The Guildhall will once more become a location for a BBC television drama set in the 1940s this month.
Following on from “The Night Watch” which shot at the Guildhall a year ago, the “Best of Men” is a 90-minute BBC drama special about the birth of the Paralympics which will be filming in the iconic Bath building on Thursday 12 April.
The film follows the story of a German Jewish refugee, Ludwig Guttman who took up a job in 1944, that no one else wanted; transforming the Spinal Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, from one of fatalistic acceptance of patients’ disabilities, to a place of miracles, hope and determination.
For Guttman, sport became the key to changing lives. On the opening day of the 1948 Olympics, he hosted the first National Disabled Sports Day in the grounds of the hospital.
Bath’s Guildhall will be playing the part of the Corridors of Power at Whitehall for this filming.
Councillor Cherry Beath (Lib-Dem, Combe Down), Cabinet Member for Sustainable Development, said: “We are very pleased to be able to assist this production; which is one of Bath & North East Somerset Council’s many activities to support the Olympic and Paralympic celebrations this year. The filming is quite low-key, so we’re not expecting it to affect normal Council activities”.
“The Council’s Film Office has been working very hard for some time to find locations for this production and we are therefore very pleased that the Guildhall proved suitable for this scene. We believe that film and TV coverage is one way of sharing our lovely city and area with the rest of the world and of course it brings economic benefits to the region too.”
The drama, which is also being filmed in Bristol, will star Eddie Marsan, Rob Brydon and Niamh Cusack. It is a Whitby Davison Production due to be broadcast on BBC Two later this year.
