Filming for new Hovis advert in Hardy Street, Garston _320
ANYONE near Garston Docks yesterday might have been forgiven for thinking they had stumbled upon a miners’ strike.
But the large numbers of mounted police and miners were in the city to take part in an update of one of television’s oldest TV adverts.
Actors and film crews are using various scenes across the city to film a Hovis commercial using over 650 extras.
The storyline includes mom- ents of British history from the past 100 years, charting bakers in the 1890s, the 1984 miners’ strike and the 1953 Coronation.
Filming over the next few days will create a two-minute advert due to be shown in the commercial break of Coronation Street in September.
Filming yesterday saw 150 extras crowd down Kings Street and Blackburn Street in a recreation of the miners’ strike.
Some local businesses closed for the day or worked around the crews, and partial road closures were in operation.
Over in Garston, Hardy Street was transformed into a street party celebrating the Queen’s Coronation.
Producers decorated terraced houses and put on fake door covers to make the scene as authentic as possible to 1953.
The road was closed in the afternoon, as the main charac- ter ran down the street, but residents couldn’t really party as no alcohol or music was provided.
Today the crew will be recreating a Suff- ragettes’ march using 150 extras in Percy Street and Little Catherine Street.
Filming is also to take place in Falkner Street, Toxteth, where soldiers will be filmed leaving for the battlefields of Flanders.
Kevin Bell, locations co- ordinator at Liverpool Film Office, said: "This is by far the biggest commercial to be shot in Liverpool and it’s a tremendous coup for the city. It demon- strates the breadth and diver- sity of the locations Liverpool can offer that we are able to facilitate a shoot on this scale.
"The city has a real can-do attitude when it comes to accommodating major productions, and I know the team were impressed by the assistance and support we’ve offered them.
"We’re having a bumper year for filming as a result of the Digital Departures initiative run by North West Vision and the incredible worldwide interest in the city during its year as Capital of Culture."
Council leader Warren Bradley said: "Liverpool has a tremendous reputation as a location to shoot major productions."
