Fans of the new ITV crime drama Wild Bill will soon be able to follow a tour of Boston borough locations used for filming.
The first episode screened last night to much acclaim, and residents keenly spotted some of the local spots used in the opening scenes – Boston Stump (of course), aerial shots of the town landscape, the sessions house (turned into a school for the episode), Dolphin Lane, West Street, Tunnard Street, High Street, the town bridge, the Market Place, Antons Gowt, Freiston Shore, Butterwick and Bicker Fen.
Cllr Nigel Welton, Boston Borough Council’s portfolio holder for tourism, arts, culture and heritage, said: “I think we were all a little anxious about how Boston might be portrayed, but I thought it was brilliant. Everyone this morning is talking about Boston – you can’t buy that sort of national publicity.
“I loved the opening scene as Wild Bill arrived in this country and declared to his daughter that they were going to Boston, the original Boston and probably the best, and said that’s where the Pilgrims came from.
“The landscape is clearly an important part of the story and we are looking forward to how that is developed. We will be doing all we can to capitalise on the series and are already working on a tour guide for the filmed locations.
“It has to be borne in mind that this is a crime drama, with humour, and not meant to hold a mirror up to Boston. So I can forgive the accents and the reference to Boston being the UK’s murder capital. That is old news and has been shown to be a mischievous manipulation of statistics. Mind you, Wild Bill put that into perspective when he said Miami had 150 homicides.
“So far as the council is concerned, what’s not to like? It’s putting us on the map, there’s five more episodes to go and Rob Lowe has said he wants to come back here to make a second series. Apart from the publicity we receive there’s also a boost to the local economy while the film crews and actors are in residence. As Wild Bill says… yee-hah!”
BBC Look North has been in Boston today filming for local reaction to Wild Bill. See more from Boston on the TV tonight, BBC1 Look North at 6.30pm.
Pictured courtesy of ITV