Film star Dame Julie Walters was among the stars visiting Burnham-On-Sea on Monday (May 23rd) for filming of a new Channel 4 TV drama series.
Scenes for the six-part series, called ‘TrueLove’, were filmed on Burnham seafront, on the jetty and also on the South Esplanade, as photographed here.
During the morning, the filming took place outside Burnham’s Quantock Court where Dame Julie filmed scenes with co-stars Clarke Peters, pictured, and Sue Johnston paying money into a parking machine and then heading into a vehicle.
After several scenes were filmed on the seafront, the crew decamped to Burnham jetty, where the filming focused on a storyline involving a set of ashes in a biscuit tin being scattered into the sea.
Extra safety precuations were taken to keep everyone safe on the jetty – a man dressed in a wet suit was seen holding several throw lines and watching over proceedings.
Julie, 72, was clearly feeling the chilly effects of Burnham’s sea breezes in the afternoon. She was seen wearing two coats and holding a hot water bottle after one take.
Dame Julie’s Mercedes was driven onto the jetty by her husband Grant Roffey along with other vehicles so she could keep warm between filming and during passing showers in the afternoon.
A film crewmember told Burnham-On-Sea.com that the filming in Burnham had been successful and that further scenes for Truelove are scheduled to take place in other Somerset locations in the coming weeks. The crew may return to Burnham in June.
Vehicles for the TV production crew were based in Burnham-On-Sea’s B&M car park and extra restrictions were place along the South Esplanade on Monday during the filming.
Full details about the TV show are reported here. A Channel 4 spokeswoman adds: “With a core cast in their late 60s and 70s, Truelove breaks the rules for older characters on screen and flips ageist tropes on their head in a series which promises thrilling twists and turns, irreverent humour and passionate romance.”
“Enter our dynamic duo: Phil played by award-winning actress Julie Walters (National Treasure, Indian Summers), an ex-senior police chief enjoying a comfortable if boring retirement, and Ken played by Clarke Peters (The Wire, Da 5 Bloods), a divorcee and ex-special forces vet who feels similarly at sea. Phil and Ken were teenage sweethearts and despite life having moved on, they have never quite managed to forget each other.”
Julie Walters says: “I had basically withdrawn from acting and wasn’t sure that anything could tempt me back but then I read Truelove. I was completely bowled over by the writing – the dark humour, the love story and thriller element set against a backdrop of what happens to us all as we approach our later years. I adore the character of Phil – smart, funny and hard edged. How often does one have the chance at my tender age to play a leading lady in a TV drama?”
