Filmed in Blackpool and the surrounding area

Many films which featured Blackpool and the Fylde area have been made for showing in cinemas. These include the following:

1913 “Blackpool – The Coney Island of England” an American documentary.

1917 “Bunkered at Blackpool” a silent film starring Harry Lauder featured scenes from all over Blackpool.

1918 “Hindle Wakes” starred Colette O’Neill and Norman McKinnon and was filmed in the Palace Ballroom, the Tower and the Pleasure Beach. It was remade three times for the cinema and once for television.

1926 “Hindle Wakes” starred Estelle Brody and Peggy Carlisle and was filmed in the Pleasure Beach.

1929 “The Three Kings” was a circus film, made in the Tower Circus and at the Pleasure Beach, starring John Hamilton.

1930 “No Lady” was shot at the Pleasure Beach, starring Lupino Lane.

1931 “Hindle Wakes” was shot partly on location at the Pleasure Beach, starring Edmund Gwenn, Sybil Thorndike, Belle Chrystall and Mary Clare.

1931 “City of Pleasure” was based on Arnold Bennett’s 1907 story and filmed in town and at the Pleasure Beach.

1934 “Sing as We Go” starred Gracie Fields and was partly filmed at the Tower Circus.

1937 “Cotton Queen” starred Will Fyffe and Stanley Holloway and was filmed around the Pleasure Beach.

1943 “They met in the Dark” starred James Mason and was partly filmed in Blackpool.

1943 “Bellbottom George” starred George Formby and was filmed partly in Fleetwood.

1947 “Dick Barton Strikes Back” starred Don Stannard and Sebastian Cabot and featured a fight scene on the Tower.

1947 “Dual Alibi” starred Herbert Lom and was partly shot in the Tower Circus.

1948 “Holidays with Pay” starred Frank Randle and Tessie O’Shea and was filmed in and around Blackpool.

1949 “Forbidden” starred Douglas Montgomery, Andrew Cruikshank and Patricia Burke.

1952 “Hindle Wakes” starred Sandra Dorne, Leslie Dwyer and Joan Hickson was part filmed at the Pleasure Beach and the Tower Ballroom.

1961 “A Taste of Honey” starred Rita Tushingham and was filmed at the Pleasure Beach and the beach.

1972 “Nearest and Dearest” starred Hylda Baker and Jimmy Jewel on holiday in Blackpool.

1975 “Blackpool by the Sea” was a documentary directed by Heather Holden.

1975 “The Evacuees” by Jack Rosenthal starred Maureen Lipman and Ray Mort. It was filmed in and around Blackpool.

1976 “Second City Firsts: Summer Season” starred Paul Shane and was set in Blackpool.

1977 “Valentino” starred Rudolph Nureyev and was partly filmed in the Tower Ballroom.

1980 “The Great British Striptease” was filmed in Blackpool, starring stripper Lisa Taylor and comedian Bernard Manning.

1983 “Slayground” starred Peter Coyote, Mel Smith, Billie Whitelaw and was partly filmed at the Pleasure Beach.

1987 “Treacle” starred Stephen Tompkinson and Freddie Davies and was filmed in town.

1990 “Oranges are not the only fruit” starred Charlotte Coleman and Catherine Bradshaw and was partly filmed in Blackpool.

1990 “Coasting” starred Peter Howitt and was filmed around the Pleasure Beach.

1993 “UFO” starred Roy “Chubby” Brown. Chubby is captured by a gang of feminist aliens from the 25th century and beamed up to their spaceship during his live show in Blackpool.

1993 “Tomorrow Calling” was a Short & Curlies presentation shot in Blackpool and Pinewood with Colin Salmon and Toyah Wilcox.

1993 “The Last Dance” was a film by Colin Nutley about a young Swedish couple involved in a ballroom dancing love story. It was filmed in Stockholm, Blackpool and Barbados.

1994 “Funny Bones” starred Lee Evans, Jerry Lewis and Lesley Caron, and was directed by local man Peter Chelsom at the Tower Circus, the Pleasure Bach and on the beach.

