Oscar winner among stars filming thriller in city
AN extravagant film set that has been built in Bristol is for a major new production featuring globallyrenowned actors.
Redcliffe Wharf is set to welcome a mixed-use development in the coming years after planning permission was granted in 2017, but for now, it has been transformed into a colourful mock village featuring flags, banners, marquee stalls and shipping containers.
The set is for a new Channel 4 drama called The Undeclared War, from the same team that produced Golden Globe-winning BBC drama Wolf Hall, including Oscar-winner Mark Rylance.
Rylance will feature in this new six-parter alongside Simon Pegg, one of Britain’s best-loved comedic actors following his performances in Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, Star Trek and more.
Entertainment website Deadline reports that other cast members include Adrian Lester (Riviera), Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Alex Jennings (The Crown), and newcomer Hannah Khalique-Brown.
The Undeclared War is set in 2024 against the backdrop of an upcoming British general election involving the UK’s first Black Conservative prime minister.
The series follows a leading team of analysts at the heart of GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) as they attempt to fend off a cyber-attack on the country’s electoral system.
Pegg stars as Danny Patrick, the agency’s head of operations, while
Rylance plays GCHQ veteran John Yeabsley, who is brought back into the fold to support former colleagues in combatting the heightened threat level.
Rylance features in the drama having earned an Oscar for his role in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge Of Spies.
The series is written and directed by seven-time Bafta winner Peter Kosminsky, who has been researching it for the past three years, gaining access to intelligence experts in the UK and America.
Channel 4 head of drama Caroline Hollick described The Undeclared War as a “truly momentous series,” while Lisa Katz, president of scripted content at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said it will “keep viewers at the edge of their seat”.
Kominsky said: “The series is based deep within the least-known arm of the UK’s intelligence infrastructure, GCHQ. The story we’re now able to tell casts an extraordinary, revelatory light on the hot, undeclared war taking place right now in the world’s newest and most invisible domain of conflict – cyber.”