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Have you ever wandered on to the set?

(44 Posts)
BridgetPark Wed 08-Apr-26 15:17:19

Well, my beloved sis and I were on our weekly meet up in Kings Heath. We decided to visit one of the pubs on the high street, which had been previously closed. We were admitted in by a very smart young man on the door. In we went, to a dark smoky pub, with all these men in smart suits and flat caps, and you guessed it, they were filming Peaky Blinders!! To say we were dumb-struck is an under statement!!. They looked at us, we looked at them, then the director approached us and said to her colleague"Well, i don't know who THESE people are"... referring to myself and my sis. So we turned tail and got out, while doubling up with laughter.
I just wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience or event that occurred incidentally whilst going about your business?
It really made our day, but sadly Cillian or Jamie Bell were not there, but even so, it was something to smile about.

Astitchintime Fri 10-Apr-26 07:15:36

And they didn’t even offer you a drink??? 🤔😂😂😂

NanKate Fri 10-Apr-26 07:42:06

Yes, recently on going to our favourite coffee shop, we saw a crowd of people gathered to watch the filming of the latest Marlow Murder Club. We had to turn round and go to one of the other many coffee shops in our town.

My late mum was born in King’s Heath in 1910 👍

Magenta8 Fri 10-Apr-26 07:58:54

When I lived in Brighton I frequently came across film crews.

Very early one morning I saw them filming a group of stark naked young men emerging from the sea and looking very cold. I never did find out what that was all about.

Bukkie Fri 10-Apr-26 08:49:28

Many years ago my Mum saw David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Buster Merryfield and co when they filmed the Only Fools and Horses episode "To Hull and Back." She even saw the yellow Reliant Robin parked up in Hull Old Town.

Witzend Fri 10-Apr-26 08:59:43

Not quite the same, but when dd1 was away on a school trip, we took dd2, then 10, and a schoolfriend to Cornwall for a week in the Easter holidays.

We stayed at a large seaside hotel, where the girls had their own room - and apparently were asked nicely if they could please keep the noise (of initial excitement) down a bit because there was filming going on in the next room.

And we didn’t believe it at first, but it was true - they were filming a bit of an episode of Neighbours!!!

Who on earth would ever have believed it?

Kate1949 Fri 10-Apr-26 09:19:39

We went on holiday to Port Isaac and wandered down to the beach and found Martin Clunes and a crew filming Doc Martin.

Aldom Fri 10-Apr-26 09:49:24

My daughter and I used to have coffee at an outdoor coffee shop in Oxford. One sunny day as my daughter was ordering the coffee I wandered through the seating area to the end, where there was an unoccupied table. I stood by the a chair to removed my bag and jacket.
As I did so I noticed that the table next to me was occupied by several smartly dressed men.
The man directly opposite me was staring intensely at me so I smiled politely and said good morning.
His stare became even more intense.
It was then that I noticed the microphone and camera!
Something was being filmed.... I hastily removed myself and my belongings.
I never found out what I had interrupted.
It's possible it was Morse because there were times when I saw that being filmed in Oxford.

J52 Fri 10-Apr-26 09:52:44

I took some school students to Cambridge, we were punting, but were held up by a TV crew who were filming Alexander Armstrong making an advert for a bank. He was on a bridge talking to another actor who was in the punt in front of us.

TheatreLover Fri 10-Apr-26 10:15:22

A short sequence from a Peaky Blinders episode, maybe from the second series, was filmed in my flat. I think the original caged lifts in the building were the main attraction.

I live in an area dominated by Georgian houses so we often see filming of costume dramas. It's quite surreal to see the actors in costume eating their modern day lunches.

petra Fri 10-Apr-26 10:28:57

The back of my head is in an interview that Kirsty Wark.
She was doing a piece outside a cafe at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Beat that 😂

BridgetPark Fri 10-Apr-26 11:23:07

Thank you all, so many lovely interesting stories on this topic. And no, we weren't even offered a drink!!!
Ir's awful when you are easily star-struck, as I am. I met Jilly Cooper once at New St Station, and she was wonderfully smiley and jolly, just as she always was. Ah well, it's a different world isn't it?

Allira Fri 10-Apr-26 12:02:04

If anyone saw a scene with a stray, very wet dog on the beach in The French Lieutenant's Woman, it was probably mine. 🐕

We could have been in The Salt Path but just missed it by yards (thank goodness).

