Surprising trivia you may not know about Yorkshire films and TV shows

Yorkshire has its fair share of famous and much-loved films and television shows which were shot or based in the region.
Last of the Summer Wine (L-R) Peter Sallis (Clegg) Bill Owen (Compo) and Brian Wilde (Foggy). Picture: PA Wire.Last of the Summer Wine (L-R) Peter Sallis (Clegg) Bill Owen (Compo) and Brian Wilde (Foggy). Picture: PA Wire.
Last of the Summer Wine (L-R) Peter Sallis (Clegg) Bill Owen (Compo) and Brian Wilde (Foggy). Picture: PA Wire.

And behind many of the productions are brilliant bits of trivia - some of which are below, as reported by the Internet Movie Database.

Gentleman Jack

The title of this Halifax-based HBO and BBC drama comes from a slur from the time period. "Gentleman" refers to protagonist Anne Lister's more masculine behavior such as wearing dark and black clothing and her knowledge of subjects not usually studied by women at the time. "Jack" was a term used then for lesbians.

Last of the Summer Wine (L-R) Peter Sallis (Clegg) Bill Owen (Compo) and Brian Wilde (Foggy). Picture: PA Wire.Last of the Summer Wine (L-R) Peter Sallis (Clegg) Bill Owen (Compo) and Brian Wilde (Foggy). Picture: PA Wire.
Last of the Summer Wine (L-R) Peter Sallis (Clegg) Bill Owen (Compo) and Brian Wilde (Foggy). Picture: PA Wire.

Kes

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Director Ken Loach said in interviews that an American executive, when shown the film on its release, responded that he could understand Hungarian better than the Barnsley dialect in the film.

This Sporting Life

Delays in filming, which took place in Wakefield, meant that Richard Harris had to give up his part in The Great Escape (1963) to Sir Richard Attenborough.

Ken Loach. Picture: Scott Merrylees.Ken Loach. Picture: Scott Merrylees.
Ken Loach. Picture: Scott Merrylees.

The Damned United

The Austin Mitchell interview with Brian Clough and Don Revie, which this film is partly based on, was in Leeds at the Calendar Studio on September 13 1974.

Room at the Top

Vivien Leigh was initially offered the role of Alice Aisgill, later played by Simone Signoret, who won an Oscar. Part of the film was shot in Bradford.

Brian Clough, on whose time at LUFC The Damned United was based on. Picture: PA/Adam Butler.Brian Clough, on whose time at LUFC The Damned United was based on. Picture: PA/Adam Butler.
Brian Clough, on whose time at LUFC The Damned United was based on. Picture: PA/Adam Butler.

Last of the Summer Wine

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By 1982, the Holmfirth-based show was the BBC's most popular sitcom with 16 million viewers.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too

Andrea Dunbar, the writer of this 1987 film, tragically died aged 29 after a brain hemorrhage in 1990 in the Beacon pub, Bradford, which a few years earlier had been used as the location for the dad stumbling out of the pub at the beginning of the film.

Happy Valley

The Calderdale-based show was pretty much written for Sarah Lancashire, who had previously had a starring role in Sally Wainwright's Last Tango in Halifax (2012). Wainwright was so impressed by Lancashire's performance, she devised Happy Valley as a solo vehicle for Lancashire.

All Creatures Great and Small TV show

Alf Wight (the real James Herriot) initially stipulated that all the incidents in the TV series had to be closely based on those in his books. By the end of season three, all of Wight's books had been televised, and it was thought that the series would have to end. However producer Bill Sellars persuaded Wight to let the scriptwriters devise new stories as long as the scripts were approved by him and remained faithful to the spirit of his books.

The Railway Children

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Sally Thomsett was 20 when she was cast as 11-year-old Phyllis - three years older than Jenny Agutter, who played her elder sister, Bobbie. Her contract banned her from revealing her true age during the making of the film and she was not allowed to be seen smoking, drinking, going out with her boyfriend or driving sports cars.