Oldham is set to play another role in a big TV series following appearances on The Full Monty series and comedy Brassic in recent months.
Police procedural drama Ridley turned up at the Constantine Street Allotments in late September to film scenes for a planned second series.
The drama, which stars Adrian Dunbar in the titular role, was confirmed for a second series in June this year, according to reporting by the Radio Times.
The first series has previously filmed across Lancashire and the north.
Filming for other films and TV shows has been ramping up over the last year, with the borough making appearances in the Disney+ sequel series The Full Monty and Sky series Brassic, with one Lees petrol station even hosting Michelle Keegan and others for a full day of filming last month.
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Now, Constantine Street Allotments secretary Jackie Barker has revealed the second series is set to have scenes which were filmed at the allotment.
The 70-year-old runs the allotment alongside her husband Alfred, who is the chairman of the committee.
Jackie said: “Somebody from the film company rang me and asked if they could come up and have a look at the allotments because they wanted to shoot a scene in there, so I said ‘yeah’.
“The second time they came there was about four or five of them, and they all agreed they wanted to film on our allotment. After that we got a date for when they were coming and they just all turned up on the morning.”
Jackie, who has had a place at the allotment for 18 years, says she saw film crew, but didn’t see any actors as allotment users cleared out to leave the team to it – meaning they didn’t get any photos either.
She continued: “They didn’t want us walking all over the allotments, doing things while they were filming, so everybody just stayed away.”
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After a few bright days, crews were forced to film on the allotments in the rain, with big vans, catering vans, lighting vans and more spotted by the Greenacres Road resident.
She continued: “He said they were filming a scene where Adrian Dunbar, who’s Frank in Ridley, was in one of the sheds talking to someone and doing a bit of planting, things like that.”
Jackie said she thinks filming is a good thing for Oldham.
She added: “I’ve watched the first episode of season one. I’ve been that busy, but it seems good, it seems a good series. It’s one of those where you can just sit down and watch all the lot. I’ve just not had time; it does look good.
“I think it’s probably good for Oldham, really, because what else is there? Nothing. What can I say?”
ITV did not respond to a request for comment.
If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Oldham. Please email me at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.
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