Chorley Little Theatre to star in new Channel 5 series Edwardian Britain In Colour

Chorley Little Theatre will appear in the first episode of Channel 5’s Edwardian Britain In Colour, a documentary series bringing black-and-white-films of the area back to vivid life.

Chairman of the theatre, Ian Robinson, revealed how the team from production company Make Waves Productions got in touch last October about the series.

Ian said: “They then got back to us and arranged a day of filming in November. They wanted to show some of the Edwardian films to an audience, and get modern reactions to these vintage clips, which have been specially coloured-in.

“Although our interior is much-changed since the Edwardian era, it was a fascinating link to the past as Chorley Little Theatre would have shown some of these films originally when it was the Empire Picture House. There might even be people in the audience related to those on the screen.”

The first episode of the two-part series will appear on Channel 5 at 8pm on Saturday and features footage of Queen Victoria’s state funeral in 1901 and the seaside town boom, with Blackpool leading the way.

Ian added: “We sent a message out to our cinema mailing list and rounded up an audience, which included some of Chorley's Suffragette Choir.

"They also got history students from Saint Michael's High School and together they watched the clips and commented on them."

The theatre was founded in 1910 and quickly became a thriving arts venue in the centre of Chorley.

Regarding filming, Ian said: "The production team was lovely, and it’s really exciting to be featured on TV. It’s always nice to get public exposure and we’re hoping the theatre will look great on screen.

“The outside of the venue looks much as it did 110 years ago but inside we were able to offer bright HD projection so it was the best of both worlds and this made for a smooth filming process.”