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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Charlotte Hadfield

Man who lives in Liverpool's TV Townhouse featured in BBC shows like Peaky Blinders and Gentleman Jack

A historic townhouse at the heart of Liverpool's Georgian Quarter has played host to the likes of Cillian Murphy and Suranne Jones.

Peter Woods has been welcoming film crews into his home on Rodney Street for over 20 years. During that time, the city centre property that takes back to the 1820s, has starred in a whole host of major productions from the Ipcress File to Peaky Blinders, Funny Girl and Gentleman Jack.

Speaking to the ECHO this week, Peter gave an insight into what it's really like to have a film crew set up inside your home and some of the stars he's welcomed through the doors over the years.

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Peter told the ECHO: "The first thing we ever did was a collaboration between the Australian broadcasting corporation and the BBC and it was called the Leading of Liverpool. I think that was the first one we did - it could have been 30 years ago."

After first providing the location for a BBC production about children sent to Australia in the 20th Century, offers started rolling in to use Peter's property including The Forsyte Saga and later Close to the Enemy.

Every production brings with it a different set of demands and starts with a visit from a location manager. At this point, Peter said the film company don't disclose what production they are looking to film and instead give vague details about it.

It can take months before a film company decides whether the property is suitable following different visits from directors, producers, camera crews and the arts department. The amount of money Peter receives for filming can range from £1,000 to £1,300 per day, depending on what's involved and how long the filming is taking place for.

Film companies sometimes offer to put Peter up in a hotel while they use his home, while other times he decides to stay put and live alongside them.

He said: "When they arrive they're always courteous, they always have a wonderful work ethos. They're always considerate of the householder. Sometimes they will offer you accommodation elsewhere in a hotel and sometimes it suits and sometimes it doesn't, and we just say we'll work around it."

Peter's home has starred in two series of Peaky Blinders as the house that Thomas Shelby buys for his sister Ada. While he's never played host to Tom Hardy, Peter has welcomed Cillian Murphy into his home for filming and even had a cup of coffee and a chat with him in his kitchen.

Peter said: "All the stars are lovely, they're always charming. We give them a room where they can chill out.

"Cillian Murphy was lovely when he came here from Peaky Blinders. He came in and he sat and talked to us. We might be in the kitchen and some of the stars say 'can we come and sit and have a coffee with you and chat with you?' The film companies are lovely.

"I remember in Peaky Blinders in one series a baby was being born in one of our rooms and there were lots of people outside in the hall. Inside we could hear screaming and all sorts of things.

"There was a man pacing up and down outside and I think I just took a fit of giggles. I thought it was so funny because I'd been in the room just beforehand and I saw the baby that was being delivered which was a ghastly rubber doll.

"I just thought of that and I couldn't stop laughing or giggling to myself - I couldn't laugh because we had to be silent.

"All stars are lovely, they're always charming. We give them a room where they can chill out. Cillian Murphy was lovely when he came here from Peaky Blinders.

"We might be in the kitchen and some of [the actors] say 'can we come and sit and have a coffee with you and chat with you?' The film companies are lovely."

Every time a film crew transforms the house for a production, they have to return it as they found it - and it's provided an opportunity for Peter to redecorate a lot. He admits filming can cause some disruption to your lives but said the film companies go out of their way to accommodate you during this time.

Peter said: "We've had two experiences where they wanted to wallpaper the house. On one occasion the wallpaper arrived and I saw the bill for it and the wallpaper alone was £3,500. It was beautiful wallpaper but unfortunately it was wallpaper that we would never have put up in our house in a million years.

"We've never had a film company in where we've come back and said the house isn't the same again. They have people afterwards who make sure you're happy with everything and they look after you."

In 2010, the property was used to promote Jacques Cider, who emptied the entire house of all of its contents and put them into storage. Peter said: "This was a wonderful gift to us to empty the house and we used the opportunity to paint all the rooms to put new carpets in some of them.

"It's something you never have when you've lived in the house a long time, where everything is paid to go into storage and you can empty rooms and sand the floors, when you've lived in the house a long time."

Peter's home is registered with Liverpool Film Office who he said have been fantastic over the years. It's yet to be seen what production the property will star in next, with recent series including the Ipcress File and Funny Girl.

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