YORK and North Yorkshire are set to take centre stage in the first showings of the television drama Victoria at 9pm tomorrow and on Monday.
Filming for the eight-part series starring Dr Who’s Jenna Coleman was filmed across the region, including York Guildhall and York Minster School, which form the backdrop for the House of Lords, Castle Howard and Newby Hall, which are used for Kensington Palace, Carlton Towers, which is used for Windsor Castle, Whitby Harbour and Beverley Minster, which doubles as Westminster Abbey.
The programme covers the early life of the monarch from her accession to the throne aged just 18 through to her marriage to Prince Albert, played by Tom Hughes.
Jim Allan, supervising location manager, said: “The streets of both York and Whitby along with the stately homes of Yorkshire looked fantastic and were ideal for Victoria, also nothing was too much trouble. With the on-going help of local councils, owners and staff, plus the bonus of guidance from Creative England we achieved all our goals on schedule. Yorkshire has great locations and a ‘can-do’ attitude.”
The team were supported by Creative England, which helped to fast track the filming at Whitby Harbour.
Kaye Elliott, the head of production services at Creative England, said: “It’s fantastic for Yorkshire’s world class locations to be taking centre stage once again in this new prime-time drama for ITV.
"The quality of this production is another illustration of how Yorkshire has the skilled crews and facilities to make world class television and now a new large scale studio facility, which is sure to bring further productions to the North.”
Film and television production is a great driver of economic growth in the English regional economies.
Films can spend up to £35,000 per day on employing local crew and services from hotels, restaurants and taxis to security firms and caterers. A TV drama can have a daily on location spend of up to £20,000.
In addition to the immediate investment there is the added boost to tourism.
Figures suggest international screen tourists brought between £100 million and £140 million to the economy in 2014 with the most popular locations attracting up to £1.6million a year from international tourists.
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