NEWS

Cathedral to feature in Elizabeth sequel

Ely Cathedral.

27 April 2006 08:30

The splendour of Ely Cathedral has long attracted millions of visitors to the Cambridgeshire city.

Now film crews and Hollywood actors are heading to the Ship of the Fens to shoot the sequel to the lavish costume drama, Elizabeth.

The cathedral's Lady Chapel and nave will play a leading role as the stunning backdrop in The Golden Age, which will see Cate Blanchett reprise her Oscar-winning role as the steely monarch from the 1998 movie.

British-based Working Title Films, which brought Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bridget Jones to the big screen, will move into the city from May 8 and set up dressing rooms, offices and equipment for nine days of filming.

The Cross Green and East Lawn are expected to become a hive of activity as director Shekhar Kapur, who took the helm for the original movie, puts the finishing touches to his chosen scenes before the cameras roll later in the month.

The crew has even had to get permission from Cambridgeshire highway bosses to remove road signs in the adjoining historic street The Gallery - just to allow safe passage for its massive trucks to pull on to land around the cathedral.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for both the cathedral and the city of Ely,” said Stephen Wilkner, the cathedral bursar.

“We have had a number of meetings with the directors, producers and members of the crew and they are all highly respectful of the cathedral, the building, its spirituality and the fact that it is, first and foremost, a Christian place of worship.”

The sequel, set in the late 16th century, picks up events 15 years on from the original and follows the queen's tempestuous relationship with the fateful Mary Queen of Scots, played by Samantha Morton.

The historical thriller climaxes on the eve of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, with Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh in the thick of the action, along with Geoffrey Rush, who returns as spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham.

And East Cambridgeshire District councillor Michael Allan will star in some of the opening scenes as a Spanish Cardinal after being picked as an extra when the film company held open castings in Ely earlier this month.

Ely Cathedral will be captured on celluloid from May 24 to June 2, with the nave closed to the public on May 24, 29 and 30.

When contacted by the EDP, Working Title Films said it would not release any further details of The Golden Age and could not comment on whether its main stars would actually be on location in Ely.

Other historical buildings used in the film include St John's College in Cambridge and Winchester and Wells Cathedrals, with Shepperton Studios in Middlesex hosting additional shots.

An East Cambridgeshire council spokesman said: “We have given the film crew every assistance. “We see it as a wonderful opportunity for worldwide advertising for Ely.”

The news comes the same month it was revealed Norwich was among the locations chosen for a film tipped to be the blockbuster of the year.

Scenes from Stormhold, an epic grown-up fairy tale starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Sienna Miller, will be shot in the city's Elm Hill.

Producers plan to change the street into a fantastical walled city, complete with an unfamiliar flint archway, differently painted houses, background fairy castle turrets, snow in the middle of summer, market stalls and a gipsy caravan.

And Ely has attracted film studios before - Donald Sutherland and Al Pacino were on location for Revolution in 1985, which was also shot in King's Lynn.

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