Powerful new Channel 4 drama Kiri, starring BAFTA and RTS award-winning actress Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax), begins this week, after filming in Bristol last year.
Written by Bristol-born BAFTA-winner Jack Thorne (National Treasure) the compelling new 4-part drama set in Bristol examines the abduction of a young black girl, named Kiri, who is soon-to-be-adopted by her white foster family, and the trail of lies, blame, guilt and notoriety that follows.
Miriam (Sarah Lancashire) is an experienced, no-nonsense social worker who loves and believes in her job, but has a maverick and instinctive approach to protecting the children in her care. Miriam arranges for Kiri to have an unsupervised visit with her biological grandparents. When Kiri disappears during the visit, the fingers of suspicion and blame from the police, the press, and even her colleagues, point firmly at Miriam. As the media spotlight around the story intensifies, Miriam, as well as both sets of families, are forced to ask the toughest questions, not just of themselves, but of each other. Tobi (Lucian Msamati - Taboo, Luther), Kiri’s birth grandfather, finds both his race and dysfunctional relationship with his son, the prime suspect in Kiri’s disappearance, put under the microscope. Meanwhile Alice (Lia Williams - The Missing, The Crown), Kiri’s fiercely articulate white foster mother, watches as her family starts to crumble under the pressure of very public grief.
Kiri filmed for two weeks in August 2017 at locations across Bristol, including the Gloucester Road area, St Andrews Park, The Downs, the Cumberland Basin area near Spike Island, Napier Road and the Bear Pit. Driving shots feature Muller Road, Filton Avenue and St James Barton Roundabout. Bristol Film Office worked closely with the production team to negotiate special permissions for drone filming above the city whilst also facilitating recces, arranging vehicle access, road closures, bollard removal and tree cutting.
Speaking about her experience of filming in and around Bristol’s Gloucester Road, Sarah Lancashire said:
"We filmed all of the exteriors there. It’s Miriam’s patch. It’s fantastic, vibrant, really colourful, really edgy, completely non-conformist, which is very much who she is. They sort of complement one another... it was a really good place to film."
Location Manager Jason Keatley said:
"It was a pleasure filming Kiri in around the city of Bristol, with a massive helping hand from the Film Office who were incredibly accommodating in helping us achieve our goals at some tricky locations. When facing particular issues regarding the flying of drones in certain locations, thankfully they came up with solutions to keep all parties happy. I look forward to returning to Bristol on future projects, a city that is genuinely film friendly with excellent location support."
Bristol Film Office’s Natalie Moore said
“Bristol is an ideal urban backdrop for hard-hitting drama. Kiri’s shoot follows a number of other dramas in a similar genre the city has hosted recently, like Broadchurch, Three Girls and Thirteen. This particular shoot involved a large amount of drone shooting, which is steadily rising in popularity in TV production. Making this possible required a great deal of liaison with park authorities and other partners to arrange special permissions, given the new drone regulations and bylaws introduced last year.
I’m pleased to say we were able to help the production realise their ambitions to film above green spaces like St Andrews Park and The Downs, whilst helping to ensure normal activity like summer grass cutting didn’t affect continuity. We were also able to link the production with private properties like Hamilton House, so that drones could be flown above the Gloucester Road area. The result is some really stunning on screen footage of Bristol from the skies, which I think will really complement and accentuates Kiri’s compelling storyline.”
Drone filming is becoming more widespread in TV and film production in Bristol, and the Film Office now issues official
Filming with Drones Guidance for productions looking to use UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). New city regulations introduced last year now allow the flying of drones in designated areas in three Bristol parks – Hengrove Park (south Bristol), Dundridge fields (near Hanham) and Blaise Castle Estate (near Henbury). Other sites require special permissions that can be negotiated and arranged by the Film Office. Model aircrafts must weigh 7kg or less without fuel, and operator of the aircraft must be a member of the British Model Flying Association and have public liability insurance.
Other upcoming productions recently filmed in Bristol include Mike Newell’s feature The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Society (starring Lily James and Glen Powell), due for release in April, and Jon S. Baird’s feature Stan & Ollie (starring John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan as Laurel and Hardy).
Kiri begins on Channel 4 on Wednesday 10th January at 9pm.