From award-winning Hollywood dramas to cult British sitcoms, Weston-super-Mare and the surrounding North Somerset coastline have quietly appeared on screens for decades.
With sweeping beaches, grand Victorian architecture and classic seaside charm, it’s easy to see why directors keep returning for the perfect backdrop. Here are just a few productions that have filmed in and around Weston-super-Mare.
The Remains of the Day
The 1993 Oscar-winning drama The Remains of the Day, starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, used both the Royal Hotel and the Winter Gardens Pavilion as filming locations.
Scenes from the famous tea sequence were filmed inside the ballroom at the Winter Gardens, whose grand interiors proved the perfect setting for the film’s stately atmosphere.
Broadchurch
ITV’s smash-hit crime drama Broadchurch may be most associated with Dorset, but Weston-super-Mare and the wider North Somerset coast featured heavily throughout the filming process.
While nearby Clevedon became a major filming base, scenes were also shot at Weston General Hospital and Uphill boatyard, which was transformed into part of Broadchurch’s harbour. During filming, stars including David Tennant, Arthur Darvill, Andrew Buchan and Jonathan Bailey were spotted around the area.
Sanditon
Jane Austen adaptation Sanditon brought period drama glamour back to the North Somerset coastline.
The beaches and countryside at Sand Point and Uphill appeared in the series, while swimming scenes were filmed at Weston-super-Mare Marine Lake and nearby Clevedon Marine Lake. The sweeping coastline and dramatic seafront scenery helped create the show’s elegant Regency-era atmosphere.
The Outlaws
Stephen Merchant’s acclaimed BBC comedy thriller The Outlaws also made its way to Weston-super-Mare. The series, starring Hollywood legend Christopher Walken, filmed scenes at the Cove Kiosk on Weston’s seafront.
Merchant, who grew up in Bristol, has often used the West Country as inspiration and backdrop for his productions.
Sandylands
Weston-super-Mare took centre stage in the comedy series Sandylands – quite literally.
The seaside sitcom, starring David Walliams, Hugh Bonneville, Simon Bird and Sanjeev Bhaskar, used Weston as the fictional town of “Sandylands”.
Viewers may recognise several locations throughout the series, including the Tropicana and stretches of the seafront.
Never Let Me Go
Before becoming Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield appeared alongside Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley in the haunting drama Never Let Me Go.
Filming took place across North Somerset, including scenes shot on Weston’s seafront and inside the former Regent Restaurant on Regent Street.
Nearby Clevedon Pier also featured prominently in the film.
Only Fools and Horses
Even Peckham’s finest have visited Weston-super-Mare.
Fans of Only Fools and Horses may recognise Woodland Road as the location used during the memorable episode featuring Uncle Albert’s funeral – when the Trotters accidentally arrived at the wrong house.
It wasn’t the Trotters only Weston shoot though. Rodney and Cassandra visited the Dragon Kiss, Regent Street, restaurant during ‘If they could see us now’. Meanwhile, Del and Rodney chose the Old Market House – now The Stable Games Room – to have their discussion about the flat being overcrowded during a scene from ‘If they could see us now’.
Toyah Wilcox and Shoestring
The actress and singer Toyah Wilcox – whose mother and father met in Weston-super-Mare – revisited her parents meeting place when she starred in an episode of the BBC’s TV detective series Eddie Shoestring. A lot of the action in this episode was filmed on Birnbeck Pier before it fell into disrepair. Scenes were also shot around the Grand Pier and Weston town centre.
A historic TV moment at the Winter Gardens
Weston-super-Mare was also briefly at the centre of television history during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 19 March 2020, BBC Question Time was broadcast from the Winter Gardens Pavilion – becoming the programme’s first ever episode without a studio audience due to coronavirus restrictions.
The unusual broadcast captured a moment that would soon become familiar across the country, as television productions rapidly adapted to life during lockdown.
Did you know? John Cleese was born in Weston-super-Mare
Comedy legend John Cleese, co-creator and star of Fawlty Towers and Monty Python, was born in Weston-super-Mare in 1939.
Before becoming one of Britain’s most influential comedians, Cleese spent his early years in Weston before later attending school in nearby Bristol.