1994 “Bhaji on the Beach” starred Jimi Harkishin and Kim Vithana, and was directed by Gurinder Chadha, being filmed on Blackpool beach.

1994 “Seaview Knights” starred James Bolam in a fantasy about a man who has a painting fall on his head while asleep in a Blackpool guesthouse.

1995 “Dreamtown” was written by and starred David Thewlis. Thewlis returned to the town of his childhood visiting the anatomical exhibitions at the waxwork museum, the Pleasure Beach, the Tower Ballroom and the Odditorium.

1996 “Shall We Dansu” a Japanese film, which closes with a scene at the World Ballroom Dancing Championships in Blackpool. The 2004 remake, “Shall we Dance”, starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez does not show the town as Ms Lopez – diva extraordinaire – refused to come to Blackpool.

1996 “Married to Malcolm” starred Mark Addy and Josie Lawrence and was partly shot in Blackpool, where Addy played a karaoke-singing taxi driver.

1996 “Bob’s Weekend” starred Bruce Jones, Ricky Tomlinson and Brain Glover. It was filmed around town and at North Pier, where Jones’s character thinks about suicide.

1998 “Like It Is” starred Roger Daltrey and Steve Bell. The opening scenes were filmed in the Flamingo club.

1999 “Whatever Happened to Harold Smith” starred Tom Courtenay and Vince Smith in a film about psychic powers and love in the 1970s. It featured the Pleasure Beach.

2001 “The Parole Officer” starred Steve Coogan as a Blackpool Parole Officer.

2001 “Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise” was partly filmed in Blackpool. It starred Timothy Spall as a vacuum salesman.

2002 “The Quest” starred David Jason and Roy Hudd reminiscing about their youth on holiday in Blackpool and the Lake District.

2003 “Frozen” was a thriller set in Fleetwood and in Morecambe Bay. Shirley Henderson played a disturbed fish processor investigating the disappearance of her sister.

2004 “Punch” starred Suranne Jones and Jeff Hordley running a burger bar on the beach.

2005 “Heatwave” starred mainly unknown actors, but narrated by Bernard Hill, and was filmed partly at the Pleasure Beach.

2006 “Mobile” a three-part ITV drama about mobile phone related murders, was partly filmed at Weeton Barracks.

2007 “Boy A” Jack Burridge (Andrew Garfield) is released from prison and, with the help of his case worker Terry (Peter Mullan), sets about trying to leave his past behind.

In addition to the above, the town has been used as the setting for many television series, such as:

• Blackpool Night (1958)
• Big Night Out (1964) from the ABC
• Blackpool Night Out (1965) from the ABC
• The Blackpool Show (16 shows between June 1966 and August 1967)
• Come Dancing (1970s) from the Tower Ballroom
• Odd Man Out (1977)
• Paul Daniels’ Blackpool Bonanza (1978)
• Summertime Special (1981)
• Airline (1982)
• Seaview (1983)
• Lost Empires (1986)
• Coasting (1990)
• The Wetter the Better (1990) from the Sandcastle
• September Song (1993)
• Pleasure Beach (1998)
• The Entertainers (2002)
• Ted and Alice (2002)
• Strictly Come Dancing (2003 and 2004) from the Tower Ballroom
• Blackpool (known as Viva Blackpool in America) (2004)
• Heatwave (2005)
• Funland (2005)
• Hotel on Sea (2005)
• Blackpool Medics (2007 & 2008) from Victoria Hospital

Blackpool has also been featured regularly in one-off episodes of many others, such as the TV soaps Coronation Street, Eastenders, Emmerdale, Where the Heart Is, and Brookside, as well as several one-off programmes of series, such as:

