Blackpool Film Office are proud to have welcomed a plethora of productions to the UK’s favourite seaside resort – from Hollywood blockbusters to high-impact, small-scale productions.
Take a look at our selective mix of TV shows and films that were filmed right here in Blackpool.
Strictly Come Dancing
Blackpool has become synonymous with Strictly Come Dancing with the midway edition of the series moving from studios in London to the spiritual home of ballroom dancing.
Originally, Strictly first came to Blackpool in 2004 for the third episode of the series. It wasn’t until 2009 when Blackpool Week became an annual spectacle in the series after Children In Need temporarily took over the Strictly studio at the old BBC Television Centre.
The Blackpool Tower has been the place to dance for over a century so it comes as no surprise that professional dancers from all across the world consider it a big achievement to compete on the Blackpool dance floor! The beautiful ballroom is truly a sight to behold when you step through its doors. 30,602 blocks of mahogany, oak and walnut surround you and the spectacular sprung dance floor is expertly designed to absorb shock to enhance performance.
Strictly Come Dancing has opened up the world of dancing to a whole new audience and we are always overjoyed to welcome the crew back year after year.
Photo credit: Guy Levy/BBC
Stay Close
Stay Close, the Netflix drama, starring James Nesbitt, Cush Jumbo and Richard Armitage, shot to the top of the app’s most-watched charts in more than 70 countries after its release on 31 December 2021. The gripping series follows the lives of a photojournalist, a soccer mom and a homicide detective, connecting them all to a terrible event from the past.
Although Harlan Coben’s original story was set in Atlantic City in America, the Netflix adaptation used the North West of England for dramatisation. Speaking to Manchester Evening News, Harlan Coben said: “We used Blackpool, while the book is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Blackpool really looks a lot like Atlantic City!”
Blackpool Film Office were proud to welcome this production and support them with their location filming around Blackpool. Notable locations include the police car chase on Blackpool Promenade, Beach House Bar & Bistro, Central Pier, The Imperial Hotel, Bonny Street, Watson tunnel and the outskirts of Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Credit: Netflix
Cinderella
Blackpool became the belle of the ball when Cinderella came to town in early 2020. The world-famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom was transformed into an equally beautiful palace setting.
The romantic musical comedy featured stars such as Camila Cabello as Cinderella, Billy Porter as the genderless fairy godmother and Idina Menzel as Vivian. Camila enjoyed her time here so much that she celebrated her 23rd birthday with a bash at the top of the Tower!
Credit: Amazon Pictures
The Killers – Here With Me - Music Video
American rock band The Killers, alongside film-maker Tim Burton and award-winning Hollywood actress Winona Ryder, visited the resort to shoot the music video for the band’s 2012 single Here With Me.
The band scenes were performed in the breath-taking Blackpool Tower Ballroom while the other shots took place at a number of location across the resort, including the Promenade and Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Blackpool made it to Hollywood in the 2016 dark fantasy Film, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, directed by renowned director, Tim Burton.
Based on the best-selling novel, some key elements of the movie were filmed in well-known locations in Blackpool including North Pier, The Blackpool Tower and Circus, Comedy Carpet and the Promenade.
Tim Burton was so enthralled with Blackpool that he returned to fulfil one of the most important jobs in Blackpool’s event calendar – switch on the world-famous Blackpool Illuminations!
DODGER
Blackpool’s exquisite Grand Theatre features in an exciting episode of the brand-new BBC and NBC Universal International Studios children’s drama, DODGER.
The Grand Theatre is featured right from the very beginning of the action-packed episode of the Oliver Twist prequel as Fagin’s gang fight to save Tang’s life, Dodger scores a leading role at a haunted theatre and Polly strikes a questionable deal with the enemy.
Upon its release, the ‘boisterous and amusing drama’ was trending on BBC iPlayer and hit all the right notes with reviews describing it as ‘channelling the energy of Horrible Histories’; ‘will help get young people back into Dickens!’ and ‘comes close to reminding us of current limes of reduced heating, fuel and food shortages - cue a big helping of Dickens.’
Landscape Artist of the Year
Blackpool recently featured in the new series of Landscape Artist of the Year, not once, but twice! The spectacular seafront opened the eighth series where budding artists were challenged with just four hours to capture scenes from the promenade overlooking North Pier.
Popular presenting duo Joan Bakewell and Stephen Mangan were back once again for another heat as the competition continued at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
Top Gear
Filming in Blackpool moved up a gear when the popular BBC production visited the resort in summer 2020. In the show, Paddy humorously reimagines the classic ice cream van, transforming it into an electric monster truck and branding it ‘Mr Nippy’.
The episode saw the trio travel in the electric van in various locations, including Blackpool Airport for their thrilling track race. They tested out the power of their newly-created ice cream truck and to hand out treats to visitors on Blackpool beach and the Promenade, and, last but not least, Paddy went for a paddle in the sea in his small dingy with the help of our Beach Patrol team.
It’s an action-packed episode to conclude the 29th series of Top Gear and we were delighted to welcome the cast and crew to the resort.
Credit: BBC
Andor
Hollywood came calling once again when, in 2021, we collaborated with Wyre Council to bring Disney+’s highly anticipated live-action series, Andor, to Blackpool and its resort neighbour, Cleveleys.
In a short period of time, we coordinated with several different teams across Blackpool Council to progress the production’s application, and called on services such as Highways, Parking, Beach Patrol and Events to ensure that filming could take place with minimal disruption to residents nearby, all whilst mitigating the risk of COVID-19.
Despite the challenges of re-emerging from a third national lockdown, and coupled with the school holidays, we accommodated several prep/strike days, approved a partial promenade closure, suspended parking bays in one of our many car parks and facilitated the re-instalment of railings to aid with set dressing.
As expected the filming generated quite a buzz from residents, visitors and media alike, and we were elated to hear excellent feedback from producers. The episode, titled ‘Announcement’, aired in October 2022 and it was remarkable to see the location come to life and transform – with some CGI wizardry – into the space tourist resort of Niamos.
Credit: © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved
Brassic
As excited as we are to tell you all about Brassic’s filming, we can’t reveal too much at the moment. However, season five will air later this year on Sky and we can’t wait for to see all the antics the cast get up to!