The rugged coastline of Clevedon is to hit the small screen once again when it features in a major new Jane Austen adaptation.
Film crews are in the seaside resort today (March 22) filming for Sanditon - an eight-part adaptation of the novel by BAFTA-award winning screenwriter Andrew Davis.
Crews are filming on the seafront and around Marine Lake as well as the promenade and Wains Hill, areas which also featured heavily in the hit TV drama Broadchurch.
Access to part of the seafront is restricted with all public parking suspended at The Beach and at Alexandra Road by the pier.
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Crews are using Clevedon Pier as a base to film scenes on the beach, although the Grade-I listed landmark itself, it is understood, will not appear in the series. The pier remains open as normal.
The Salthouse Fields car park has been taken over entirely for the day by the film company with alternative parking at the Hawthorns car park.
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The car park will open again to the public at 9am tomorrow (March 23).
The arrival of the film crews in Clevedon for the new series has generated much excitement in the town, with people heading to the seafront to catch a glimpse of the stars in action.
Sanditon is Austen’s final, incomplete, novel written only months before her death in 1817.
Production company Red Planet chose to film in North Somerset due to it looking for coastal and seaside locations to recreate the fictitious resort of the eponymous title.
Other locations across North Somerset are also being used as locations for the series, including Sand Point and Uphill.
Red Planet location manager Dee Gregson said: "Many of these are seaside locations with stunning views, and some of the coastal cliff side locations have not been featured on screen before so add a visual freshness to the production."
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North Somerset has become a popular film location in recent years. The Victorian town was heavily featured in the hit TV series Broadchurch and Clevedon Pier was also used to film the music video for One Direction's hit You and I in March 2014.
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North Somerset Council executive member for tourism Councillor Felicity Baker said: “We have a great reputation for film-friendliness here in North Somerset and I am delighted we have been able to work with the production company to bring Jane Austen to North Somerset.
"Film tourism is great for our area as it showcases our rich natural and architectural assets in front of a huge audience and attracts people to visit filming locations.
"This is of significant benefit to the visitor economy.”
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On average 50 film shoots take place in North Somerset each year, including films, advertisements, music videos, reality TV, nature programmes and drama series.
And the popularity of the area as a filming location pumps millions into the local economy, with fans of the shows visiting the area.
Sanditon, which is also using Bristol's Bottleyard Studios as a base as well as other locations across the city, tells the story of the impulsive and unconventional Charlotte Heywood and her spiky relationship with the charming Sidney Parker.
The cast includes Rose Williams, Theo James, Anne Reid and Kris Marshall, who has links to Bristol, with Williams starring as Charlotte and Marshall as Tom Parker.
Adapted by acclaimed screenwriter Andrew Davies, the man behind War & Peace, Mr Selfridge, Les Misérables, Pride and Prejudice, Austen’s original 11-chapter fragment will be brought to life in a minute of eight hour-long episodes.
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