Tune in to Channel 4 next week to catch Channel 4’s major new historical drama New Worlds, made at Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios last year. The gripping four part series will begin on Tuesday 1st April at 9pm.
Company Pictures, the London-based production company behind the drama, was drawn to Bristol after choosing The Bottle Yard as the ideal studios from which to base production for their on-location shoot.
The production team based themselves in the main production offices from May to November 2013, and located their entire prop stores and art department on site whilst they filmed on location in the area. A range of period houses were used including Chavenage House, Great Chalfield Manor and Berkeley Castle, as well as locations in Ashton Hill Plantation, the Forest of Dean, Wells and central Bristol.
New Worlds’ Producer Claudine Sturdy, said: “Basing production at The Bottle Yard Studios was perfect for us. We had easy access to all the main routes into and out of Bristol, as well as very good office and prop store space, serviced to a really high standard. Fiona and her team are a fount of knowledge and were incredibly helpful with information about local suppliers and history; nothing was too much trouble! We were also able to work with some of the local companies on site who provided construction, low loader and data wrangling services for us.”
Fiona Francombe, Site Manager at The Bottle Yard Studios says: “We were delighted to host one of the UK’s largest independent film and television drama production companies, Company Pictures, while they were busy making such a hotly anticipated drama. Being located on the doorstep of the fantastic period and rural locations in the area means that The Bottle Yard Studios can offer a spacious, convenient home for major productions like this, with easy access to all the facilities needed to manage a complex on-location shoot.”
Written and created by Peter Flannery (Our Friends In The North) and Martine Brant, directed by Charles Martin (Skins, Run) and produced by Company Pictures/Power (Skins, Shameless, Elizabeth 1) for Channel 4, New Worlds follows on from their 2008 BAFTA-nominated series The Devil’s Whore.
Set in the turbulent 1680s, New Worlds takes place on both sides of the Atlantic, as two young men and two young women commit their lives to a fairer future with blood, passion and urgency. New Worlds is a gripping story of love and loss and the human price paid for the freedoms we enjoy today.
The drama boasts an ensemble cast of rising stars as young idealists during the Restoration period; Jamie Dornan (who can also be seen playing Christian Grey in the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey), Freya Mavor (Sunshine Over Leith), Alice Englert (who can also be seen in the upcoming BBC One adaptation of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell) and Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones).