Camera crews descended on New Brighton as filming took place on the promenade
Camera crews descended on New Brighton as filming took place on the promenade
A huge star was spotted in Merseyside for an upcoming film. Film crews descended on New Brighton this week for a new comedy film set in Merseyside. Love Actually star Bill Nighy was spotted on set as he admired the view of the city in between takes.
The 76-year-old is an award-winning actor known for his work on the stage and screen. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre and has gone on to land a long list of successful film and TV credits.
He shot to international fame for his role in the 2003 Christmas classic film Love Actually. He starred as the hilarious Billy Mack which earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Some of his other well-known film credits include About Time, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Nighy is currently back in Merseyside filming for an up and coming film. The film, which is called “A Town in Nova Scotia” is described as a “subtle comedy” set in Merseyside and is being produced by The Fold and Paradise City, on behalf of the BBC and BFI.
The film is based around an Irishman man in his 70s called Leon who lives in a Merseyside council flat.
Filming has been taking place this week on Caithness Drive in Wallasey as well as on the promenade. People who live in the area were made aware of the disruption, with many heading down to watch filming take place.
Blogger Mike Bennett, who goes by the name of “The Wandering Chef UK ” on social media made use of the exciting opportunity and he headed to the promenade to catch the filming process earlier this week. He shared some snaps of Bill Nighy on set posted on his Facebook page.
The blogger from Wirral spoke to the ECHO about chatting to the cast and crew on set. He said: “Sea Quinn Views were hosting the crew and Bill Nighy had the annexe as his dressing room.”
He added: “The crew were really nice and they bought bottles of wine for people in the area as a thank you for the disruption.”
He also got the chance to see Bill Nighy, who remained professional throughout the day. But when filming stopped, he was happy to speak to anyone who had stayed to watch the filming.
The Wandering Chef UK told the ECHO: “Everyone in the area was excited to see Bill. He mainly kept himself to himself, but when he stopped doing the scene on the prom, people did go over to say hello to him and he was chatty. He was waving to people on the beach as well.”
He added: “He stayed professional during the scenes but I thought he was lovely and as soon as the camera stopped he said hello to people.”
The social media blogger also spotted Bill Nighy admiring the views of Liverpool city centre as the actor stopped to take some photos across the water.
He said: “Bill loved the view from New Brighton to Liverpool, he was taking pictures of Liverpool city centre and really took a shine to the view.”
The blogger often visits film and TV sets around Merseyside and feels “honoured” that the area is being represented on screen.
In September last year, Merseyside was transformed into a DC universe for the filming of Clayface.
He said “it’s an honour to have them” as he spoke about the exciting film crews which have descended on Merseyside over the last 12 months.
He added: “My followers are mainly older people and they love to see that New Brighton is getting used for TV. We had Clayface here as well so there’s been amazing things filmed on the promenade.”
2025 was another year that showed off Liverpool’s growing status as a hub for film and television production. The city has been the backdrop of a variety of Hollywood films and hit TV shows over the years.
Some of the biggest stars in the world have filmed productions here. The city was also used as a backdrop for locations such as 19th-century Ireland for the hit Netflix show House of Guinness.
Merseyside was also at the front and centre of the storytelling in shows set in the region, such as the smash hit BBC show This City Is Ours and the much-loved ITV comedy G’wed.
Fortunately 2026 looks like it will be just as busy, as film crews have been dotted all over the area.
