Scarborough’s former Victorian prison was again filmed for a TV documentary in 2011 after it was used the previous year for the prison film Screwed.

This time it was used to illustrate a recent BBC programme about a daring Second World War raid – Operation Jericho – when RAF Mosquito bombers demolished the walls of Amiens Jail.

The documentary was presented by actor and aviator Martin Shaw, who I remember as Ray Doyle in The Professionsls TV series in the late 1970s, and was broadcast on BBC2.

Of course I had a connection with the location they used for filming as I had a minor role as an extra in the film Screwed the previous year but that is another story – just follow the link at the end of the article.

SCARBOROUGH’S former Victorian prison has once again been used as a location for a national TV documentary.

Cllr David Jeffels, Scarborough Council’s portfolio holder for tourism, said it featured in a recent BBC programme about a daring Second World War raid – Operation Jericho – which was broadcast on BBC2.

Cllr Jeffels said: “It was a documentary to rediscover one of the most audacious and daring raids of the Second World War when RAF Mosquito bombers demolished the walls of Amiens Jail in what became known as Operation Jericho. The interior shots of the jail were filmed at Dean Road Prison.”

The documentary was presented by actor and aviator Martin Shaw who took to the skies to rediscover the history behind the raid.

It took place on the morning of February 18, 1944, and the pilots flew as low as three metres above occupied France.

The prison has featured in a number of television programmes including the 2008 reality show Banged Up and 2006’s Vincent which starred Ray Winstone.

Last year it was used as the main location for the gritty British prison drama Screwed, by director Reg Traviss which was recently released on DVD.

Dean Road Prison was first opened in 1866 and cost £8755 to build.

A week after opening the prison’s first inmate, a horsebreaker called William Scott who was waiting to stand trial on a charge of robbery, escaped by removing a ventilation grille and climbing down a rope of knotted blankets.

Just 12 years after it opened the prison was closed after the government declared Scarborough was not large enough to have its own prison – it was one of 30 jails closed following the 1870 Prison Reform Act.

Since 1899 the Grade II listed building has been used by Scarborough Council and the former cells are used for storage and archives.

Cllr Jeffels also revealed that the council’s Film Friendly Partnership with Screen Yorkshire received a total of nine applications to film in the borough during September and October.

And in August it was revealed that Scarborough was becoming a popular destination for film crews with a total of 37 production enquiries between March and the end of July.

STORYextra:

Productions filmed in the area have included:

• An episode of the BBC series Town which was presented by Nicholas Crane;
• The BBC drama series Sugartown which was filmed in Filey;
• BBC Coast – for two separate programmes featuring the Naval Warfare Battle at Peasholm Park and at Whitby’s famous shipwreck His Majesty’s Hospital Ship Rohilla in 1914;
• A German TV production – The Other Child – which used various locations in the area including Aquarium Top;
• The BBC series Hidden Paintings with Lynda Barker;
• A BBC documentary about Alan Ayckbourn for the Imagine series;
• A Berlin-based film company in the area filming The Culinary Adventures of Sarah Weiner;
• An ITV post-war drama Just Henry – starring Josh Bolt, Elaine Cassidy, Dean Andrews, Stephen Campbell Moore, Barbara Flynn and Shelia Hancock;
• The late Sir Jimmy Savile filmed a TV advert to promote the golden age of the train which featured the Scarborough Spa Express in July;
• And there have been a number of high-profile productions – including Little Voice and The Royal – in the town over the years.

Related article: Screwed is exactly what I had imagined.

From the Scarborough Evening News on Saturday, November 5, 2011.