Where is Pagford? – UK Filming Locations for the BBC television drama series The Casual Vacancy.
Where was The Casual Vacancy filmed and where is the story set?
As with J. K. Rowling’s book, on which this BBC TV series is based, the shows story takes place in the fictional English, West Country town of Pagford. Rowling herself was born in the South Gloucestershire town of Yate, so Pagford was almost certainly inspired by the Harry Potter writers local area.
The custom made village sign created for the town of Pagford. – Image Credit: BBC/Bronte Film and Television Ltd. Photographer: Steffan Hill
To recreate Pagford for BBC television audiences, producers chose a number of filming locations in Gloucestershire. These included the picturesque villages of Painswick, Northleach, Bisley and Minchinhampton.
Also used to film many of the series scenes was the town of Stroud, with crews making use of such venues as Stroud Police Station and Archway School.
Behind the scenes at filming of The Casual Vacancy: Director Jonny Campbell (centre) talks through a scene with Joe Hurst as Andrew ‘Arf’ Price (left) and Simona Brown as Gaia Bawden (right). In the background you can just make out the H. Mollison Delicatessen – Image Credit: BBC/Bronte Film and Television Ltd. Photographer: Steffan Hill
To get an idea of how much some of these buildings were cosmetically altered in preparation for the filming of the show, take a look below at Northleach as it appears using Google Street View.
Following something of a facelift, the building you see directly in front of you (The Old Woolhouse) was to become the site of Howard Mollison’s (Michael Gambon’s) deli. You can also use this page to explore the surrounding area, where much of The Casual Vacancy’s shooting took place:
The Casual Vacancy TV series cast sees Michael Gambon take on the role of Howard Mollison, Julia McKenzie as Shirley Mollison, Keeley Hawes as Samantha Mollison, Rory Kinnear as Barry Fairbrother and Rufus Jones as Miles Mollison.
Premiering in the UK at 9:00pm on Sunday 15 February 2015 on BBC One, The Casual Vacancy will broadcast over three 1-hour episodes.
