ST HELENS will be gracing our TV screens once again this week, with the former Pilkington head office featuring as a hospital in a new ITV drama.
Maternal started on Monday, January 16 starring Parminder Nagra (Bend it Like Beckham), Lara Pulver (Spooks, Sherlock) and Lisa McGrillis (Last Night in Soho).
It tells the stories of Maryam, a paediatric registrar, Catherine, a general and trauma surgeon, and Helen, a registrar in acute medicine, as they each attempt to balance their increasingly demanding jobs in post-pandemic frontline medicine with their lives as new mothers.
Former Pilks head office
The former Pilks head office at Alexandra Drive, off Prescot Road is used to depict a hospital in the show that screens on Monday nights.
But it won't be the last time St Helens features on our screens this year.
Marvel's latest mini-series – The Secret Invasion partly filmed in St Helens – is set to air in spring this year.
Hollywood stars
The series stars Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as the Skrull Talos—characters who first met in Captain Marvel.
They are joined by Kingsley Ben-Adir, Emilia Clarke, and Olivia Colman.
In February last year, filming for some of the series took place on industrial land in St Helens owned by glassmaker Pilkington at Ravenhead, near to the Watson Street site.
At the time, onlookers travelling on the railway line between St Helens and Liverpool reported seeing huge sets on the land, where battle scenes were reportedly unfolding.
It was speculated at the time that Jackson and Clarke were both in St Helens for the filming.
A statement on the Disney+ website confirms the show is coming soon: "The crossover comic event series showcases a faction of shape-shifting Skrulls who have been infiltrating Earth for years."
The Marvel.com website verifies the series will air in spring 2023.
There'll also be a crime drama that was filmed in St Helens by the streaming service Paramount +.
Crime drama
Last year crews and vintage police cars were spotted at College Street police station filming Sexy Beast - a prequel to the 2000 gangster classic.
The borough has been used increasingly by the creative industries for filming. Last year's Netflix hit Stay Close saw Dream in Sutton Manor feature prominently, while BBC drama The Responder filmed in Taylor Park and surrounding areas.
The Liverpool City Region has pumped funding into the film industry in the belief that it will reap benefits for the economy.
Plans to make region Hollywood of the North
Speaking in 2021, Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said: “Our region is a vibrant, innovative hub of creativity and talent.
"Because of devolution, we’re able to target funding to help protect it through difficult periods like the pandemic, and to help it grow and flourish in ordinary times.
“Our heritage, architecture, talent and people mean that we will always be able to attract film and TV productions from across the globe.
"These funds have been particularly satisfying because they have been able to nurture local projects, promote local writers, directors and actors and showcase them to the rest of the country.
“We have got ambitious plans to help make our region the ‘Hollywood of the North’, with £17m already invested to develop film studios at Littlewoods, which help us cater to productions from writing and filming, right the way through to editing and post-production.”
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