• Blackpool Story (1954) a TV documentary by Allan Prior
• Holiday (1956) a documentary by Peter Hennessey
• Holiday (1957) a travel documentary by Edgar Anstey
• Blackpool (1959) in the TV documentary series Farson’s Guide to the British, by Daniel Farson
• Hindle Wakes (1976) a TV film starring Donald Pleasence
• Portrait of Blackpool (1989) a TV programme in the Arena series
• Travel Trails – Blackpool (1993) a TV documentary by Sarah Cameron
• Blackpool Night Out (1994) BBC2’s documentary in three parts: Perpetual Motion: The Blackpool Tram, Dream Town: A Brief Anatomy of Blackpool, and Three Salons at the Seaside
• Ballroom Dancing (1996) was filmed by Associated Producers of Canada around Blackpool
• BBC’s Antiques Roadshow (2000) was filmed in the Winter Gardens
• Most Haunted (2002) from the Pleasure Beach and the Grand Theatre
• Stan the Man (2002) one episode, starring John Thompson, was filmed in Blackpool
• Margery and Gladys (2003) was filmed in Fleetwood Harbour Marina and at Poulton railway station, with June Brown and Penelope Keith
• Viva Las Blackpool (2004) an afternoon television play set in a bingo club
• Bed and Bardsleys (2004) set in a Blackpool B&B
• Christmas Lights (2004) filmed at Weeton Camp
• Casanova (2004) was partly filmed at Lytham Hall
• The Magnificent Seven (2005)
• Northern Lights (2005) starring Robson Green was filmed at Ribby Hall Village in Wrea Green and at Weeton Camp
• Chuckle Vision (2005) three episodes “Put Upon Job”, “Tailor’s Dummies” and “Clowning Around” were shot in and around Blackpool
• Disappearing Britain (2006) a programme about Wakes Weeks trips to Blackpool
• Ghost Towns (2006)
• Coast (2006) in and around the Fylde coast
• Most Haunted (2006) visited Mains Hall and claim to have filmed a ghost on television for the first time, when a face appeared to move across the screen
• Lenny’s Britain an episode of his BBC series, filmed by Comedian Lenny Henry filmed  in Blackpool in November(2006)
• The Great British Holiday (2007)
• Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (2007)

There have been many comedy shows recorded at Blackpool theatres, including:

• Live and Dangerous – Freddie Starr (1994) was filmed at the Opera House
• Clitoris Allsorts – Live at Blackpool – Chubby Brown (1995)
• Live at The Lilydrome – Lily Savage (Paul O’Grady) (1995)
• Live from the Top of the Tower – Peter Kay (2000)
• Big, Bad and Dangerous – Live – Ted Robbins (2004) was filmed at the Winter Gardens
• Cannon and Ball Live (2005) was filmed at the Grand Theatre
• Paddy McGuinness: The Dark Side Tour (2006) was filmed at Blackpool Opera House
• Little Britain Live – David Walliams and Matt Lucas (2006)

Numerous Blackpool musical performances have been recorded on film, such as:

• Blackpool Stars (1953) from the Palace Ballroom
• Variety from Blackpool (1955)
• Ticket for Friday (1958)
• The Beatles’ Blackpool Night Out (1965) at the ABC
• Jimi Hendrix (1967) at the Opera House
• Chelsea “Live at the Bierkeller” (1983)
• The Stone Roses “Live in Blackpool” (1991)
• 808 State ” One In Ten” around the Royal Pavilion cinema (1992)
• “Under Blackpool Lights” by the White Stripes (2004)
• “Advertising Space” by Robbie Williams (2005)- filmed at the Belle Vue Hotel and on the Promenade 
•  “Children in Need” (2006) The BBC’s charity night was filmed for a live gig hosted by Liberty X at the Opera House 
• The Nutcracker by The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (2007) 

Finally, many TV advertisements have used Blackpool as a backdrop:

• The RNLI (1999) filmed a cinema advertisement using the Blackpool lifeboat
• MacDonald’s (2004) - the burger chain filmed part of a TV advertisement in town
• O2 (2004) - the mobile phone company filmed an advert in Blackpool
• Zurich Bank (2004) filmed an advertisement in Blackpool and Lytham
• Renault Cars (2005) filmed part of their ad for their new Clio model in front of the Tower
• Churchill Insurance (2006) filmed in Blackpool and around the Fylde
• Irn-Bru’s “Goths” (2007) was filmed on the beach with views of the Tower

Anybody who knows of any more, please let me know