Celebrity in Cheadle

Reporter: Louise Kelly
Date online: 26/07/2010

A BBC comedy drama was filmed at a betting shop in Cheadle. The series called ‘Whitevan Man’ stars Will Mellor, who is from Stockport and has appeared in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Hollyoaks.

Filming started at 7am on Monday morning at Best Bet Bookmakers at Old Rectory Gardens parallel to Wilmslow Road, Cheadle and lasted all day. Lorries and vans carrying filming equipment and props took over the Old Rectory Gardens, causing passersby to stop and ask what was happening. The series is being produced by ITV Studios but will be shown on BBC 3 in January 2011.

Will Mellor, who is from Bredbury, plays the role of Olly the ‘Whitevan Man’ who takes over his father’s handyman business. Will said: “It’s about what happens when you take over a handyman business; the storylines are based on the people you meet along the way. My character has a right hand man who basically winds me up and gets me into situations I don’t want to be in. It’s got a warm feeling to it so it’s more of a comedy drama rather than a straight sitcom.”

The production team, lead by producer Rohan Acharya, have been using suburban locations throughout the Stockport and Manchester area to create a fictional village for the show. Will said: “I’m from Stockport so it’s nice to be back home and filming up north. I can get my family out to have a look at what’s going on so it’s nice. I’ve been looking forward to this show since last year when it was commissioned.”

Eight cast members and 10 background artists were at the betting shop location in Cheadle ready to start filming. The crew have been filming for three weeks and have got another three weeks left.

There are to be several cameo roles in the series, including Joanna Page from Gavin and Stacey. Will said: “There’s new storylines and new characters in every episode. The scripts are fantastic. After Two Pints of Lager and a Pack of Crisps, this is where I wanted to be going. This is aimed at a wider audience and it’s something that I’d enjoy watching. There’s a great bunch of characters in it. It’s about getting people to watch the first episode because once you watch the first one you’ll see what unfolds.”

Will Mellor has recently played a guest lead role in BBC drama Waterloo Road and is due to start filming another BBC comedy in October. He also has his final series of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps coming up: “It’ll be the end of Gaz at the end of the next series, how he’s going to go out I don’t know,” said Will, “but this new show is definitely up there with anything I’ve done script-wise so hopefully when it goes out people will watch it, that’s the main thing.”