Bath blitzes across TV screens in new BBC drama

6th July 2011

Bath’s historical architecture and breathtaking parks will star in a new television drama next week after the BBC teamed up with Bath & North East Somerset Council.

The adaptation of Sarah Waters’ novel “The Night Watch”, which was filmed in Bath last November and December, is due to be transmitted on BBC2 at 9pm on Tuesday 12 July.

The novel, which is a poignant portrayal of liberation and loss, follows the lives of four young Londoners throughout different stages of the Second World War. It was produced by Annie Tricklebank, directed by Richard Laxton and stars Anna Maxwell Martin, Claire Foy, Jodie Whittaker and Harry Treadaway.

The drama opens in 1947 revealing the four main characters trying to rebuild their shattered lives. It then moves back in time through the forties into the turbulence of the Blitz, unravelling their secrets, loves and losses. In order to build their future, they must all make peace with their past.

The production made very inventive use of many central Bath locations to depict war-torn London and its aftermath.

Jenni Wagstaffe, Film Commissioner at the Bath & North East Somerset Council-run Film Office, said: “It’s part of our job initially to flag up potential locations. For instance, we suggested the partly-demolished Gainsborough Building as a possible bomb damage site which became a key location during the filming. They, however, saw the potential of some steps outside the Guildhall to double as the entrance to an underground station.”

In all, the filming lasted for two weeks in Bath. Other locations included Sydney Gardens, Royal Victoria Park, Forrester Road, Rockcliffe Avenue and outside the Forum. The Gainsborough building also doubled as an underground subway and a prison waiting room, whilst the Guildhall car park, and nearby Boatstall Lane were a hospital entrance and an ambulance station. The rest of the filming took place in Bristol and the surrounding area.

For more information on filming in Bath, please click here.  To follow in the footsteps of Hollywood and TV stars and see locations in Bath used for filming, download a free copy of our Movie Map.