It has been ‘lights, camera, action’ for the residents of St Andrews this week as filming for a major new TV crime drama starts in the historic Fife town.
Various specially selected locations will provide the backdrop for a new STV series based on Scottish crime writer Val McDermid’s best-selling Karen Pirie novels.
The Kirkcaldy-born author will see the latest of her characters come to life as a week of filming started on Monday for the new series commissioned by STV’s head of drama, Polly Hill.
Based on ‘A Distant Echo’, the first of McDermid’s novels in the series, it tells the tale of the young detective recently promoted to Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit.
Pirie is assigned to reopen the investigation of a young woman’s murder 25 years ago and while suspicion originally fell on the three male students who found the body, no one was ever charged.
The filming will take place at various locations primarily during the afternoon and evenings each day until May 11, with some filming continuing throughout the night.
Glasgow-based World Productions, the firm responsible for the filming, has written to residents and businesses advising them of its production itinerary and possible temporary road closures and restrictions that will be in place.
A number of key locations and streets, including St Andrews Cathedral, harbour, university, The Pends, Market Place and The Scores will be affected during filming.
Filming is great news for St Andrews
Overnight road closures will also be implemented at The Pends on May 5 and 6, while road traffic management will be in place at the cathedral will short delays halting traffic during filming sequences take place.
Author, Val McDermid, even used social media to give fans a hint that filming had started posting pictures onto her Twitter account of the road closure signs in St Andrews, asking her followers: “What on earth could be going on here?”
News of the filming had been welcomed by St Andrews councillor, Jane Ann Liston, who said the series would help further promote the town to a national audience.
“It’s great to have a major TV production set in the town which will give the wider public a sense of how good St Andrews looks.
“Hopefully that’ll act as a boost to tourism with more wanting to come and visit and enjoy St Andrews for themselves.
“It’s also nice to see St Andrews playing itself and not Broadstairs in Kent as the famous Chariots of Fire beach scene filmed on West Sands is supposed to be.”