Why Lovejoy reboot should be filmed in region

It's been more than 30 years since the final episode of Lovejoy first aired on our television screens – but it is now set to be revived for modern audiences.

The comedy-drama-mystery series followed the adventures of the show's title character - a loveable rogue antiques dealer in East Anglia, played by Ian McShane.

Based on the novels by John Grant - who wrote under the pen name Jonathan Gash - the original BBC show was shot across Suffolk and Essex.

According to locals, the impact on the prosperity of the locations in which it was filmed was "enormous", but should See-Saw Films' reboot be filmed in the region again, and, if it is, will it have the same effect?

Geoffrey McGregor, owner of the Long Melford Antiques Centre in the village near Sudbury in Suffolk, met the cast and crew of the original series during filming in the 1980s.

"It was huge for tourism and for all the businesses in the village," he said.

"If it had the same impact as the last series then it would be enormous, because the significance of the TV show on the trade was enormous.

"More people became interested in antiques than ever before, and it was weird because you had people that wanted an antique because they saw them on the TV.

"Obviously, as an antiques business owner and an antiques dealer — not a rogue one — I would welcome it."

"The important thing is it keeping to the original and the books, which were based in East Anglia," McGregor added.

"That was the view of the original series and it should also be the view of the next one, because that's where it was filmed and it's a beautiful area."

The original show – consisting of 71 episodes across six series – first aired 1986-1994, which included a five-year break between series one and two. You can still catch it on Freeview channels.

It became a hit, with the title character's keen eye for genuine and fake antiques turning him into a household name.

The show also resulted in the phrase "Lovejoy Country" being coined and assigned to the picturesque parts of Suffolk and Essex in which it was filmed - mostly in the Stour Valley.

Scenes were shot in and around the likes of Halstead, Braintree, Belchamp Hall, Sudbury, Long Melford and Bury St Edmunds.

The cast and crew also once took over Coggeshall town centre, where Richard Stride has owned Norman's Sweet Shop for 50 years.

He remembers being asked to get out of shot when he tried to put his rubbish bags out while the cameras were rolling.

Stride also recalls the surge in visitors to the area.

"It took over many, many locations and the town used to be very busy — there were even coach trips from Epsom to Coggeshall for Lovejoy tours," he said.

"Even after the series had finished there was still a lot of interest and people were still cashing in."

He thought that interest could be revived if a new series was filmed here.

The inside of Hedingham Castle in Essex also once provided the backdrop for scenes, including in an episode of Lovejoy called The Prague Sun.

Crew members turned the venue's dining room into the interior of a palace in the Czech capital, making curtains out of a piece of carpet which remains at the site.

"We have such good memories and from our point of view, we would love to have Lovejoy back," said Demetra Lindsay, co-owner of the castle.

"It was such a fun programme and rather iconic for our area.

"For the team here it is a real bonus and a wonderful bit of stardust which goes a long way, and a film crew is so good for the local economy.

"And who wouldn't want to have Ian McShane around?"

The production company plotting the contemporary revival of the classic show is See-Saw Films, the same firm behind the likes of Slow Horses and The King's Speech.

They recently acquired the rights to the set of 24 popular detective novels "following a bidding war" which took place last year, according to Deadline.

The reboot is not currently attached to a specific network or streaming platform, and there are no details regarding who is to star as titular charmer.

It is also not yet known when filming is likely to begin – but when it does, the cast and crew will likely need somewhere to stay when on location.

One of the places the original version's actors, directors, producers and crew stayed was the George & Dragon Hotel in Long Melford.

That was long before general manager Charlie Yiasemis' time, but he told the BBC that he would "happily put them up" again.

"We're a public hotel and we have two or three film crews stay here every year doing different things," he said.

"But we're struggling the same as everybody else, so we'd definitely welcome [them filming here again] and I imagine everyone else would, too.

"It would help all manner of tourism."

Another local hospitality venue which accommodated those working on the original television show was The Swan, in Lavenham, which also featured in some scenes.

David Scott, chief executive of The Hotel Folk which owns the hotel, is also the son of an antiques dealer and has a particular fondness for the show.

"I'm really proud that we were actually part of that and I think it's always great for the local area to be championed in a visual way," he said.

"When the county and the villages get that exposure, it encourages people to come to visit and explore and see what the county is all about.

"People like to go to see things that they've seen when they've watched it in their living rooms."

While the antiques industry may have seen a boom around the time Lovejoy first hit our screens, the demand did not last forever.

In 2011, the BBC reported that Long Melford had seen three quarters of its antiques stores close.

In the early 1980s, it was an antiques Mecca with about 20 businesses, mainly on the High Street, but that figure had dropped to five.

But could a rebooted Lovejoy see a resurgence in people's interest in antiques?

Oliver Miller, managing director at Bishop & Miller Auctioneers and Valuers, and a "massive" Lovejoy fan, certainly hopes so.

"It can only be a good thing for the antiques business and it sparks the imagination, which is what art and antiques is all about," he said.

"Suffolk definitely is 'Lovejoy land' and I definitely feel his home is Suffolk and I got so much joy as a child visiting the spots he filmed at.

"For me, Lovejoy was a large part for the reason for my career, although I have slightly less detective work."

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