Martin Clunes with Swoffers open market director Shauna Clapham during his visit. (Picture by Andy Biggins, 0643588)
A SERIES of programmes about islands to be presented by TV star Martin Clunes nearly ended up missing out Guernsey completely.
The Doc Martin actor was in the island last week filming the ITV show, Islands of Britain, but did so only because of the intervention of Commerce and Employment.
Deputy minister Robert Sillars said he had been introduced to members of the programme’s production crew a number of weeks ago through personal contacts. At that stage there were no plans to film in Guernsey.
‘The original plan was to film in Jersey, Sark and the Scilly Isles. I was able to persuade them that the Bailiwick of Guernsey was the correct location and with the weight of Commerce and Employment and Chris Elliott [the department’s director of marketing and tourism] and his team this then became a reality.’
Deputy Sillars said he was looking forward to seeing the results of the filming and hoped it would lead to an upsurge in interest in the Bailiwick as a tourist destination.
‘The filming in Guernsey was fantastic over the three days and the weather was good. I was pleased to have had not only the opportunity to show Martin around the islands, but to also take a step back and see it through the eyes of those who do not have the islands of the Bailiwick on their doorstep.
‘It just reinforces our need to look after what we have.’
Deputy Sillars said his initial concerns that there would be nothing spectacular enough for Mr Clunes to see when the various sites and tours were set up for him had been quickly dispelled.
‘A trip to the Gouffre or Pleinmont Point or the views from Vale Castle and Herm are all things that we just accept as a part of everyday life.
‘But when you stand there with a star like Martin Clunes who is waxing lyrical about the views and a film crew whose hardest task is to boil down the literally hours of filming to select only a thin slice of island life, it really does bring it home to you that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side.’
Commerce and Employment decided not to promote Mr Clunes’s visit so that he could just be dropped into island life.
‘It was a requirement of the crew that Martin saw Guernsey and Herm in as natural a way as possible, although having a film crew and associated production team following you around inevitably stirs up interest wherever you go.’
The mini-series of three 60-minute programmes is expected to be aired in the spring.
Article posted on 29th September, 2008 - 11.30am
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