Channel Four films new series in Norden

Filming scenes on Shelfield Lane in Norden

Channel Four have been filming scenes for a new television series on Shelfield Lane in Norden.

Film crews were spotted on site during the first week of November, shooting for a five-part 1980s-set drama which will air in 2020.

A spokesperson for Channel Four television confirmed the filming was for the upcoming series ‘Boys’, written by multi-BAFTA Award-winning writer Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk, A Very English Scandal, Years and Years, Doctor Who).

No further details about how and why the location was chosen could be shared.

Produced by RED Production Company, ‘Boys’ takes place in 1981 following the story of three gay lads, Ritchie, Roscoe and Colin, and the impact of the decade’s AIDS crisis.

Olly Alexander, from the band Years & Years, plays 18-year-old Ritchie Tozer, the family’s golden boy, though he’s determined to keep his secrets from them.

Newcomer Omari Douglas plays London-born 17-year-old Roscoe Babatunde, a wild, brittle party boy, always on the run.

Newcomer Callum Scott Howells plays Colin Morris-Jones, a quiet, unassuming, boy from Wales, about to become an apprentice on Savile Row.

Lydia West (Years and Years) plays Jill Baxter, Ritchie’s friend from college, straight-talking, funny, and the rock on which they rely.

The cast also includes Keeley Hawes (Honour, Bodyguard, The Durrells, Line of Duty), who plays Valerie, Ritchie’s mum, Shaun Dooley (Gentleman Jack, Broadchurch, Woman in Black) who plays Clive, his dad, Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Gone Girl, A Series of Unfortunate Events) as Henry Coltrane, Stephen Fry (Wilde, Gosford Park, Bones) as MP Arthur Garrison, and Tracy Ann Oberman (Friday Night Dinner, Toast of London, After Life) as Carol Carter.