Silence please: passers-by witness TV crime drama being filmed at shop

FILMING for a popular TV crime drama series took place in Henley this week.

Film crews and actors were at The Vintage Look antiques shop on Monday shooting scenes for a new series of the BBC’s Silent Witness, which stars Emilia Fox.

They arrived at 5am, taking up all the available street parking, and spent the morning there. They filmed a scene inside the shop involving a police officer who opens the door to be met by a red-headed woman.

People outside watched as the action took place and passers-by were encouraged to move quickly in order to not be caught in a shot. There were multiple takes of the same scene and when the director shouted “action” shoppers had to stay at either side of the shop to reduce any distractions. One man accidentally walked into the shop as he had not seen it was closed for filming and was quickly asked to leave.

Filming took place inside the store where the staff had to move cabinets in order to make room for the camera crew.

Robin Hodge, who works at the Vintage Look, said: “The producer came to us and asked to film as we are the only antiques store in the area that would be big enough to contain all the actors and camera crew. I was excited to hear that they were coming. It’s something a bit different.

“My daughter loves the show and was excited that they were filming. She wanted to take a day off to see what was happening. It was quite hard to see what was going on as they were filming inside with the door shut.

“It is incredible how many people it takes to film a scene — every parking space along the road was full of mini-vans, people carriers and cars for the staff and cast.”

The production team kept all the antiques inside the shop and had bought additional props with them.

Mr Hodges joked: “I hope they take all their props with them or else we’ll have to flog them.”

Later the crew filmed scenes at a cottage in Ferry Lane, Aston, near the Flowerpot pub featuring an estate agent and the elderly homeowner.

Tony Read and Pat Thatcher, who own the propery and used to run the pub, allowed the crew to used their home for four days while they were on holiday.

The scenes should feature in the 28th series of the show, which is due to to be shown early next year.