Chartridge Conference Centre turns into Lapland

Dec. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- Chartridge Conference Centre was magically transformed into Lapland-style ‘Hotel Santa’ when it was used by BBC One to film its Christmas Day comedy drama special, ‘Lapland’.

The bittersweet comedy features the Lewis family from Birkenhead who save all year to make Christmas special.  This year they decide to really push the boat out and book a package tour to Finland to see Father Christmas, complete with huskies and reindeers and, maybe even the Northern Lights.  But when they get to Lapland, things don’t go quite to plan!

Headed by The Royle Family’s Sue Johnston, the impressive cast includes Stephen Graham from This Is England, Elizabeth Berrington (Secrets And Lies), William Ash (Waterloo Road), Julie Graham (Survivors), Zawe Ashton (Fresh Meat) and Keith Barron (Benidorm).

The programme was schedule to be filmed in two different locations, the interior scenes in the UK and the exterior scenes in Lapland itself.  Location Manager, Jo Randal was tasked with finding the venues and explained why she chose Chartridge. “Living in Amersham I was already familiar with the venue and I had heard from other location managers that it was extremely film-friendly. When Chartridge’s manager Stephen Quigley heard that I was looking for a venue, he rang and invited me to visit.”  

“As soon as I walked through the doors I knew it had great potential as our Lapland hotel. There was real warmth about the place and the communal rooms had loads of charm and character and were large enough to accommodate our film crew. I could imagine how it would look styled with Nordic Christmas decorations.  I had found my UK venue.“

The interior scenes for the comedy were filmed over a two-week period.  Manager Stephen Quigley was extremely pleased with the excellent feedback from cast and crew on the flexibility and support of his team and how well they coped with every request throughout the shoot. He said: “Everybody really enjoyed the experience.  The BBC crew made sure that they co-ordinated the filming from our customer’s perspective and managed to schedule filming around the weddings and conferences that were already booked. We were delighted to be part of the programme and it was a very successful event.”
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More about Chartridge Conference Company
All CCC venues are set in out-of-the-ordinary locations that provide the perfect secluded environment for meetings. All venues provide the highest standards of fully equipped training facilities in rooms that are bright, inviting and adaptable with on-site technical support.  Superb food is created with care and flair by dedicated chefs, and when the learning is over, delegates can relax in style in beautiful and peaceful surroundings. The ethos of CCC is to successfully combine total professionalism, excellent value in a friendly relaxing environment.  CCC is a member of MIA and Conference Centres of Excellence.

For further information about Chartridge Conference Company  visit www.chartridge.co.uk

For further quotes or media information contact Colin Caldicott, Ultimedia Public Relations
Tel: 01767 601470   E-mail: colin@ultimediapr.co.uk

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The Chartridge Conference Company runs and manages four dedicated conference and meeting venues located in the Home Counties and West Midlands