CITY STARS IN BENEDICT’S NEW DRAMA
Glasgow takes centre-stage for five-part series featuring A-list actor
GLASGOW is no stranger to stardom. In recent years it has graced our screens in a flurry of film and television shows from World War Z and T2 Trainspotting to Outlander, The Replacement and Rillington Place.
The l atest big budget production to use the city is new Sky Atlantic drama Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Glasgow serves as New York circa 1982 in the opening episode of the five-part series, based on the acclaimed novels by Edward St Aubyn, which will air this month.
Benedict, known for his roles in Sherlock and Avengers: Infinity War, plays troubled but charismatic playboy Patrick Melrose who travels to New York to collect his late father’s ashes.
The star-studded cast includes Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hugo Weaving, Blythe Danner, Allison Williams and Jessica Raine.
According to Lloret Dunn, supervising location manager for the scenes shot in Glasgow last autumn, the grand Victorian buildings and grid-style layout lends itself well to being cast as a US city.
Here are the key locations to look out for:
Cochrane Street
AS Patrick arrives in New York, there is a four-lane traffic jam of yellow cabs and other vehicles along the busy thoroughfare.
Bothwell Street
THE Scottish Legal Life Assurance Society building at 95 Bothwell Street became the exterior for the sumptuous five-star Drake Hotel where Patrick stays in Manhattan.
Nor is it the only spot on Bothwell Street that features in the show.
“The building across the road at 100 Bothwell Street appears in a later episode,” reveals Lloret. “Patrick’s money has run out by that point and he is staying at a budget Midtown hotel.”
St Vincent Street
THE funeral home where Patrick collects his father’s ashes was the exterior of 149 St Vincent Street. Two other locations were used nearby.
“One was outside Lloyds Bank and it was simply a shot of Patrick walking along the street in a high wind,” says Lloret. “In another scene, he goes into a gentleman’s club. The interior was shot in London, but the exterior was 200 St Vincent Street.”
The Barras
THE areas around Moncur Street, Kent Street and Suffolk Street were
transformed into a New York meat market. “Margaret McIver Limited, the organisation which runs the Barras, were so welcoming,” says Lloret. “The closure for filming was mid-week, so it didn’t affect the market.
“Big racks of meat and carcasses were brought in and we had to make the place look dreadful with piles of rubbish everywhere. In fact, there was so much rubbish that the clear up afterwards took us an entire day.”
Rogano
WHILE Glasgow was used largely for exteriors, the Rogano restaurant with its
‘‘ We had to make the place look dreadful with piles of rubbish everywhere
ocean liner-inspired decor took centre stage as Patrick decadently wines and dines.
“About a month or so before filming began, the production team were still struggling to find something they liked down south,” says Lloret. Director Edward Berger had eaten at Rogano during an earlier recce. “He loved the place,” she adds.
West George Lane
PATRICK strides along with a carrier bag containing his late father’s ashes.
Sauchiehall Lane
FILMED on the stretch between Hope Street and Wellington Street, Patrick and Marianne – played by Girls star Allison Williams – emerge from an Armenian restaurant.
Hogarth Park
THIS East End park features as Patrick meets drug dealers beneath a graffitied bridge. Lloret says: “We sent in an industrial team to sweep the area for glass, needles or anything sharp, then the art department put ‘clean rubbish’ in its place for filming.”
The first episode of Patrick Melrose will be available from Sunday, May 13 exclusively on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW TV.