Film office Screen Suffolk has contract renewed for five years

A team set up to attract major film and TV productions to Suffolk has had its contract renewed for five years.

Movies such as The Dig and TV series including the BBC's Detectorists have been shot in the county since Screen Suffolk was set up in 2016.

The councils-funded organisation has recorded more than 1,000 days of filming in the county since then.

Film officer Rachel Aldridge said the local economic impact was huge, with films spending "about £13,000 per day".

The National Trust's Sutton Hoo saw its "busiest ever" month in 2021, after The Dig was released.

It told the story of the discoveries made at the Anglo-Saxon burial site, near Woodbridge, in 1939, and starred Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes.

Ms Aldridge said the "massive hit globally" attracted "a massive increase in numbers of tourists visiting the site".

The BBC series Detectorists returned to screens after a five-year break with a 2022 Christmas special.

Despite the show being set in the fictional Essex town of Danebury, it is filmed in Framlingham.

"That was one of the most popular Christmas specials last year, so it's really exciting to get the celebs here and get the county more well known," Ms Aldridge said.

Screen Suffolk acts as "a one stop shop for all thing screening" on behalf of Suffolk County Council, West Suffolk Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Babergh & Mid Suffolk Council and East Suffolk Council, according to Ms Aldridge.

"So if in anyone wants to film on a beach or close a road, that's where we step in," she explained.

"We'll liaise with highways and work really closely with the councils to make sure that when film crews come in, that it's an easier process for everyone."

Bury St Edmunds was transformed into Dickensian London for another large-scale production in 2018.

Award-winning The Personal History of David Copperfield was based on the classic novel by Charles Dickens and starred Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie.

Ms Aldridge said the impact of such productions on the county's economy was "huge".

"We estimate per filming on average it's about £13,000 per day in the county which is massive, so we really want to encourage film crews to come here."

The arrival of a film company in Kersey, near Ipswich, threw "a lifeline" to the village pub, forced to close due to the pandemic, according to its then landlady.

Its High Street was closed while it was the setting for the BritBox adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's bestselling novel Magpie Murders, starring Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan.

"It's just been announced it's going to be on the BBC in the spring, so everyone will be able to see how amazing Suffolk is on screen and it encourages people to visit the county which is good," said Ms Aldridge.

But she would not be drawn on which productions are currently filming in the county

"I'm always asked that - but we have to wait until they air, I'm so sorry," she said.

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