its Hengrove site since 2010.
Natalie Moore added: “Our robust track record is testament to the skill of industry crew and companies we have here in Bristol. When a production contacts the Film Office, we always know that we’ll be able to source the skills or facilities they need locally, and that’s a great string to our bow. Another busy year is now well underway and we hope to see this strong level of production maintained in 2015-16.”
Other leading productions supported by Bristol Film Office in 2014-15 included, Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death (Sky 1), Art Ninja (CBBC) and My Mad Fat Diary (E4), as well as feature films like The Inbetweeners 2 (Bwark Productions).
The Bottle Yard Studios continued to host long-running Channel 4 game show Deal or No Deal, now in its 10th year of filming in Bristol, and popular Sky1 HD comedy series Trollied, which has made four series in Bristol.
Pictured: Top, BBC One drama Poldark (image courtesy of Mammoth Screen and Masterpiece), bottom, Bernard Hill in Golden Years (image courtesty of MiliFilms Entertainment)
