Former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker has been spotted filming scenes for a new show in Greater Manchester this morning (April 24).

The actress, who has also appeared in Broadchurch and Black Mirror, has been filming for her upcoming Netflix series Toxic Town for the last few months, which will see her on screen alongside The Full Monty actor Robert Carlyle and James Bond star Rory Kinnear.

Retelling the story of the Corby toxic waste case, regarded as one of the UK’s largest environmental scandals, the limited series will follow a group of local residents as they attempt to hold the local council to account over its failure to properly manage the redevelopment of a steelworks in the North Northamptonshire town.

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Jodie was pictured in Sale, at a location just off Brooklands Road, this morning as she continued to film scenes for the forthcoming show, which is currently set to premiere on the streaming platform later this year.

Appearing alongside her co-stars, Jodie was seen wearing a fake baby bump in the Trafford town. In other scenes, she was seen pushing a buggy and walking alongside a child.

Written by Jack Thorne, who has previously worked on stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and BBC's His Dark Materials adaptation, Jodie and her co-stars were previously seen filming scenes in Bolton last September.

First announced in August last year, the four-part series has been described by Netflix as a ‘story about community, focusing on three mothers who take on a David and Goliath fight for justice’.

Writer Thorne said of the show: "The Corby Toxic Waste Case is one of those moments in history that is defining. It showed our ability to close our eyes and ears to the safety of our people. It also showed the remarkable way that people will fight for what's right.

“Toxic Town tells the story of these funny, brave, incredible women and the way they scrapped for their children.” He added: “We are so grateful to Netflix for giving us the opportunity and support in telling it."

The show will also star Brendan Coyle and Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood, who recently filmed scenes for upcoming BBC comedy series Daddy Issues in Stockport alongside co-star David Morrissey.

Toxic Town and Daddy Issues are just the latest in an ever-growing list of productions to have been filmed across Greater Manchester. Earlier this month, The Inbetweeners’ star Simon Bird was seen on location in Stockport for Channel 4 sitcom Everyone Else Burns.

Other shows to have featured scenes filmed across the city-region in recent years include It’s a Sin, Peaky Blinders, Sherwood, Inside No. 9, The Bay and Brassic.

Netflix has not yet officially announced when Toxic Town will air.

Bolton has been named as Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture for 2024.

This will see the borough handed £50,000 to support a year long programme of events.

The Town of Culture accolade is handed out every year to different borough’s across the region and celebrates Greater Manchester’s culture and heritage.

Leader of Bolton Council Cllr Nick Peel said: “I’m thrilled that we can announce Bolton as the Town of Culture for 2024.

“Not only do we have some remarkable cultural venues, but these are strengthened by our fantastic major events programme including Bolton Food and Drink Festival, IRONMAN, Bolton Film Festival and Put Big Light On.

“Bolton certainly has a promising future and will be a great place to live, work, study, visit and invest.”

The grant, from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority culture fund, will help to develop a programme of cultural events and activities celebrating Bolton’s heritage.

Bolton’s programme will have three parts.

The first is a packed taster programme of cultural activities delivered in Bolton and its various districts.

Following on there’ll be a small grants programme designed to help support Bolton’s smaller cultural organisations, freelancers and artists.

This will result in programmes of activity and commissioning of new works with audiences throughout the next 12 months.

The grand finale will be the Bolton Gala next March, a celebratory event organised jointly by all cultural partners and co-designed by residents.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: "It's fantastic that Bolton has been announced as the latest Greater Manchester Town of Culture.

"Bolton already has some outstanding cultural venues and events from the Octagon Theatre and the Bolton Albert Hall to the famous Bolton Food and Drink Festival and the Bolton Film Festival.

“Town of Culture will celebrate these existing venues and events but will also shine a light on the smaller venues and events that are happening across the town.

"I look forward to visiting Bolton to join their cultural celebrations."

Bolton Council says it will be working with cultural organisations, creative practitioners’, and residents to strengthen partnerships to deliver a collective approach to creative programming.

They hope to build on assets such as the Octagon Theatre, the newly refurbished Bolton Central Library and Museum and Bolton Albert Halls.

Bolton’s also known as home to lots of creative people including Peter Kay, Sara Cox, Sophie Willan, Diane Morgan, Hylda Baker and Mark Radcliffe.

Bolton Council’s Executive Cabinet Member for Culture, Cllr Nadeem Ayub, said: “Receiving the honour of Town of Culture is a significant achievement for our town.

