STREET IS STELLA PLACE TO LIVE
Residents reveal what it’s like when hit television series is being filmed
T V FAVOURITE Stella has begun filming its new season in the Rhondda – but what does that mean for the people who live in fictional Pontyberry?
The small town of Ferndale will be transformed into a TV set over the coming months, with famous faces like Ruth Jones and Di Botcher wandering the terraced streets.
The popular show will return to screens later this year when the sixth series airs. Elm Street in Ferndale is one of the stars of the show – taking centre stage, as it were, with res residents’ homes taken over by film crews.c This week saw the streetstree once again play host to actors,actors cameras and trailers. Residents on Elm StreetStre say the Stella team roll up th three to four times a month from around April to Septemb September. There is usually secu security at the end of the streets, tr trailers, lorries carrying equipmen equipment, sets being adjusted and decora decorated. Jade Lewis, 28, from Ferndale,Fer lives in the street with her three children: two boys aged nin nine and five, and a three-year-old daughd ter – who all get excitede when the cast an and crew come to town. She’s lived there for five and a half years – and didn’t know it wasw the street where Stella was filmed until after she’d unpackedunpa her bags.b “I think I sawsa it in theth paperp ,” shesh revealed.v Her homeh actuala ly doublesble up as the home of Aunty Brenda, which is just opposite Stella’s.
“They decorate it how they want it. They put everything back.
“People stand in front and take photos all the time. It’s been really good.
“We have a lot of tourists, even when they are not filming, through the year.
“There was a couple over from America not long ago, and there was a few Chinese people who had come down and they lived in London.
“I never thought I’d see tourists! A lot of people from Wales have come, mostly when it’s bank holidays or Whitsun.”
It takes an hour for Jade’s home to be turned into Aunty Brenda’s – for the team to bring in photographs, move a computer into the lounge area and move the dining room area to the centre of the downstairs room.
But she said her home is always as she left it when she returns.
“They sort everything. They are great like that.
“If I didn’t like the colours, they said they’d come back and change it, every series.”
Describing Ruth Jones as “lovely”, Jade said she is a big fan of the show.
Asked if Ferndale was anything like Pontyberry, she added: “Everyone knows everyone and families are close. My nan lives up the street.”
Emma Aniekwe, who also lives in the street, said the show was good for the area but there were day-to-day disruptions during filming, like parking issues.
“It’s good,” she said. “People come down and watch it, people know Stella is on. “It gets us on the map.” Davina Seaman, 45, also lives in the street and welcomes the cast and crew with open arms. She’s lived in the street for 13 years.
“They are lovely down there,” she said.
“I’ve always welcomed Stella. We’re never stopped coming in and out of the houses.
“We don’t have no nonsense, they are really nice people. “There’s been tourists down there!” Davina said they’ve had people visit the street from Australia, as well as America and China. “It’s something lovely to have.” Series six of Stella will air later this year on Sky One.