Figures from Liverpool Film Office reveals the city played host to 324 different film and TV projects filming here, racking up 1,750 production days. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool is becoming an ever-more popular filming location for TV drama and movie-makers, new figure reveal.

Data from Liverpool Film Office, which is celebrating its 30th year, reveals the city played host to 324 different film and TV projects filming here, racking up 1,750 production days – 363 more days than 2018.

As a result, and estimated £17.6m has been brought in to the Liverpool city region economy – an increase of £1.5m on last year.

There has been an increasing trend in the number of high-end TV dramas coming to the city, so thanks to the likes of Sky Atlantic’s Tin Star, Netflix’s The Crown and The English Game, and BBC productions World on Fire and Years and Years, the region has seen a 12% climb – the most filmed here since records began.

Other productions filmed in the region in 2019 include Amazon Prime’s The Feed, Sky One’s COBRA, Netflix’s Irregulars and BBC One’s Moving On. As a result, Merseyside has been a temporary home to stars including Tim Roth, Ian Hart, Robert Carlyle, Russell Tovey and Genevieve O’Reilly.

Liverpool has also once again been a double for locations across the world, including New York in Das Boot, Madrid in Years and Years, London for Irregulars and Wales in The Snow Spider.

Familiar shows such as The One Show, The Greatest Dancer, The Real Housewives of Cheshire, Britain’s Got Talent, X Factor All Stars and The Voice have also filmed here this year. Latest figures also show local productions are also on the up, rising by 26%.

This year also saw the creation of the Liverpool City Region Production Fund – the first local authority supported fund of its kind in the UK for more than six years – which will attract more productions to the region, create jobs and boost the local economy.

To date, more than 48 expressions of interest have been received, with CBBC’s The Snow Spider being the first to receive support from the fund. Announcements around further projects which will receive funding will be announced in 2020.

Liverpool Film Office manager, Lynn Saunders, said: “What a way to celebrate our 30th anniversary with yet another record–breaking year. It has been an incredibly busy 2019 for the film office team – enquiries have increased tenfold and production levels across the entire Liverpool city region are booming.

“Interestingly, there has been a very small drop in the number of productions coming to Liverpool – 22 fewer than last year – however, we are attracting an increasing number of high-end dramas which spend more time filming here, which is not only an invaluable economic boost but also benefits us reputationally within the industry.”