Foyle’s War crew praise warm Liverpool welcome
The Lord Mayor visited the set of Foyle’s War at Liverpool Town Hall.
Gary Millar was joined by deputy mayor Cllr Wendy Simon to watch the filming of a scene from the ITV drama, and meet members of the cast and crew.
They were introduced to Honeysuckle Weeks, who plays Sam Stewart in the hit TV series which has been filming in Liverpool since early January, with the city standing in predominantly for London.
Cllr Simon said: “It’s fantastic for the city for this series to be shot here, but also getting the feedback from the crew and director, saying how cooperative everybody has been – both the film office and the general public.
“The producer told me when they were filming at the Port of Liverpool building, people were standing watching in silence, and then they applauded at the end.”
Foyle’s War is one of several high-profile TV shows to come to Liverpool this year alone.
A new ITV drama about Cilla Black, Victoria Wood tale Tubby and Enid – starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton – and the second series of BBC Birmingham-set drama Peaky Blinders, have all been out and about on the city streets over the last three months.
Kevin Bell, of Liverpool Film Office, said: “It’s been an exciting couple of months. We’ve had three major period dramas, four counting Tubby and Enid, shooting everywhere.
“There have been some challenging moments, but it’s been great to see so many crews around, and being so creative.”
The three new, two-hour episodes of Foyle’s War start where the last series ended, in 1946, with Foyle (Michael Kitchen) now a senior intelligence officer in MI5, and follows his battles in the dangerous world of espionage.
His sidekick Sam Stewart, meanwhile, is married to newly elected MP Adam Wainwright (actor Daniel Weyman).
Producer John Chapman praised the warm reception the cast and crew had received in Liverpool.
He added: “To find somewhere like Liverpool, which has such a range of Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian houses and buildings is just amazing.”