Written by The Location Guide on Oct 14, 2015. Posted in On Location

BBC gangster drama Peaky Blinders to film Liverpool again for third season

The BBC’s hit period gangster drama Peaky Blinders will once again double parts of Liverpool for 1920s Birmingham. Cillian Murphy stars as the head of a criminal gang in the Midlands city trying to expand his business empire in the aftermath of the First World War.

“Liverpool is a terrific place to shoot because it has a range of period architecture, great countryside on its doorstep and London is just a two hour train journey away,” producer Simon Maloney told the Liverpool Echo.

“We’re delighted this quality drama is returning to the city and it could not come at a better time with the recent decision to approve plans for a major new studio development at the former Littlewoods Building,” added Wendy Simon, assistant mayor and cabinet member responsible for the Liverpool Film Office.

“The production was filmed here last year over a three-month period and saw around 120 cast and crew make the region their temporary home, giving a great boost to the local economy.”

Authorities in Liverpool recently agreed to spend GBP 25 million converting the city’s former Littlewoods Building into a new media hub that will include film and TV studios. Figures from the Film Office suggest regional production in Liverpool has already increased 20% on last year.

Many of the UK’s biggest film studio facilities are engaged in long-term expansion plans, but adapting existing industrial buildings is a quicker and more cost-effective way to create studio space.

Yorkshire Studios was recently announced for the north-east of England, as an adaption of former RAF hangars.