His Dark Materials and Industry boost Bristol production

Two major dramas, series two of BBC One’s Philip Pullman adaptation His Dark Materials and BBC Two’s new banking drama Industry, begin tonight and tomorrow after part-filming in Bristol last year.

Beginning on BBC One tonight, Sunday 9th November at 8.10pm, season two of His Dark Materials is adapted from The Subtle Knife, the second book in Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights series.

Although predominantly filmed in Wales, Bristol Film Office assisted the show’s producers Bad Wolf to shoot once again at Blaise Orangery, which provided the location for the portal between worlds which viewers will have seen Lord Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) step through in the finale of season one. The Orangery was once again transformed into an elaborately ethereal setting in preparations that took a week for a day’s filming. Filming also took place on Elmdale Road for chase scenes featuring lead character Lyra running out of the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery building.

The seven-part series begins after Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) has opened a bridge to a new world, and, distraught over the death of her best friend, Lyra (Dafne Keen) follows Asriel into the unknown. In a strange and mysterious abandoned city she meets Will Parry (Amir Wilson), a boy from our world who is also running from a troubled past.

Lyra and Will learn their destinies are tied to reuniting Will with his father John Parry (Andrew Scott) but find their path is constantly thwarted as a war begins to brew around them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson) searches for Lyra, determined to bring her home by any means necessary.

Other cast includes Will Keen, Ruta Gedmintas and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Joining the cast this season are Terence Stamp, Jade Anouka and Simone Kirby. Phoebe Waller-Bridge voices the dæmon of her Fleabag co-star Andrew Scott’s character, John Parry.

Premiering on BBC Two on Tuesday 10th November at 9:15pm, Industry follows a group of recent university graduates – Harper Stern (Myha’la Herrold), Yasmin Kara-Hanani (Marisa Abela), Robert Spearing (Harry Lawtey), Gus Sackey (David Jonsson Fray) and Hari Dhar (Nabhaan Rizwan) – who aim to make their mark on the world by proving their worth and becoming permanent hires at a leading investment bank.

Also predominantly filmed in Wales by production company Bad Wolf, Bristol Film Office provided permits for Industry to film in the city during August and December 2019. Locations included Queen Square and a number of other Bristol streets including the Corn Street area, Frogmore area (outside the Queenshilling and Smoke and Mirrors venues) and York Place in Clifton.

Examining issues of gender, race, class, and privilege in the workplace, the eight part series follows the five impressionable young minds as they begin to forge their identities within the pressure cooker environment and sensory blitz of the trading floor, where meritocracy is promised but hierarchy is king.

Bristol Film Office recorded almost 1,000 filming days at Bristol locations last year, representing a value of more than £17 million to the Bristol’s economy, an increase of £1million on the previous financial year (2018/19).