We also had to wait for ages on a country road for a motorbike to be go past as they were filming Sex Education.

Grannybags Fri 10-Apr-26 12:08:49

We were stopped from going into a square in Bath as they were filming (Jane Austin I think)

As security was explaining why we couldn't go any further a seagull swooped down and snatched a sandwich from a member of the crew. His finger was streaming with blood!

Tenko Fri 10-Apr-26 13:11:59

When we lived in South London . We were always coming across The Bill being filmed . Once I was in Sainsbury’s in Colliers Wood and two policemen ran up the escalator with a film crew . Another time I was walking to my son’s nursery and the road was cordoned off with tape and there were police cars just outside his nursery . Us mums all panicked and thought omg what’s going on. But it was The Bill being filmed in a house opposite the nursery.

Rocketstop2 Fri 10-Apr-26 13:16:08

Once when we were in London, we were walking along the Thames when we saw police on the shore and a body being dragged out of the water and medics stood round.I said to DH how awful it was ...until a film crew emerged from the shelter of the wall and the 'BODY' stood up. It was quite a shock !!

midgey Fri 10-Apr-26 13:48:53

We were in a hotel and had a query so went to reception, lots of cameras and actors seemed to be around. One man spent quite a lot of time adjusting his camera in order to get the right shot. Shame my husband reversed his wheelchair into the camera stand!

Chocolatelovinggran Fri 10-Apr-26 16:16:11

Some years ago, wandering around the bay area of Cardiff, I was alarmed to see mounted police, police with riot shields and so on, all in heavy body armour.
Filming for Dr Who...of course...

AmberGran Fri 10-Apr-26 17:55:10

Many moons ago I worked in Lambs Conduit Street in London. Two doors down from our office was a very old, dusty bookshop. I spent quite a lot of time in there because I collected first edition books.

I popped in one lunchtime and walked right through a crowd, all in regency dress, yelled 'Hello' to the man who ran the shop and was browsing when he came to tell me I would have to leave as there was filming going on. I'd been in my own little world and totally oblivious to everything going on. All I could do was complete apologising on my way out. I was a bit gobsmacked that I hadn't even registered the 'regency' crowd outside. No idea what they were filming.

MayBee70 Fri 10-Apr-26 18:28:17

Bryan Forbes used the house I was living in at the time to film a period drama. I remember walking down the stairs and thinking how hot the arc lights are. Unfortunately the weather was awful, it ran over budget and was cancelled. I would love to have been able to see the house on film.

Ashcombe Fri 10-Apr-26 19:17:39

DH stayed in Port Isaac years ago and happened to be staying in the holiday cottage needed for the filming of a pilot for Doc Martin! I think some luxury foods were delivered by way of compensation plus a few rounds of drinks in the pub with cast and crew in the evening.

Squiffy Sat 11-Apr-26 18:49:06

We were meandering round the side streets in Prague a few years ago. There were lots of people hovering in one spot and I thought it was some sort of political rally. Wrong! We’d walked onto the set where they were filming Atlantic Crossing! Luckily, they’d stopped filming and were on a break, so we just chatted with some of the actors!

Sago Sun 12-Apr-26 08:36:16

My in-laws were in a cab going to a Buckingham Palace garden party, their cab got stuck behind a horse and cart, it was Steptoe and Son being filmed, my MIL was horrified and yes they could apparently be seen in the finished film but only a glimpse!

inishowen Sun 12-Apr-26 13:52:27

It happened to my husband and I about a year ago. We were in town and the road was closed to cars. I thought it would be fine for us to walk down to my favourite charity shop. Things looked different and the shops had new names. The charity shop was renamed Thrift Shop. I walked in and the manager was behind the counter but she looked taken aback. The shop was empty of customers. She explained a film was being made and she was an extra. We scuttled back with red faces but had a laugh in the car.

Tooyoungytobeagrandma Sun 12-Apr-26 13:55:04

Pulled up in a taxi to a hotel in Manchester. The driver suggested I go in, stay in and not come out until he picked me up next morning. It was booked by the company I was working for at the time who obviously didnt know the area!! But walking out of the hotel and being filmed was Mike Baldwin and I think Ken Barlows daughter who were filming their wedding. It was not a nice place and I got moved the next day thank goodness but suppose it looked the part for filming 🤔