Viewers are just discovering that the new TV drama series, A Gentleman in Moscow, was actually filmed in… Bolton.
That’s right, whether you can believe it or not – and much to the shock of local residents, too – the Greater Manchester town had itself a bit of a Stalin era-themed makeover last year, and served as the perfect place to recreate the Russian capital city for a brand-new TV drama miniseries starring Ewan McGregor.
Based on the bestselling 2016 novel of the same name by Amor Towles, the new series titled A Gentleman in Moscow has now started airing on streaming platform Paramount+ in the UK.
Over the course of the gripping eight-part series, it tells the story of aristocrat Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov, played by McGregor, who has recently returned to Russia from Paris, and spends decades banished to an attic hotel room following the October Revolution after being sentenced to house arrest by a Bolshevik tribunal.
But, despite the very-Russian theme running through the show – which also stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Fehinti Balogun, Daniel Cerqueria, Johnny Harris, Leah Harvey, and more – production crews never actually ventured to Moscow to film.
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Instead, they chose several locations across northern England, and one of those locations was, none other than, Bolton.
Filming began in Victoria Square outside Bolton Town Hall on 27 February 2023, with the Town Hall itself appearing a handful of times throughout the show’s first episode, and took place into March, before returning again in April 2023.
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As well as Bolton, Liverpool Town Hall was used as a filming location in June 2023, and filming also took place in Halifax and Leeds Civic Hall too.
Eagle-eyed viewers who tuned into the first episode of the show and spotted Bolton Town Hall in all its glory were quick to head on over to social media to share their reactions – and disbelief, mostly – that the Greater Manchester town had an unexpected starring role.
Very bizarre moment for me. I'm from northwest England, but live in Moscow.
I'm watching the new TV series 'A Gentleman in Moscow'
One fan wrote on X: “Very bizarre moment for me. I’m from northwest England, but live in Moscow. I’m watching the new TV series ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’, couldn’t help but notice that it had been filmed in Bolton…”
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“Learnt that A Gentleman in Moscow was filmed in Bolton yesterday and my interest shot way up. How did they pull that off?,” another viewer commented.
A third pointed out that Bolton has actually doubled as Russia before.
“It’s been used before for same purpose,” they wrote on X, “In the late 80s when I was in my teens, we went shopping to Bolton, and there was a giant portrait of Stalin hanging from the front of the town hall. My mum thought there had been a Militant takeover on the Council.”
Learnt that A Gentleman in Moscow was filmed in Bolton yesterday and my interest shot way up. How did they pull that off?
Others were also quick to add that Bolton has been a popular filming location for movies and TV shows for the past couple of decades.
Peaky Blinders, Happy Valley, Red Rose, Traces, The Reckoning, and Brassic are just some of the smash-hit shows having been filmed in the town in recent years.
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One viewer wrote: “When I first visited Bolton in the early 90s, I was told the Town Hall often stood in for European Government buildings in films. No need to change a good thing”, while another commented that they “thought it looked familiar”.
You can watch A Gentleman in Moscow streaming now on Paramount+ in the UK.
Featured Image – Showtime & Paramount TV
TV & Showbiz
Popular children’s TV star to make special visit to Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum this weekend
Emily Sergeant
You can take your little Mancs down to meet the star of one of their favourite TV shows at the Science and Industry Museum this weekend.
In case you hadn’t heard, May is currently ‘Brilliant Bodies’ month down at Manchester‘s iconic Science and Industry Museum, and there’s a whole host of themed interactive and educational activities lined up ready for schools across Greater Manchester to be out for half term – with something for everyone of all ages to get stuck into.
Anatomy-themed special events, star-studded appearances, and half term transformations are just some of the things on the “gloriously gross” schedule.
But, of course, one of the highlights of ‘Brilliant Bodies’ month has to be the world-first exhibition Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You at the heart of it all – which is based off the popular children’s BBC show of the same name.
Popular children’s TV star to make special visit to Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum / Credit: Science Museum Group
The family-friendly exhibition – which is coming to a close after a massively-successful run in our city on Sunday 9 June – gives visitors the chance understand more about the inner workings of their own bodies, and the important role science plays in supporting our digestive health.
If you haven’t had the chance to check out the exhibition yet, and are keen to do so before it bids its final farewell, then this bank holiday weekend couldn’t be a more ideal time, as one of the stars of the Operation Ouch!TV show, Dr Ronx, is making a special visit to the museum on Saturday.
And this is your chance to meet them.
Anyone who books tickets to visit Operation Ouch! Food, Poo and You between 11:30am-1pm, and 3pm-4pm, on Saturday 25 May, will not only have the chance to explore the role of each organ in the digestive system during a “rib-tickling adventure”, but will also get the opportunity to grab a selfie with Dr Ronx from inside the exhibition.
Visitors will be guided through the exhibition by videos and illustrations of Operation Ouch! hosts, Dr Chris, Dr Xand, and Dr Ronx, all before getting to meet Dr Ronx themself.
Dr Ronx will also be hosting three Q&A sessions throughout the day too, and you can see them take to the stage at 10:30am, 2:10pm, and 4:30pm.
Tickets to visit the museum and exhibition on Saturday 25 May are now available to book.
Free standard museum entry tickets will give you access to the Q&As with Dr Ronx, but an exhibition ticket must be purchased for specific times for the photo opportunity, and these are limited, so booking as soon as possible is encouraged to avoid disappointment.
Noel Gallagher says he’d be ‘bang up’ for an Oasis reunion… kind of
Emily Sergeant
Noel Gallagher has given fans fresh hope, yet again, after he’s admitted that he’d be “bang up” for an Oasis reunion in the future.
Well… kind of.
Considering it’s been going on for well over a decade, Manc music lovers worldwide are more than well-versed in the neverending Oasis ‘will-they, won’t-they’ reunion saga by now, with the Gallagher brothers known to dangle a carrot in front of fans’ noses at every chance they get, despite no concrete claims or plans ever materialising.
And by the sounds of things, Noel Gallagher‘s most recent reunion comments are no different either – but they are pretty funny, we will say that.
Oasis infamously parted ways for the final time back in 2009 after Noel made a shock exit following a fight with Liam at a music festival in France, and despite the constant calls for them to do so, the pair have never been seen on stage together since.
Now though, Noel reckons he’s found a way to reunite the band without actually having to reunite the band, and he’s “bang up” for it too.
Noel Gallagher says he’d be ‘bang up’ for an Oasis reunion / Credit: Oasis (via Facebook)
We’re talking about holograms.
“I went to see that Abba show. Have you been? It’s f**king unbelievable, Noel commented as he appeared on the Matt Morgan podcast.
“An hour and a half gig, it was very, very impressive. I genuinely thought at one point that the people on the stage, which were holograms, were… they looked that real that I thought they were actors, like playing.
“The way they walk to the stage is so realistic.”
The elder Gallagher claims the key to an Oasis reunion is a hologram / Credit: ABBA Voyage
After claiming he was “very impressed” by the show and urging everyone to go and see it if they can because “it’s well worth it”, Noel then turned the topic onto Oasis and whether or not this hologram format could be the key to getting Manchester‘s most famous band back together, adding: “If anybody wants to do an Oasis one, give us a shout. I would be bang up for it.”
The current High Flying Birds frontman then also set out his conditions for the potential hologram reunion, explaining: “I’d say ‘great’, speak to that guy over there, and then come up with a figure and then he’ll relay it to me, and I’ll say either yes or no.”
Well, could this be it then? Could this actually be the key to reuniting Oasis after all these years? It’s definitely a long shot, but not something to rule out entirely, if you ask us.