SURPRISED shoppers stopped to watch the action as a film crew shot scenes for a top TV show in the heart of Stretford Mall.<\/p>\n
The area close by to Love Coffee became a temporary set when a dozen-strong team from London-based independent film company Tiger Aspect Productions moved in to shoot a sequence for the popular Sky Living comedy series Mount Pleasant, the third series of which will air later this year.<\/p>\n
Starring former Coronation Street favourite Sally Lindsay, along with Samantha Womack, Nigel Harman, Dan Ryan, Sian Reeves, Bobby Ball, and Paula Wilcox, Mount Pleasant had its first outing in 2011 and has since become a hit with viewers.<\/p>\n
The scenes using Stretford Mall as a backdrop, which are set to be aired in the autumn, involve two characters, Denise, played by\u00a0 Ainsley Howard, and Frankie, played by Chandeep Uppal, working for a promotions agency selling face painting.<\/p>\n
Denise is wearing tiger face paint and a tail. In the first scene Frankie is seen asking Denise to cover for her. In the second, Denise is on the phone to her boyfriend and the third scene will show a boy pulling her tail.<\/p>\n
The entire sequence took only about an hour to shoot before the crew, complete with cameras, lights and hi-tech sound recording equipment, moved on to film further scenes at other locations in and around Manchester.<\/p>\n
Just after the cameras stopped rolling, 22-year-old actress Ainsley Howard, said how well the day\u2019s filming had gone and how glad she was to be in Stretford Mall where she is a regular shopper.<\/p>\n
Ainsley, who has been a Mount Pleasant<\/em> cast member since the first series, said: \u201cI\u2019m originally from Wigan but I now live in Manchester, so I come to shop at Stretford Mall quite a bit.<\/p>\n \u201cI like it here because of the big selection of shops it has.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I heard we\u2019d be filming at the mall I was really pleased as it\u2019s very familiar to me.\u201d<\/p>\n She added: \u201cToday\u2019s filming went really well because we have a great crew and the people at Stretford Mall helped us with everything.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been in Mount Pleasant<\/em> right from the start a couple of years ago and it\u2019s going really well. The third series is due to start later this year and it was scenes for that we were doing here at Stretford Mall.\u201d<\/p>\n Colin McCrory, Stretford Mall Manager, said: \u201cWe were only too happy to have the film crew with us today and I am glad the cast and crew feel it has gone smoothly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a busy, light and airy shopping centre at the heart of the community of Stretford which I think makes us a useful filming location and I know our shoppers have enjoyed being in on the action too.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been a pleasure to work with the production company and in lieu of a location fee, we have asked them to make a donation to The Christie Charity which I know is a charity very close to people\u2019s hearts in Stretford.\u201d<\/p>\n Among the large group of shoppers watching the filming as she sipped coffee with a group of friends at Love Coffee was 83-year-old Renee Gibson from Stretford who recalled that she was one of the first people who worked in Stretford Mall when it opened in 1969 and was then known as the Stretford Arndale Centre.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cI started out working as an assistant at McColls newsagents and then to Boots where I spent a happy 28 years before I retired.<\/p>\n \u201cI still come here with my friends every day to have a coffee at one of the tables outside the caf\u00e9 and it was very interesting watching them filming Mount Pleasant right in front of us here today.<\/p>\n \u201cI was thinking that if they turned the camera round we might be in the shot and end up appearing on the telly!\u201d<\/p>\n At a nearby table was 66-year-old George Smith and his friend John Elliott, 61, who are both from Stretford.<\/p>\n George said: \u201cI\u2019m retired and in here every day for a coffee but I didn\u2019t expect that today we\u2019d end up in the middle of a film set.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve just been here watching it all going on and I must say it\u2019s been very interesting.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be looking out for the Mount Pleasant episode it\u2019s in and seeing if John and I are actually in it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mandy Sharpe, location manager for Tiger Aspect Productions whose credits include the smash-hit shows Vicar of Dibley and Mr Bean, said: \u201cSometimes filming outside scenes like these can be a problem but it\u2019s all gone very well here today.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to thank the Stretford Mall management for all their help.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, we have a busy schedule and we\u2019re now going on to film further scenes at locations in Chorlton and Altrincham.\u201d<\/p>\n Mount Pleasant series 3 will air on Sky Living HD later this year.<\/p>\n For more information about Stretford Mall go to www.stretfordmall.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n