Hunt for Shropshire locations to appear in new comedy movie

Has your home got the sort of Hollywood-style credentials that would make it perfect to star in a big-screen movie?

Shropshire film-maker David Tristram is on the lookout for interesting locations across the county to appear in the second instalment of his comedy crime-spoof series.

Inspector Drake, based on a character he first created for the amateur dramatic stage 25 years ago, has been a big hit on independent film circuit, showing as far afield as Australia and New Zealand since its debut in February.

And David, from Highley near Bridgnorth, today revealed he had now begun pre-production on Inspector Drake 2: The Seagull, after being "bitten by the bug" of movie making.

The original Inspector Drake movie, made for less than £10,000, takes the hapless Inspector - a cross between Basil Fawlty and Inspector Clouseau - on a roller-coaster of spoof and silliness in the spirit of Carry On, The Goons, and Monty Python.

Am-dram stalwart Alan Birch, the first man to play the inspector on stage over two decades ago, took on the title role, with scene-stealing Steve Witney as his dim-witted beat bobby sidekick, investigating the discovery of a severed head in a woodland.

Shropshire featured heavily in the pun-packed film, particularly the Bridgnorth area, and David says he is keen to give the county an equally high profile this time - if he can find the right places, owned by the right kind of co-operative people, which fit in with the 1930s theme of the new screenplay.

"We are on the lookout for a period bathroom - not necessarily grand, but with the right period feel and a bit of space around the bath.

"We'd also like to shoot some scenes in a guest house or bed & breakfast - particularly the breakfast room. Again with the period feel."

David is also keen to hunt down local people able to make "a few small Heath Robinson spoof gadgets - valves, switches, flashing lights, curly wires.

"We'd also like to do a night time shot by a metal perimeter security fence."

The production team is also keen to find props which epitomise the pre-World War Two period, including cars, old hairdryers, and phones.

l If anyone can help David with his location search, e-mail movie@inspectordrake.com. The first Inspector Drake film is showing at Priest Weston Village Hall this Friday, at Clun Memorial Hall on September 10, and at Claverley Village Hall on September 15, as part of the Flicks In The Sticks season.