Behind the scenes with BBC Three’s Boarders in Bristol

A brand-new series of hit comedy-drama Boarders arrives on BBC iPlayer and BBC Three tomorrow…

The show is back on the Beeb after filming last year at The Bottle Yard Studios and on location in Bristol with support from the city’s Film Office.

Madeleine Sinclair, Studio Lambert Creative Director for Scripted and Executive Producer for Boarders:

“The Studios and Film Office were very accommodating and helped facilitate the shoot in every way possible. We spent eight weeks in the school and four on location. As well as filming on studio sets, we also used locations around The Bottle Yard site which were really useful for other settings. Bristol is an incredible place to film, and we were very pleased to engage with the skills work at the Studio to bring forward local crew talent. We always try to offer as many local opportunities as possible.”

Created and written by the BAFTA-nominated Daniel Lawrence Taylor, who also co-stars in the series as Gus, Boarders is produced by Studio Lambert and following a successful shoot for series one in 2023, the producers returned to Bristol to film series two over 12 weeks in Summer 2024.

Boarders, filming on Kings Road, Bristol / courtesy of Studio Lambert/BBC

Interior sets for the characters’ London homes were built at The Bottle Yard Studios, whilst the main location was the same Bristol school that featured in series one. Bristol Film Office assisted with additional locations including King’s Road in Clifton – where a bustling Lewisham market street was created where the five Boarders gather to take the taxi to start their new term at St Gilbert’s at the beginning of the new series – and Dove Street estate in Kingsdown, which served as the urban backdrop for Jaheim’s home neighbourhood.

Further afield, filming also took place on location at Berwick Lodge on the outskirts of Bristol, Ammerdown House and Brean Theme Park in Somerset, Badminton House Grounds and Badminton village in Gloucestershire and ‘The Road to Nowhere’ in Yate, South Gloucestershire.

Around 90 people worked on the show per day, and over 70% of the crew were local to the region. The team hosted trainees in nearly every production department and also engaged locally with the Workforce Development Programme delivered at The Bottle Yard Studios, giving work experience to local trainee Sophie in the art department. Bristol company Latent Pictures, which works with underrepresented filmmakers, once again produced ‘behind the scenes’ footage for the series, after working with Studio Lambert on series one.

Boarders, filming at school location, Bristol / courtesy of Studio Lambert/BBC

Boarders one of the sets at The Bottle Yard Studios / BYS/BBC

Laura Aviles, Head of Film, Bristol City Council:

“Productions like Boarders are so important to Bristol’s film sector, contributing towards an industry that last year generated more than £30m to Bristol’s economy. By engaging with our regional work to broaden opportunities to new talent, Studio Lambert’s approach is helping bring positive benefit to early-stage talent on both sides of the camera, and we were so pleased to see that local contribution celebrated at the sold out RTS West of England preview of series 2 at the Watershed last week.”

Boarders follows five talented black inner-city teens – Jaheim (Josh Tedeku), Leah (Jodie Campbell), Toby (Sekou Diaby), Omar (Myles Kamwendo) and Femi (Aruna Jalloh), transported to an alien world – a British boarding school – after gaining scholarships to the prestigious St. Gilbert’s. They set out to make the most out of the opportunity, despite their places only being offered as a poorly disguised PR exercise to improve the reputation of the school.

Boarders, filming on set at The Bottle Yard Studios / BYS/BBC

Returning cast also include Niky Wardley (Carol), Assa Kanouté (Abby), Tallulah Greive (Beatrix), Rosie Graham (Florence), Harry Gilby (Rupert), Georgina Sadler (Mabel), Zheng Xi Yong (Xiang), Dillon Mitra (Dilton), Archie Fisher (Cheddar), Andrew Harmon-Gray (Graham), Ruxandra Porojnicu (Yelena), Kye Malcolm (Caleb), Llewella Gideon (Sylvie), Mohammed Mansaray (Malachi), Niyi Akin (Koku), Maxim Ays (Felix), Al Foran (Stanley), William Andrews (Mackers) and Yuriri Naka (Ms Kaneko).

Series two sees a new era for St Gilbert’s with the now acting headmistress, Carol Watlington-Geese (who also happens to be the mother of Jaheim’s nemesis, Rupert) at the helm – and she wants Jaheim, Leah, Toby, Omar and Femi gone. Series one saw these five outsiders begin to thrive. Series two asks how much they’re willing to sacrifice just to survive.

Boarders, filming on Kings Road, Bristol / courtesy of Studio Lambert/BBC

Boarders, a ‘Lewisham Street Market’ created on Kings Road, Bristol / courtesy of Studio Lambert / BBC

The series features Natalie Cassidy (EastEnders) and Alan Cumming (The Traitors US) in guest roles. New cast include BAFTA-winner Wunmi Mosaku (Loki) as Jaheim’s mum Grace, Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey) as St Gilbert’s new writer in residence Jude, and Michael Salami (Supacell) as Femi’s Uncle Teju. Kendra Brown stars in her debut on-screen role as the new American exchange student, Devonyé.

Boarders series two will air across six episodes, airing in 45-minute editions. Series two of Boarders will be available in full on BBC iPlayer from Monday 3rd February.

Local trainee Sophie says: “I was looking for something that would give me that leg up into the industry. Before being on the programme I didn’t really know where or how to start applying for stuff. The course being run at the Bottle Yard was really useful and I gained work experience assisting the Boarders art department in creating graphics, assets, drafting technical drawings.”

Boarders, filming on Kings Road, Bristol / courtesy of Studio Lambert/BBC