Bridgend becomes Holby City
PASSERS-BY may have believed a new restaurant had opened in the centre of Bridgend when a new facade was erected and work was seen taking place at ‘Antonio’s’.
But it wasn’t actually a new culinary hotspot but rather a film set – with the BBC using it as a location for an episode of Casualty.
Access to Dunraven Place was restricted earlier this week as the long-running drama series created a base in the town.
The shoot saw a former bistro turned into a fake restaurant named
Antonio’s, with a Holby address visible on the right-hand side of the sign.
It created a buzz of excitement from a few people in the area on social media who were surprised to see the unusual addition to Bridgend’s town centre.
A spokesman for Bridgend council said: “BBC are filming a future episode of Casualty and have set up a fake shopfront in Bridgend town centre.”
The filming took place between April 8 and 12.
The spokesman added: “It follows the likes of the 2018 Hugh Grant show A Very English Scandal, which saw parts of the town centre transformed into 1870s Dublin.
“Numerous council departments have been involved in organising the filming alongside the BBC including highways, regeneration, the town centre manager, parking, communications, corporate landlord, and the customer and community support unit (our CCTV team).
“Temporary stop-and-go traffic management has been used to accommodate the filming of ambulances arriving at the scene and the immediate pedestrian area around the fake shopfront was cordoned off to facilitate the production.
“Alternative access routes have been kept in place and local businesses have been kept fully informed/agreed to the filming, which has not affected their own trade.”
The arrangement appears to have confused some people including one who wrote on social media, that another restaurant had opened before correcting himself.
He initially wrote: “Another new restaurant opening in Bridgend. Oddly, given the price on eating out these days, hospitality appears to be thriving.”
He later added: “Confirmed with the security guard today.
“Not a real restaurant... a set for filming Casualty. You can see the Holby address if you zoom in. In Bridgend!”