Our town is being reborn thanks to a steamy Jilly Cooper romance starring Emily Atack being filmed at pub – we love it
RESIDENTS say their town is being reborn thanks to the filming of a steamy Jilly Cooper romance starring Emily Atack.
The actress, 33, is set to appear in a new Disney+ series adapted from the best-selling author's romp-fuelled novel The Rivals.
And the new drama is being filmed in a former pub in Wraxall, Somerset, leaving locals buzzing with excitement.
Famous faces including David Tennant, Danny Dyer, Aidan Turner and Alex Hassell have been seen at The Battleaxes where the TV adaptation is being shot.
The building was formerly a pub, but it closed at the start of lockdown in 2020 and was put into administration by then-owners Country Pub Group five months later.
The former pub, originally built in 1881 as a temperance house by the widow of a wealthy merchant so workers would have somewhere to meet without boozing, has been largely unused for the past three years.
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Delivery driver Geoff Evans, 44, who lives in a flat behind the former pub, said: "It caused a lot of gossip in the village, guessing who might be coming on the fleet of cars and buses coming here.
"This afternoon I noticed someone arrived in a big black limo, and someone held an umbrella over him when he stepped out.
"He must have been someone important, but I don't know who it was.
"My place backs on to the Battleaxe building, but the fence is a bit too high for me to see much more than the top of a double decker bus they use as a canteen."
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Another resident and carer Tracey Lewton, 42, said: "It's brilliant. We’re all really thrilled to have a film crew here.
"As soon as I heard they were going to be at The Battleaxes, I started looking up the actors online who were going to be in it.
"I was completely blown away that so many big stars are here in our little village filming. I'm beside myself with excitement.
“When I spotted that David Tenant is starring in it, I realised it must be pretty good, or he wouldn't have accepted the part.
"When I looked further, I saw there are loads of other big stars in it too, like Emily Atack, Aidan Turner from Poldark and Catherine Parkinson, I'm just totally thrilled that they are here in our village.
"Having this going on in our village will breath new life into the place. It's brilliant.
"Just before lockdown, the previous owners spent a lot on the old pub, so it's great that it's not gone to waste.”
The drama is set in the mid-1980’s in the fictional county of Rutshire in the Cotswolds and follows the lives of rich media executives vying for the franchise of the local television station.
Within the story, staff and friends of the television franchise meet to socialise and network in a local Rutshire restaurant, aka The Battleaxes.
Builder Les Turner, 57, said: "I've been here all week working on doing up some of the flats behind the Battleaxe pub.
"I started on the third floor and when I looked out of the window overlooking the pub car park I saw all sorts of activity going on at the pub.
"There were loads of technicians’ vans and then some double decker buses turned up. They’ve filled the car park.
"Then they put up special lighting rigs, it's all been very fascinating.
"There's nothing this exciting going on where I live in Weston Super Mare.”
'REBORN'
Local resident Lucy Farrar, 30, who was with her eight-month-old baby son, Jack, said: "It's brilliant to have a film crew working on your doorstep - it’s just so exciting.
"I haven't read Jilly Cooper's book, but she always writes something a bit sexy doesn't she?
"Perhaps I should pop up to see them and see if they need baby Jack as an extra in some of the scenes?
"We moved here three years ago just as we had lockdown and they shut the pub, but now it looks like it's going to be reborn again."
One local, Jessica Valentine, 44, said she was very familiar with seeing stars on a daily basis.
She said: ”I used to live in LA and worked in films, but no way did I ever expect the film industry to follow me here.
"Before the film crew arrived we all had a letter explaining what was going on. It’s all been very well organised as you might expect.
"It's great that the disused pub has been put to good use as part of an exciting new TV series. Everyone in and around Wraxall has been very excited.
"After they go, there are plans for the place to be renovated and I believe those plans will include a farm shop, a cafe and a bar."
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Filming crews are expected to be based at the pub until September this year.
The Sun previously revealed that Emily's character will be stripping off for some very X-rated sex scenes.
