NEW

Brand new contemporary thriller Down Cemetery Road premieres on Apple TV today (29^th October 2025), after filming predominantly on location in Bristol and the South West of England last year, with studio filming at The Bottle Yard Studios where production was based.

From 60Forty Films and the writer and executive producers of Slow Horses, the highly anticipated eight-part series, from award-winning author Mick Herron’s novel of the same name, stars Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Emma Thompson (GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY) and Golden Globe and two-time Olivier Award winner Ruth Wilson (LUTHER, THE AFFAIR, HIS DARK MATERIALS). Its lead writer is Morwenna Banks (FUNNY WOMAN, MISS YOU ALREADY, SLOW HORSES) and Natalie Bailey (AUDREY, BAY OF FIRES, RUN) is lead director. The series is executive produced by Hakan Kousetta, Jamie Laurenson, and Tom Nash at 60Forty Films, alongside Banks, Thompson and author Mick Herron.

When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a girl disappears in the aftermath, neighbour Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson) becomes obsessed with finding her and enlists the help of private investigator Zoë Boehm (Emma Thompson). Zoë and Sarah suddenly find themselves in a complex conspiracy that reveals that people long believed dead are still among the living, while the living are fast joining the dead.

An extensive shoot took place in Bristol between June 2024 and February 2025, with the show’s London-based producers 60Forty Films benefiting from joined-up support provided by The Bottle Yard Studios and its partners Bristol Film Office. Over 250 crew that worked on Down Cemetery Road over a 12-month prep and production period were from the local region.

Karl Liegis, Head of Production, 60Forty Films says: “From our very first conversation with The Bottle Yard Studios it was clear how active and passionate they are about the community and how aligned we were. Their ethos is more than a sales pitch, it is built into the foundations of the Studio and business. From power and energy to crew, local suppliers, and locations support through Bristol Film Office and skills development through All Set West; the Bottle Yard are supportive and progressive. Over the course of the 12 months we were based out of TBY2, they worked closely with us to optimise any and all opportunities to move the dial and create examples of positive action of what can be done by Studios.”

Katherine Nash, Head of Studios, The Bottle Yard Studios says: “It was an absolute pleasure to host 60Forty Films, a company that wholeheartedly embraced the full package that we and our partners Bristol Film Office offer productions when filming in Bristol. They showed exemplary engagement on every level, sharing our commitments and understanding the value of keeping workflows local, hiring locally and supporting our region’s filming ecosystem. Their engagement with our All Set West programme also provided an invaluable opportunity for local trainees to put skills into practice, gain confidence and make their first connections on a professional set. 60Forty’s progressive attitude and commitment to embedding their business’ core values throughout every step of the production, was fantastic to work with and we hope to welcome them back to Bristol in the future.”

Adela Straughan, Bristol Film Office Manager adds: “Visiting productions such as Down Cemetery Road contributed significantly to Bristol, generating over £46m for the city’s economy. Not only employing local freelancers and businesses across the creative sector but also delivering a substantial boost to the hospitality industry, with increased demand for hotels, catering services and transport. Such a significant production helps keep Bristol firmly on the screen tourism map. We’re working with more and more visitor destinations and heritage sites to help them bring in valuable revenue from filming hire which is much needed in the current climate. We hope to see the likes of St Nicholas Market, St Werburgh’s City Farm and Underfall Yard benefit further in the longer term from boosted footfall as a result.”

In the studio

The Production was based at The Bottle Yard Studios’ premium TBY2 facility, the highest scoring facility in the 2025-26 BAFTA albert Studio Sustainability Standard. In the Studio, sets were built for interiors that appeared throughout the series including Sarah & Mark Tucker’s house, a London television studio, a train sleeper carriage and a hotel room.

As part of The Bottle Yard’s ongoing sustainability support to enable scripted production teams to complete as much workflow as possible locally, 60Forty Films were connected with Bristol virtual production specialists Distortion Studios, who with partners iMag Displays built a 20m x 4m LED Volume in TBY2’s Studio 9.

Distortion Studios’ MD Jonathan Brigden says: “Katherine and her team at The Bottle Yard were instrumental in our involvement on this wonderful project. We collaborated with the producers to create a full LED virtual production volume for all the car shots in the drama and were on set for about 10 days including the build. Our local team of experienced VP producer, VP supervisor and in-house operators ensured a very smooth experience, and the shoot was so successful that we were asked to provide screen content and LED build for a big newsroom shoot in the same studio a few weeks later.”

On location

Bristol’s streets combined seamlessly with Oxford to provide the perfect architectural backdrop for this high-profile, thriller. Bristol Film Office assisted 60Forty’s production team to film at a wide range of locations across the city. Among them were some of the city’s most popular visitor destinations, who welcomed the opportunity to generate additional income.

Major stunt scenes were filmed at historic boatyard Underfall Yard – which has been fundraising since 2023 to complete recovery and reinstatement works following a devastating arson attack.  Inner-city community hub St Werburgh’s City Farm was the setting for a house explosion featuring emergency services, woodshed scenes and other settings at their Boiling Wells woodland and amphitheatre.

Describing what filming hire means to them as a community resource and visitor destination, Jenny Howard Coles, Director of St Werburgh’s City Farm says: “Everyone knows that charities are under immense financial pressure these days, as funding streams dry up whilst levels of need continue to grow exponentially. The Farm is free and open to the public 7 days a week all year round, providing vital access to nature and outdoor play for the community – last year we provided direct support to almost 10,000 people, the majority of whom face significant disadvantage, mental ill-health or live in poverty. Hosting filming on location last year made all of this possible. It provided unrestricted income which we could use wherever we needed it most – keeping the lights on, the gates open and all our community services running. Bristol Film Office has advocated for us throughout and helped make the process as smooth as possible, and we’re grateful to the whole production team for being so mindful of our work and community.”

St Nicholas Market and surrounding streets including All Saints Lane hosted filming for day and night sequences. Other prominent locations included University of Bristol’s Arts & Social Sciences Library on Tyndall Avenue and Baltic Wharf, which featured green screen filming.

Further afield in the South West of England filming also took place in Bath, Somerset and Cornwall’s Polperro and Holywell Bay near Newquay.

Supporting local entrants

60Forty Films were also fully engaged with the pilot of the BFI-funded All Set West package, designed to unlock opportunities behind the camera for underrepresented talent in the West of England. After completing the scheme’s 5 week ‘set-ready’ training at The Bottle Yard Studios, 19 local entrants from underrepresented backgrounds were offered paid work experience placements on Down Cemetery Road across a range of departments. Ellie was one of five who then went on to secure a fully paid trainee role on the production. She has since gone on to work on several other productions in the region.

Ellie says: “I gained hands-on experience with the Down Cemetery Road locations team before taking on a trainee role, and I just wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do that without the All Set West Training – I had no industry knowledge or connections beforehand. It has completely transformed my life, and I’m incredibly grateful to All Set West for their continued support.”

Down Cemetery Road is streaming now on Apple TV+.