On January 24th, a post was shared to the Filmmakers’ Society of St Andrews facebook page claiming that extras were urgently needed for a “major TV show for a high profile streaming service” filming from late February to late March 2023 here in town. The post, which now has 1.8k shares and 575 comments, inspired speculation and questions to abound in our little town: what is this major TV show? Social media was buzzing with excitement as people rushed to submit their applications to the background actors casting website called Extra People, though it seemed as though no one knew definitively what show it was that they were applying for. Well, wonder no more – it’s Netflix’s The Crown! And yes, St Andrews students and residents alike over the age of seventeen are welcome to apply to be extras (assuming they are not on a student visa – sorry, international students!)
Despite being quite far removed from the major cities in which TV shows and movies are made, St Andrews has a surprisingly prominent on-screen presence. Anyone who has ever had a tour guide take them around town knows that West Sands was featured in Chariots of Fire (1981) and that Andrew Melville hall served as the exterior of a hospital building in Never Let Me Go (2010). More recently, detective drama Karen Pirie (2022) premiered on ITV – a show that was filmed almost entirely in St Andrews last summer. Over winter break, I watched it with my family and had a great time explaining every St Andrews locale that came on the screen. The Crown will be an addition to this list of movies and shows with St Andrews as a backdrop, and I hope to see plenty of places I recognize when I watch it as well!
Season six of The Crown is set to tell the story of William and Kate, and how they met at university back in 2001. I’m sure we will be seeing places such as St Salvator’s Hall and Northpoint Cafe in the episodes! Because of the period, expect to see people dressed in early-2000s garb around town. The filming will commence on February 23rd and will last a month, and is likely to take place early in the morning so the crew can go about the filming process with relative privacy, and also to accommodate long shooting schedules. Even if you aren’t around town during those times to see filming, who knows – you may have a celebrity sighting or two!
Late February through March is sure to be an exciting time for all, whether or not you’ve been cast as an extra in the show. And if you did want to be part of the filming but were unable to, this is not likely going to be the last major production being filmed here, because the picturesque sights of St Andrews make for the perfect backdrop.