This May marks the release of the highly anticipated Bridgerton prequel series, Queen Charlotte. But did you know that the Bath Film Office assisted in its production? Here, the Film Office team provide a behind the scenes peek: 

Bath and Bridgerton go hand in hand. The city has become synonymous with Netflix’s incredibly popular TV show, having provided street locations and ballroom locations to all the series made thus far. So it was only natural that the new spin-off series, Queen Charlotte, should also take advantage of Bath’s magnificent Georgian architecture. The Bath Film Office worked with the makers of Queen Charlotte for about three months prior to filming, which took place at some of the city’s most iconic locations.

Which locations were used?

The Royal Crescent

The largest and most impressive Georgian crescent in Bath. No.1 Royal Crescent has become the family home to the Featherington family in the Bridgerton TV series. This magnificent street was used once again to film for Queen Charlotte. 

We’re always looking for ways to minimise the impact of filming, and in this instance, the production shut just half the crescent, leaving the other half open to residents and for access to the hotel. The Royal Crescent is usually a no through road, but we arranged for bollards at one end to be temporarily removed so that vehicles could still access the portion of road not closed for filming. 

There’s actually very little 21st century street furniture such as street signs and bins in the Royal Crescent, but we arranged for what was there to be temporarily removed, so that it could be dressed to look as it would have done 200 years ago. We also arranged for streetlights to be turned off for filming at night.  

We arranged for the production to hire an area of Royal Victoria Park directly in front of the crescent, so they could place lights and green screens, crew dining and toilet facilities. One particularly large light on a crane was brought into the park to stand in for the moon! 

TV series and feature films come with large numbers of technical vehicles and crew cars. The vast majority of these are kept at what is known as a ‘unit base.' Unit bases are usually situated a little further outside of the city, with kit being dropped off at the filming location and the vehicles then being parked at the unit base. Cast and crew are ferried from unit bases to filming locations in a fleet of minibuses. We then arrange for parking to be suspended nearby a location, such as the Royal Crescent, for essential vehicles carrying equipment that needs to be accessed throughout the day.  

When not acting as a home to the Featheringtons, No. 1 Royal Crescent is a museum completely decorated in original Georgian furniture and fittings. Find out more here. 

The Holburne Museum

Image: The Holburne Museum in Bridgerton, credit Netflix 

The Holburne Museum, which stars as Lady Danbury’s house in Bridgerton, was also used as a location in the Queen Charlotte series. We know from the trailers that the new show takes their friendship back to when they were young women.

We arranged access for horse boxes to Sydney Gardens, so that the horses could be kept close by, and for other essential tech vehicles to be parked in the gardens. We also facilitated the partial closure of Sydney Place, so that horse and carriages could be filmed entering through the gates and pulling up outside the Holburne. 

The Holburne started life as the Sydney Hotel, set within Georgian pleasure gardens. It became a fine art museum in 1916, housing collections bequeathed by Sir Thomas William Holburne. The museum continues to be open to the general public. Find out more here. 

Sydney Place

Image: Sydney Place, credit Bath Film Office 

Sydney Place holds some of the largest and most beautiful terraced Georgian houses in Bath. The real Queen Charlotte actually stayed in 93 Sydney Place when she came ‘to take the waters’ in 1817. 

We organised for the street to be closed and used for a scene in the Queen Charlotte TV series. Residents also got in on the act, offering for their houses to be dressed and front doors used for filming.

The Assembly Rooms

 

Image: A still from Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, credit Netflix

The Tea Room in the Assembly Rooms was used to film the scene where Daphne and Simon first met at Lady Danbury’s ball in the first series of Bridgerton. This amazing original Georgian function room, complete with priceless chandeliers, was also used in Queen Charlotte. We liaised with the Council’s room hire team to arrange for filming to take place in the space. Who knows what exciting events will happen there this time!  

The Assembly Rooms are currently closed for redevelopment by the National Trust. Check the National Trust website for updates. 

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story will be released on Netflix on 4 May 2023. 

Find out more about Bath Film Office here.