Ewan McGregor series: Release date of new show filmed across Greater Manchester announced

The release date of a new series filmed across the North West, including at Manchester’s Heaton Park and Bolton Town Hall, has been revealed.

Film crews descended on the park and Victoria Square outside the town hall last year to shoot the new UK drama series A Gentleman In Moscow which stars Hollywood actor Ewan McGregor.

The Scottish star, 51, will lead the cast as Count Alexander Rostov and will also serve as an executive producer on the Paramount+ series based on the best-selling novel by Amor Towles.

The actor previously said he is “very excited” to be a part of the drama written by showrunner and executive producer Ben Vanstone that is also said to star Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

During filming last year rumours swirled on social media that Bolton Town Hall could double as the Kremlin or a grandiose Russian hotel. Fake snow was seen sprayed onto the Grade I-listed building’s steps while cameras rolled.

Fake snow being sprayed onto the steps of Bolton Town Hall

This week it has finally been revealed that the show will air premier on Friday, March 29 on Paramount+ internationally and Showtime in the US.

Set in the aftermath of the Russian revolution, McGregor’s character Count Alexander Rostov is spared immediate execution but is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol and threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside.

The series will see decades of Russian history unfold outside the hotel doors, with the character building a new life and discovering the value of friendship, family and love.

McGregor said last year of the drama: “It’s an amazing, wonderful story and I am very excited to get to play such a fabulous role.”

Film sets in Bolton Town Centre for the filming of A Gentleman In Moscow

Locations in Bolton have also been used in filming for the BBC’s Peaky Blinders, ITVspy thriller The Ipcress File, starring Michael Caine, and Channel 4 hit It’s A Sin.

Council bosses said the continuing attraction of Bolton as a film and TV location brings money into the town and supports local business.

Coun Hilary Fairclough, previously said of the filming: “We remain a popular film location, and this is just the latest big-budget production to take advantage of everything Bolton had to offer. This continued interest is a direct result of the council’s policy to attract more filming, and we have a well-earned reputation as one of the most film-friendly towns in the country.

“Film productions bring money into the town and help boost local businesses. Just as important is the opportunity to showcase the best of Bolton to a major audience.”