A GRIPPING mini-series about the final months of Anne Boleyn’s life was filmed in the district – with students from across the area working on the production.

The Channel 5 series, Anne Boleyn, which is being screened this week, looks at the infamous downfall and execution of Henry VIII’s second wife from her point of view.

It was partly shot at various locations in this region.

Jodie Turner-Smith, who plays the Tudor Queen, said: “It is brilliant that it's a multi-racial cast.”

She added: “If you stay away from period dramas because they feel kind of stuffy, then this is the historical drama for you.

“As an actor, when you take on a role you bring the wealth of your experience, your individuality and you really infuse something different, and I think that’s really what gave us the best opportunity to tell a different story.

“There is something spiritually that feels more approachable for people and that is going to be more broadly appealing to a contemporary audience.”

The production features students from Screen Yorkshire’s Beyond Brontes training course, which recruits people aged 18-24 whose backgrounds are not well represented in television and film industries.

The course was launched in 2019 with a focus on people of black, Asian or minority ethnic backgrounds.

Beyond Brontes trainees have gone on to work on other TV productions filmed in the district including Gentleman Jack, The Syndicate and Ackley Bridge.

Anne Boleyn is described as a psychological thriller with female voices at its heart.

“The biggest thing that jumped out to me was how this was a story about mothers,” said Jodie.

“It’s about Anne as a mother and how she was trying to manipulate her circumstances in order to protect her children, how her ability to provide an heir affected her own life and viability as a Queen, and how she manipulated her rivals’ children in order to get what she needed.”

The cast and crew worked closely with Leeds historian Dan Jones on the drama, which looks at how Anne challenges the powerful patriarchy surrounding her, and examines key moments that cause her to topple.

Jodie says the young Queen was a woman ahead of her time: “Anne was trying to push culture forward – she was interested in art and science and she felt like religion should be a much more personal and private experience for people, which was different to what the Catholic Church was doing at the time. Our telling of the story really focuses on Anne’s desires in that context as a modern woman, and how who she was, how she thought and what she was trying to do was really quite feminist.”