Liverpool has some great museums, and despite being local I probably don’t visit them as often as I should. At the start of this year I heard about a new display at the Museum of Liverpool all about filming in the city and of course I needed to pay it a visit. I was very pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn’t just a one cabinet job – it was a large exhibition with screens showing clips, interactive maps and also a celebration of people from the Liverpool region who’d appeared in film and television.
This ‘Stage and Screen’ display is part of the ‘Wondrous Place’ gallery Wondrous Place gallery | National Museums Liverpool. I checked with one of the museum staff and it is a permanent exhibition so it’s well worth popping by next time your in Liverpool. Although it’s already out of date with even more filming going on since my visit in February – maybe they’ll update it at some point in the future.
Celebrating the city’s staggering roll call of trailblazing entertainers, musicians, sports people, writers, poets, visual artists and comedians, the gallery continues to showcase Liverpool’s internationally recognised creative expression and influence through exciting new displays and immersive experiences.
This includes a new Stage and Screen display, which examines the city as a film set and how it continues to provide an impressive backdrop to Hollywood blockbusters and award-winning TV shows.
On display are film posters of movies shot in Liverpool along with some interactive displays, and a small number of props and costumes. For visitors unfamiliar with Liverpool’s filming history I’m sure it will be an unexpected highlight of their museum visit.
There’s a wall which highlights successful actors from the Merseyside region, including two Doctor Who actors – Tom Baker and Paul McGann and the impossibly talented local girl Jodie Comer.
I really enjoyed seeing such a well presented and informative exhibition. Much I already knew being a film location geek, but I was surprised to learn that some scenes from the Barbara Streisand 1983 film ‘Yentl’ were filmed on a Mersey ferry.
The Museum of Liverpool is free to visit (donations are always welcome of course). There’s a great gift shop full of Merseyside themed items, and the café is a nice place to have a drink and a snack. The building is a film location itself as it was used during the Jodie Whittaker era of Doctor Who. Her companion Dan (played by another local boy John Bishop) was an unofficial tour guide and they filmed a couple of scenes at the museum early in 2021. Doctor Who: Flux | BBC | MADE IN LIVERPOOL – Liverpool Film Office They filmed in a few other Liverpool locations and made a major plot point about the curious Williamson Tunnels in the city – which is another future blog idea.
From scene to seen 