York is not only one of the stars of a major new TV series – it could help sell the show around the world.
That’s the verdict of Matt Baker, writer of Patience, a six-part police crime drama set in York.
He was speaking at the premiere of the show, held at City Screen last night (Thursday).
Matt was joined at the launch party by the stars and director of Patience and an invited audience.
The show is centred around Patience Evans, a young autistic woman who works in the police records office. Her puzzle-solving skills help DI Bea Metcalf and her team solve some baffling crimes.
The series was shot on location in York and Belgium. Although all the action is set in the city, some of the indoor scenes – including at an enormous ‘City Of York Police’ station – were filmed in Antwerp.
York residents who watched the show being filmed last summer will enjoy spotting all the different locations featured in the show.
There are any number of drone shots showing the likes of Lendal Bridge and the Minster, some of which feature in the title sequence.
And Patience herself lives with her godfather in a house which appears to be located on Precentors Court near the Minster. OK for some…
Selling the city globally
Writer Matt, who was brought up in Pocklington, said he was delighted that makers Eagle Eye wanted to set the show – adapted from a French drama – in York.
“York is this incredible city, millions of people visit every year. It’s got this incredible iconography,” he said. “It’s got the Minster it’s got the walls, it’s got Clifford’s Tower, it’s got the Shambles.
“And yet it’s strangely underrepresented on screen.”
He said York was perfect for the show with its theme of puzzles, because “the centre of York itself is a little bit like a puzzle, with Whip-ma-Whop-ma-Gate and all the snickets and tiny little cut-throughs – it’s like a maze”.
York could also help to sell the series abroad, Matt said. “It’s had money from Channel 4, who’ve been hugely supportive. But it’s also got money from America, it’s got money from Germany and other places.
“And British heritage and culture, which York beautifully exemplifies, is something that very strongly helps sell British television programmes overseas.”
Fully-rounded
Leaving aside the rather fabulous location, the good news is that Patience is a rattlingly good crime drama, at least judging by episode one.
At its heart is a nuanced performance by Ella Maisy Purvis as Patience.
As well as being autistic, Patience has hyperlexia, meaning she has an incredible visual and auditory memory and can take in information at speed.
Data-driven and fascinated by process and order, but also somewhat socially awkward, she’s extremely sensitive to external stimuli, including smells, light and sound, and she struggles to read signals and body language and make friends.
Members of the audience at the premiere with autism said the show’s depiction of people with the condition was the best they’d seen on screen.
Ella herself is autistic. “I think sometimes autistic characters can be portrayed as incapable of feeling things like love or romance, and within the script I could see there were hints of this connection Patience had with one of the characters,” she said.
“I really wanted to lean into that more and Matt was totally on board. It meant we got to have this really lovely moment later on in the story between these characters, and we get to see Patience as a fully rounded character who’s treated like an adult rather than being infantilised.”
She became a big fan of York. “York was just magical. Walking through the Shambles at around 3 or 4 o’clock felt like you were in some sort of Victorian film.
“I couldn’t get over how much the whole place felt like a movie set, yet this was just where people actually lived.
“I have to admit, I’m quite prone to falling down and I’m a little clumsy – so trying to tackle those cobbles in a pair of loafers was a nightmare! But so worth it for that scenery.”
Ella was joined by fellow cast members Nathan Welsh, who plays DS Jake Hunter, and Connor Curren, who plays Ella’s friend and leader of the Autistic Adults support group Billy Thompson.
There’s a lot of humour in the show. Ella told YorkMix: “What was fantastic was that none of the jokes were at Patience’s expense.”
Connor added: “What I love about it is no one’s playing humour. Everyone’s playing it dead straight. And that’s where the funny things come from.”
“Autistic people are very blunt,” Ella added. “I say things and people laugh, and I’m like, What’s so funny about it? I’m being I’m being deadly serious.”
Nathan told YorkMix what were the best and worst things about filming in York. “The best thing for me was going for runs along the river. That was my favourite thing. The worst thing was it’s a little bit colder than the South!”
- Patience will be broadcast on Channel 4 in the New Year