How a TV crew made a comedy of Cookham


Lindi Bilgorri discovers the story behind a new BBC2 comedy which was filmed around Cookham IN the middle of November, when the dark evenings drew in, Cookham was besieged by huge vans, caravans, long trucks, and scores of people. The BBC had descended onto the picturesque village.

It was filming How Do You Want Me? (Tuesday, February 24 on BBC2). It is a new comedy starring Charlotte Coleman and comedian Dylan Moran, written by Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye.

Although the script was originally set in Sussex, Cookham provided the perfect back drop for the comedy drama.

Producer Margot Gavan Duffy explains how the choice was made: "It came down to finances in the end. We had to find somewhere around the M25. Also the director John Henderson lives in Hazlemere."

For several weeks, trucks, lights and sound equipment took over Cookham's high street, Cookham Dean and Bourne End.

One of the main locations was on Lower Mount Farm - a turkey farm.

Sarah Copas, daughter of the well-known farming family of Brenda and Tom Copas, remembers: "In the script they really wanted a chicken farm but when they saw our turkeys, they actually changed the script."

The turkeys soon became the star of the show. As with so many top-billing stars, the filming had to be scheduled around the turkeys' routine.

"Otherwise the director could have had 200 temperamental turkeys on his hands and that would have been disastrous," laughs Sarah.

"Our turkeys are free range they go out in the morning and then come in at lunchtime. Their routine could not be disrupted. We could not let the turkeys get upset.

"If they panic, they crowd into a corner. Also they are frightened of things out of the norm. So the film crew could not put their cameras in the shed before the turkeys went out."

While the turkeys' lives were disrupted as little as possible, Sarah's life was totally thrown into mayhem.

"On the first day of filming, I was woken up at six o'clock in the morning with their trucks arriving," she says.

The film crew took over the entire downstairs at the farmhouse, bringing in a few new pieces of furniture.

They filmed for two days in the kitchen, sitting room and hall.

"We had tracks for the camera running all the way round the kitchen. There was an unbelievable amount of people standing behind the camera in the kitchen, it was packed. I couldn't believe it."

Sarah felt quite overwhelmed by the large crew.

"It was very intrusive. I didn't expect the number of people. But everyone was very friendly. And they did clear up after the filming and nothing was broken."

Although the interior of the house did not need to be altered much for the film, outside was a different matter. The film crew had to create a turkey shed.

"Our turkey farm is not near the house, it is quite far away, so they made a fake turkey shed so that it looked like the farm was next to the house."

Also, for the comedy show, they changed the turkey farm from free range to intensive farming.

Sarah recalls that the most hectic filming day was when they were filming a garden party in the grounds of the farm.

"There were hundreds of people on the farm that day, they brought in bus loads of children. There were people everywhere.

"It was one of the coldest days of the shoot but it was meant to be a hot summer's day and everyone was dressed up in summer outfits. It was freezing. "

Further down the road in Cookham village, the school was open on quite a number of Sundays.

Producer Margot Gavan Duffy laughs: "We filmed in the school and used the school children. They couldn't wait to get to school on Sunday."

In Bourne End, Anne Arton's dress shop Anne of Bourne End was used as one of they locations.

The film crew took over the shop for two days.

They put up a new fascia board and re-named the shop Pazzaze.

"Everyone in the village thought I had sold up," laughs Anne.

"They built a completely new set in the shop, making it look rather tatty.

"I don't think we will recognised the place at all when it is shown on television."

The How Do You Want Me crew also filmed in the church in Cookham and the library.

Margot says: "People have been very accommodating. I don't think we became too unpopular with everyone here