River City Feed

Yon bonny banks...

2011-04-27T16:13:09+00:00

This was a bit of an epic episode wasn't it? Leo almost took the high road on yon bonny banks of Loch Lomond but thanks to Conor he dragged himself back to shore in time. Leo's meltdown was filmed on location at Loch Lomond which is just up the road from our Dumbarton studios. The scenery looked amazing and the sea plane coming into land looked great. I asked the Director Patrick Harkins about it:

"We didn't actually know if we were going to get the sea plane until the day before we were due to shoot, so it was a bit touch and go. We had one rehearsal and gave the pilot pointers on where to land etc and then went ahead and shot it. It was filmed in one take with three cameras and we filmed the actors the whole time in order to capture their reactions. The plane wasn't integral to the script but it added something a bit special and different to the scene and it was especially good fun for Rian who plays Conor."

Back in Shieldinch, dodgy McCabe is back and up to old tricks! What is Jimmy getting himself into? He's agreed to courier counterfeit money for the resident gangster - this isn't going to end well! And Fraser seems to think that he can play with the big boys too, the silly lad just doesn't know what he's letting himself in for! Fraser and Jimmy will both become further embroiled in McCabe's criminal empire but what will be the consequences?

Next week is election night and the Nick and Nicole saga is set to explode. We saw a sneak peek of Michael's reaction to the revelations but what will be the impact on Nick's political ambitions? I can't wait!

Quote of the Week
Policeman: "...no visible distinguishing marks."
Nicole: "Well actually Conor has really long eyelashes..."

Word on the street - November news

2010-11-19T17:12:52+00:00

After a long day filming on location in central Glasgow on Thursday the production office has certainly got that Friday feeling! Cakes and chocolate are very much in evidence.
Pudsey's spots adorn the office reception and some of the cast members are getting ready for their appearance at Children in Need Rocks Scotland.We'll keep you posted!

Word on the Street - seasons change

2010-10-18T17:51:41+00:00

After a very sunny start to the week it feels as if winter has come to Dumbarton.

Hat and gloves are essential survival wear to a long day's filming once again. On a frosty autumn morning on the Montego Street set, here's a feeling of being 'out of time' - walking past discarded Christmas trees propped by the boatshed feels slightly unnerving. Festive filming has been taking place - and we haven't had time to fully embrace autumn yet!

Also spotted wandering the corridors of the production office were a bunch of actors dressed as members of the military police. It's all quite odd - what can it mean?

Deep in Dumbarton

2010-08-09T09:52:29+00:00

Taking place on a submarine far below the Arctic Ocean, The Deep sounds like it has nothing in common with a Glasgow-set drama. However this BBC One series was filmed in Dumbarton earlier this year in the same studios as River City.

Neil Mac works as the Unit Manager at Dumbarton. It's his job to co-ordinate the people in control of BBC in-house and independent productions on site. So Neil helped the team from Tiger Aspect Productions, who produced The Deep, to work successfully at BBC Dumbarton.

Neil kindly filled us in on a production secret from The Deep. CGI was used to create many effects in the drama, as the story takes place far below the ocean surface. A submarine set was created for 'The Orpheus' in the studio. The team filled the entire space with a smoke effect, and cleverly lit the studio area surrounding it. Neil tells us when you peered out of the window of the 'submarine' it actually looked like you were underwater.

The Deep stars Minnie Driver, James Nesbitt and Goran Visnjic. It's on weekly on Tuesdays at 2100 on BBC One Scotland until the end of August. You can watch the show on iPlayer if you miss it. Goran talks about filming the show in Scotland and the special effects involved on the TV blog and in The Sunday Mail.

Word on the street...

2010-07-02T09:22:27+00:00

We hear that a handy prop came to the rescue on one of the recent River City tours. A lady in a wheelchair had a puncture while on the BBC tour at Dumbarton. Thankfully a canny staff member saved the day. A colleague from Radio Scotland was working as a tour guide. She cleverly recalled that Jimmy was confined to a wheelchair in a storyline of old, so the River City prop room was duly raided. A quick-thinking security guard called Jeremy helped out on the day. So Jimmy's wheels saved the day, and the wheelchair user was able to enjoy the delights of Shieldinch. The River City tours will continue throughout July.

We're on set at River City HQ today and things are comparatively quiet, as the cast and crew are on their summer break. The office is pretty busy though, as the production team continue to develop future stories and scripts. We hear that the BBC Three comedy How Not to Live Your Life is in production at the Dumbarton studios currently, and they'll shortly be joined by historical drama Garrow's Law. The CBBC show Hedz will be joining in the fun over the summer, where we hear the production team have the challenge of filming on the Montego Street set, but somehow they have to dress it so it looks unlike Shieldinch!

1 June 2010 - Backstage at the non-nuptials

2010-06-01T09:07:45+00:00

There's nothing like a last-minute proposal, a false pregnancy, a groom with the jitters and a desperate dash to the church, to give us a bumper Shieldinch (non) wedding, with bells on!

Wasn't Ruth such a good friend to Andy, even though you could see that her heart was breaking, and she was desperate to tell him about her true feelings? Then after gatecrashing the wedding Andy was so kind and gentle with her. And that ending! Were you excited/upset/thrilled? We were a mixture of all three!

We've got a few sneaky facts about filming the wedding scenes earlier this year. Andy and Gabriella's wedding-which-was-not-to-be was filmed at Strathleven House in Dumbarton, close to the River City set. On the day of filming hot water bottles were much in evidence, because the wedding scenes were shot on a shivery February day. Gina's costume continuity sheet will give you an idea.

The stunning wedding dress was sourced from a vintage shop in Glasgow's Trongate. Shelley Lang who played Gabriella is very petite. Because of that, Clare Pettifer, Costume Designer for River City, tells us that Gabriella's dress had to be altered and customised extensively, with the costume team adding a high collar and changing the sleeves radically.

Mind you, all the beautiful dresses in the world couldn't make up for the fact that Andy didn't love Gabriella as much he loved Ruth. We're still blubbing here.
We loved the 'best friend-off' between Iona and Scott. And what Andy actually said to Ruth at the end had us reaching for the tissues too - awwww!