“Building on the recently launched Cultural Strategy, our bid focused on culture being the heartbeat of Bolton.

“Cutting through everything that we do, as we know culture characterises us as people, links us to place and connects us in community.”

Bolton Council says it aims for the Town of Culture 2024 will be to create the foundations for how cultural organisations and creative practitioners work together in the future.

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Chief Executive of Octagon Theatre, Roddy Gauld, said: “We’re delighted Bolton will be GM Town of Culture 2024 and we are so fortunate that Bolton has an incredibly rich culture of people who create a place that is full of life, comedy, character and colour.

“Culture has the power to bring people together, create meaning and inspire ideas and aspirations.

“The Octagon exists to do those things by telling stories, entertaining people, and creating opportunities for people to take part and express themselves.

“Through the Town of Culture we hope we can further raise awareness of the power of culture and celebrate Bolton’s rich cultural offering”

Areas in commuting distance from major cities have seen some of the sharpest increases in rent

Commuter towns across the UK are seeing huge rises in rent as a knock-on effect of cities becoming more expensive to live in.

The cost of a new let rose twice as fast as earnings in six British cities and towns over the last three years, according to data from property website Zoopla.

At the same time, areas in commuting distance from major cities have seen some of the sharpest increases in rent prices.

Over the past three years rents have risen by more than a third in Bolton, Newport and Bradford, all towns a short journey from major cities, Zoopla data showed.

It takes around 20 minutes by train to travel from Bolton to the centre of Manchester.

A let in the Greater Manchester town cost an average of £569 in December 2020 and rose to £789 by December 2023, a 38.7% increase.

The growing cost of new lets in Bolton has outpaced Manchester, where rents have risen 37.8% in three years, from £776 a month to £1,069.

Last year alone Bolton experienced the highest rent rise of any UK area in the Zoopla survey, 14.8%.

Over the past three years, rents in the town have grown at the second highest rate of all the areas covered in the research.

Newport is around 15 minutes by train from Cardiff and rents there have soared from an average of £653 to £878 in the same time span.

Meanwhile, the cost of lets in Bradford, around a 20-minute train journey from Leeds, was found to have risen 33.8%.

Rents outpaced earnings in Glasgow, Bolton, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Wigan, Zoopla found.

However, it said the growth in rents is expected to slow over the coming year.

Executive director of research at Zoopla, Richard Donnell, said: “Rents have risen fastest in UK cities, but affordability pressures have pushed renters to seek better value for money in commuter towns where there are more homes for rent.

“Big cities have led the way on rental growth as demand rises in the face of static rental supply – we have the same number of rented homes as in 2016.

“Demand has been driven by the unaffordability of home ownership, the re-opening of the economy post-pandemic, strong jobs market, record student numbers and high immigration for study and work.

“The reality is that rents have risen as much as mortgage payments for those moving rented home after the average stay, but with no meaningful support for renters, unlike mortgagees.”

“Only increasing supply and getting more homes built across all tenures is the answer.”

Mr Donnell added: “We simply aren’t building enough homes, especially for those on mid to lower incomes.

“Rental inflation is starting to slow, largely on affordability factors which will provide some relief for renters but improving affordability will need more supply.”

The University of Manchester has said that the proposed new name of the University of Bolton would be “very misleading and confusing”.

The institution wishes to become the University of Greater Manchester to reflect its growing presence in the region beyond the town in which it was founded.

A consultation run by the English regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), has begun, with people being invited to give their views on whether the name change could be seen as misleading or confusing.

A Manchester spokesman told Times Higher Education it would be objecting to the plan in its response.

“We are responding to the formal consultation regarding the proposed name change and will be registering our concerns,” the spokesman said. “We believe the proposed name change will be very misleading and confusing.”

Bolton’s long-standing vice-chancellor, George Holmes, has said the university’s commitment to the town is “unswerving” but the new name would “more accurately portray what the university has become in recent years: serving and operating in the whole area of Greater Manchester, not just one borough within it”.

The university now has a presence in Trafford, central Manchester and Wigan, with future plans to move into Bury as well.

Professor Holmes has pointed to other city regions where universities share similar names including London, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham, which he said demonstrates “beyond doubt that the new name is neither misleading nor confusing”.

The consultation runs until 2 May, at which point the OfS will decide whether to approve or reject the change.

A decision is also expected imminently on a separate consultation, called after the University of Central Lancashire submitted plans to become the “University of Lancashire”. Lancaster University warned that this would be “very confusing” for students.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com

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