World on Fire’s Manchester locations
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New BBC drama World on Fire filmed extensively in Manchester during its five month shoot last autumn.
The story follows the lives of ordinary people from Britain, Poland, France and Germany during the first year of the Second World War as the conflict upends their world.
While the seven-part series was shot in multiple locations including Prague, London, Chester, Liverpool and Wigan, much of the seven-part drama was shot in and around Manchester.
Bobby Cochrane, development manager at the city’s film office, Screen Manchester, worked closely with the Mammoth Screen production team to facilitate the location filming, with the production office and studio based at Space Studios Manchester.
Key streets were dressed to ensure the backdrop matched the period setting, and the film office worked with the highways department and Greater Manchester Police on the associated road closures and necessary permitting for the large lighting cherry pickers.
Cochrane said of the shoot: “It was a pleasure to welcome this major BBC One drama series to Manchester and we saw first-hand the fantastic street transformations that took place, taking the city back to 1939.
“It goes to show the capability that Manchester has in offering both period and modern day locations and with added incentives of world-class studios, crew and support businesses all based in the city, then it’s no surprise that high-end TV dramas like World on Fire chose Manchester as their base to produce content."
Other key city locations used for the shoot included: Victoria Baths, The Fitzgerald Bar (Northern Quarter), The Marble Arch and Greater Manchester Police Museum.
Manchester regularly hosts high-profile projects, with recent productions including Brassic, The Stranger and Das Boot.
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