A guest blog post from actor and London Walker Ian Grieve who stars as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in tomorrow night's Channel 4 drama Coalition. Here he guides us through some of the locations used in the filming…
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| Ian in Downing Street |
It is a message
I keep on my phone to this day.
You are needed in Downing Street the day after
tomorrow.
How many people
have a message like that? When I read it I can pretend that I am one of a whole
host of glamorous characters, fantasizing to an extent that would make Walter
Mitty withdraw from the room with a terminal case of actuality.
No matter which
adventurous character I use as an avatar in my dreams, none of them resembles
our former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
It is a very
sobering thing to be told you would be good casting for Gordon Brown. I had
still managed to exist under the illusion that I could play Heathcliffe in the next
remake of Wuthering Heights.
But for a few
weeks last year, and in the eyes of the nation when they watch Coalition on
Channel 4 at 9pm on Saturday night, I AM Gordon Brown.
I turned up at
Downing Street well before the appointed hour. And as I drank my coffee and
looked around trying to not look like some sort of suspicious Scottish
lingerer, I considered the small area of London, within which so much is
contained. Last time I was in this part of London I was with London Walks and
they told me all about Wellington’s nose on Admiralty Arch – yes it’s there,
spend an afternoon looking for it – hours of fun for the family. (Or better
yet, join a London Walk!)
I had no idea
how many of the buildings our film would actually utilize in the immediate
area. Within a week I would be running about around the corner with Mark Gatiss
(who plays Peter Mandelson), stealthily exiting the Ministry of Defence and
diving into a waiting blue Jaguar. Except we had to pretend we were doing that
because we weren’t actually allowed to step onto MOD territory or they would
have shot us. Or tazered us at the very least. I'm happy to suffer for my art,
but I draw the line at tazering.
There were two particularly remarkable locations in Coalition. At the Treasury we filmed in the rotunda, one of
two places where all three party leaders met in the run-up to the forming of
our current coalition government. An incredible place, not usually open to the
public and a privilege to visit. The marks I had to stand on to find my position
for the camera were red, Mark Dexter as David Cameron had blue marks and Nick
Clegg's (Bertie Carvel) marks were yellow. Nice touch.
(The Treasury featured on an earlier D.C blog post as part of our Cartoon and Comic Book Tour of London.)
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| Mark Dexter (David Cameron), Bertie Carvel (Nick Clegg) and your correspondent Ian Grieve (Gordon Brown) |
Then of course
there is Downing Street. It is one of the highlights of my career to have had
the chance to be filmed making a speech outside Downing Street, in front of
that famous door…
Except it wasn't
THAT famous door.
But who cares –
it LOOKS like I’m outside Downing Street. It seems to be a well known industry
fact that if you want to film outside the prime minister's house then you need
to go to John Adam Street WC2 just off The Strand. It's used as a Number 10 double
all the time.
Yes we did go to
Downing Street on that first day (see pic at the top of this post). It is an amazing place. The first thing that
struck me after we made it through security was that Downing Street is exactly
like the houses The Beatles walk into in the film Help! It doesn’t matter which
door you walk through it is all one big interconnected building. If you want to
know what it’s like inside the door at Number 10, then watch the beginning of
the film Love Actually when Hugh Grant drives up outside in his blue Jag and
walks in the front door – all one shot – and definitely the actual location.
Now how did they wangle that?
It's quite a
week for me. On Saturday night I get to be the Prime Minister. And today I'm
being an honorary London Walks guide, leading you on a tour of the filming locations for
Coaliton.
If you want to know
more about the intriguing and truly magical stories that are the fabric of London
then you know where to go – join a London Walk. I do. Every time I am in London.
Daily
Constitutional Editor Adam adds…
Thanks Ian!
We're all looking forward to the film. Coalition is on Channel 4 at 9pm on
Saturday 28th March. Visit the Channel 4 website HERE.
Here's the trailer…
To whet the
appetite for all things political, why not catch up with out London Walks
Podcast on Political London featuring a piece by House of Commons insider,
award-winning Blue Badge Guide and Daily Constitutional Associate Editor Kim
Dewdney…
A London Walk costs £10 – £8 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com.
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