Series 6 of the much-loved Sky1 sitcom Trollied, made here at The Bottle Yard Studios, begins on Monday 7th November at 9pm, and producers say it is the ‘greenest’ series to date.
The consistently popular comedy series, produced by Roughcut TV, has been made at The Bottle Yard Studios since it began in 2011. With an ever-growing focus on sustainability throughout the production process, the show has been monitoring its carbon footprint since series 4 using BAFTA’s albert+, a carbon calculator specifically designed for TV production.
Green measures adopted by Trollied’s production team during filming earlier this year on their full-scale supermarket set here at The Bottle Yard included:
- Operating an opt-in policy for call sheets, schedules, scripts and amendments, using emailed versions as default and printing double-sided if printing was necessary.
- Setting up recycling points for paper, glass, plastic and batteries.
- Uploading casting tapes, rushes and edits to sites such as Vimeo, eliminating the need to burn DVDs and use couriers for transportation.
- Using rechargeable batteries for all equipment.
- Providing cast and crew with water bottles to refill on set, discouraging the use of disposable food and drink containers.
- Using china plates and bowls, metal cutlery and recyclable paper cups rather than polystyrene.
- Encouraging car sharing and use of local bus services.
Head of Production at Roughcut TV, Tim Sealey, said: “We’ve been working hard with Sky to make Trollied more sustainable over the years, once again we have achieved a 3 star albert+ rating for series 6. This year we went further than ever, with the aim of making this our greenest series so far. Each individual measure may seem small, but the combined effect makes a massive difference across a shoot that lasts several weeks with large numbers of cast and crew involved. The Bottle Yard team shares our green approach and supports our sustainability measures, meaning that our partnership, now in its sixth year, works incredibly well.”
Fiona Francombe, The Bottle Yard Studios’ Site Director said: “Sustainability is hugely important to us here at The Bottle Yard and we try to make the ‘green’ option as convenient as possible for the productions that film with us. It’s widely agreed that the UK production sector has a poor track record when it comes to the environment, and more needs to be done to change practise across the board to reduce the environmental impact of the TV industry. It was wonderful to welcome Trollied back to The Bottle Yard for the sixth series earlier this year. Sky and Roughcut TV’s refreshingly proactive approach to cutting carbon across Trollied’s production is exemplary and should be celebrated.”
Other ‘green’ productions to have filmed with us recently include Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures (CBeebies/BBC Natural History Unit), made in 2015. albert+ measured its carbon emissions at 8.04 tonnes CO2 per broadcast hour, one third the average for other BBC programmes made in a similar way – filmed in a studio with VT inserts – which produce 23.7 tonnes CO2 per broadcast hour.
‘Green’ measures offered here at The Bottle Yard Studios include set recycling and repurposing services from on-site company Drèsd, low emission chauffeur services run by on site company Studio Cars and site-wide recycling points that all productions are encouraged to use. Following recent investment confirmed by Bristol City Council, we will soon be installing photo voltaic cells on the Tank House buildings that houses our eight main stages, to increase the solar power generated on site.