Written by on Dec 20, 2013. Posted in On Location

Factual BBC drama Castles In The Sky films in Edinburgh with Eddie Izzard

British comedian and actor Eddie Izzard filmed on location in and around Edinburgh for the BBC’s new factual drama Castles In The Sky. The production tells the story of Scotsman Robert Watson-Watt and his struggle to invent RADAR technology in the build-up to World War II.

“I feel very privileged to be playing the role of Robert Watson-Watt,” Izzard commented: “Hopefully our production will allow him, along with Arnold ‘Skip’ Wilkins and their team, to finally take their places in the pantheon of British greats of World War II, as the inventors of RADAR.”

Scotland’s production profile has been on the rise in recent years. Brad Pitt’s zombie drama World War Z turned Glasgow into Philadelphia for a lengthy location shoot and more recently Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth visited for true-life story The Railway Man. Dexter Fletcher directed musical Sunshine on Leith in Edinburgh, while Jonathan Glazer directed Scarlett Johansson in alien drama Under the Skin.

Studio availability is one of the main challenges currently facing Scotland, as the country has nothing on the scale of Pinewood Studios, Elstree Studios or Warner Bros Studios at Leavesden. Major time-travelling miniseries Outlander is currently filming on location near Glasgow, but had to retrofit existing industrial premises to get the production space it needed.

The production tells the story of Scotsman Robert Watson-Watt and his struggle to invent RADAR technology in the build-up to World War II.

The Scottish government is currently working on a feasibility study exploring potential sites for a purpose-built studio facility.

Studio space is an issue even in London, where additional industrial buildings have been made available to satisfy demand from international productions.

Castles In The Sky will air in 2014.

(Main page photo: Mactographer)