Film crew spotted in front of village butchers filming new Sky comedy series

Film crews gathered outside a village butcher this weekend to shoot a new Sky Original comedy series starring Gemma Arterton and Rupert Everett.

Cameras flooded Birkdale on Saturday, December 4, leaving local residents and business owners “surprised.”

They were spotted outside Broughs Butchers on Liverpool Road while the outside of Rowlands Pharmacy next door has been converted into a barber shop.

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Emma Scanlan, Regional Manager for Rowlands, watched the scene unfold and told ECHO: “It was nice to have the attention in the region, the local community.

“There were all the cameras, all the tents set up, all the people eating. They had the food court.

“You heard people screaming ‘lights, camera, action’, you know, ‘rehearsal, everybody shut up’.

“I looked outside to be a little curious.”

Funny Girl is the television adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel of the same name.

Gemma Arterton stars as Barbara Parker, a “force of nature taking London by storm” in the comedy drama Sky, about a “young woman from Blackpool finding her comedic voice in the male-dominated world of the 1960s sitcom” .

Alongside Arterton in her role as the newly crowned Miss Blackpool are Rupert Everett, David Threlfall, Tom Bateman and Emily Bevans.

Gemma Arterton said: “This is the heartwarming story of an ambitious woman who dreams of making people laugh – it’s going to be something special.

“It’s an honor to work with such an incredible team and to reunite with my very first director, Oliver Parker.”

And Emma is honored that the production team chose Birkdale as their Blackpool replacement during the filming of the series.

She initially thought it was a ‘liquidation’ when she was first approached three months ago about using the chemist for the shoot.

Emma told ECHO: “We are happy to support some local projects in the region.

“If that brings people back to Southport, we’re comfortable with that.

“It was just a little fun, wasn’t it? There were lots of old classic cars and stuff around.

“They turned us into ’60s barbers, so they just threw up a sign and put a black curtain with old fashioned barber chairs behind it.

“Other than that, the public was free to use the gateways normally and our business was open as usual.”

Emma said they received a pretty penny for their storefront.

She said: “They paid us a nice sum, which we donate to the local food bank.

“So we’re paying the local food bank £ 1,000 before Christmas, which I think is the right thing to do, which we should be doing.”

The set of Funny Girl has also been spotted at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool city center in recent months.

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