Bristol to become Oxford in new Sky drama
New drama A Discovery of Witches airs on Sky 1 on the 14th of September and features several Bristol streets doubling for those of the city of dreaming spires.
The show is adapted from Deborah Harkness's All Souls triology and features Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey, The Crown) and Teresa Palmer (Hacksaw Ridge) in starring roles. It is set against the backdrop of Oxford University's academic life in a world where witches and daemons live among the general population.
Many Bristol students will be glad to see the beautiful streets of the city centre and College Green doubling as their first-choice city on screen.
Whilst most of the drama was shot in Oxford, South Wales and Venice, Bristol formed an important part of the shoot.
Support from Bristol Film office saw a large-scale crew of over 70 shoot at locations including Corn Street, the student haunt of the Highbury Vaults on St Michael's Hill. College Green and Bristol Cathedral both double for Oxford's streets.
Natalie Moore of Bristol Film Office says: “This is an incredibly exciting new production and we were very pleased that we were able to assist its locations team in finding the historic streets of central Bristol that were such a good fit for recreating the beautiful setting of Oxford.
Christ Church, Oxford, Where the story occurs. Photo by delfi de la Rua / Unsplash
"For high end dramas shooting in cities like Cardiff and Oxford, producers can be confident that the wealth of locations here in Bristol will be both convenient, located along the M4 corridor, as well as visually suitable to complement the rest of their shoot.”
Featured image: Sky One