Fisherman’s Friends actors banned from singing in pub

IT IS a sad indictment of society when something as innocent as singing sea shanties in a pub is banned.

Yet when James Purefoy and fellow actors were relaxing in a London tavern after a hard day’s filming some months ago, they were asked to stop singing traditional folk songs because the pub was not authorised to have live music and the landlord risked losing his alcohol licence.

The irony is that those actors had been making a film based on the true story of the Fisherman’s Friends, the Cornish fishermen and their friends who received a million-pound record deal and chart-topping success after a holidaying executive heard them singing songs of the sea in their village pub.

Filmmakers told The Sunday Telegraph of their astonishment when some of the cast and crew, after filming scenes in south-west London, started singing in a Kensington pub – only to be asked to stop immediately.

James Purefoy, whose roles include Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome, said the pub was “worried over whether it’s going to get out of hand” even though there were only about 10 in the group.

Mark Davyd, head of the Music Venue Trust, a charity that represents UK venues, said: “Licensing laws are now more aggressive and more controlling. Not having the correct licence can involve fines, or a review of your entitlement to sell alcohol.”

Fisherman’s Friends is in cinemas from March 15 and stars James Purefoy, Daniel Mays, David Hayman and Tuppence Middleton.