‘A golden age for Bristol-based drama’

It’s hard to remember that the future of filmmaking in Bristol seemed to have all but disappeared when Casualty disappeared over the bridge to Cardiff.

But out of the ashes rose The Bottle Yard Studios in Hengrove and, since 2010, its success has seen a huge increase films and drama being shot in the city.

New figures released by the Bristol Film Office shows that between 2015-16 there has been a 65% increase in location filming days in Bristol, bringing in more than £16m in investment. 

Laura Pye, head of culture at Bristol City Council says: “This is a golden age for Bristol-based drama and the city’s heritage as a centre of excellence for TV and film goes from strength to strength, powering employment and skills development, and attracting investment that are is vital to the creative and cultural heartbeat of the city.”

There have been a whole host of productions when have been filmed in Bristol: the return of popular TV series, new original TV shows, and a growing number of feature films.

The city’s reputation for attracting rating success productions was boosted by the return of BBC’s Doctor Who for their 2015 Christmas Special, the second series of BBC dramas Poldark and The Living and the Dead, BBC Three’s high rating and first original drama to air on its online service Thirteen, and Sky 1’s first full series of Agatha Raisin. 

2015 also saw the return of Sky1’s hit supermarket comedy Trollied for a fifth series and Christmas Special, ABC’s medieval musical fairytale Galavant for a second series and CBeebies popular Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures. 

For the big screen, a total of five low to mid-budget features utilised Bristol locations, crew and facilities, including the upcoming Another Mother’s and Son and Access All Areas.

In the year 2015-16 Bristol Film Office issued 370 filming permits and hosted a total of 943 location filming days.  Total inward investment to Bristol from productions using services provided by Bristol Film Office and The Bottle Yard Studios reached £16,674,000. 

Bristol Film Office’s Natalie Moore says: “The figure of £16.7M is fantastic and reinforces the value of the robust services we offer the film and TV industry locally, nationally and internationally, from crewing and location advice to logistical support.  

“Bristol has an enduring reputation as a popular filming destination, with its iconic landmarks and breadth of locations; we continue to attract high end productions.

“Although recent years have seen a trend in period set production in the city, this year saw more modern productions also choosing to shoot in Bristol, utilising the abundance of striking urban locations and cityscapes, contributing to the increased number of location filming days.” 

It’s a growth which is leading to the studio site in Hengrove expanding says site director Fiona Francombe: “We are looking forward to another outstanding year welcoming more productions than ever before.  

“This brings exciting challenges and to meet the growing demands for space we will be looking at developing currently unused areas of the site.”  

Read More: The Hollywood of Henrove