At the time of writing this article, Gloucester Docks is starting to come alive in preparation for the filming of scenes for a major American “motion picture”. We’re sworn to secrecy about exactly what it is, but there has been a good deal of speculation in the local media and, by the time you read this, you’ll know whether or not that speculation was correct!

Gloucester has been successful in recent years in getting production companies to use the city as a film base. In fact, we’ve gained “Film Friendly City” status from Creative England. I remember as a youngster the excitement when The Onedin Line was filmed in the Docks. I also remember people telling me that it would never be used as a film location again when the area was redeveloped. How wrong they were!

A huge tourist boost
The most notable filming in recent years has been Harry Potter in the Cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral. Warner Bros brought a huge crew and supporting “village” with them for quite a few days to film what would only be a few minutes in the final cut. Nevertheless, it’s been a huge tourist boost for the Cathedral – perhaps now ranking as what it is most famous for, despite having a king crowned there and a king buried there!

Over the last few years, the Docks has played host to the filming of The Colour of Magic (with Sir David Jason) and Amazing Grace (with Ioan Gruffudd and Albert Finney). The Cathedral has been the backdrop for Doctor Who (David Tennant at the time) and Henry IV & V (with Geoffrey Palmer and Tom Hiddleston). Perhaps the piece of filming I remember best was Sean Bean and Danny Dyer rocking a white van in the Land Registry car park for “Outlaw the Movie” in 2006.

Being a film location brings direct economic benefits through the numbers of people coming to the city involved in filming and indirectly by putting Gloucester on the map. So, it’s very much worth the time and effort the council puts in to smooth the way with road closures etc. But if you were hoping to catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp, I hope you’re not too disappointed!