Hemel Hempstead Pharmacy Featured in New Paddington Film

A pharmacist expressed her “super proud” feelings after producers selected her establishment to appear in the new film Paddington in Peru, which premiered in cinemas this weekend. Kerry Evans, from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, described the situation as “manic” when film crews transformed Gadebridge Pharmacy into Portobello Chemist for a scene in the movie. “We sold Paddington the bits to go on his holiday in Peru,” she informed the BBC, adding that they were presented with a jar of marmalade, the fictional bear’s preferred food. With actor Hugh Bonneville, who portrays Mr Brown in all three Paddington films, present on set, Ms Evans noted that people had gathered “from all over town” to observe the activity. The third installment of the Paddington live-action adventure franchise follows the bear as he returns to Peru to visit his aunt Lucy. However, before the Brown family joins him in South America, he makes a stop at Portobello Chemist to acquire important travel equipment. Ms Evans stated that they were initially unaware the production was for a major feature film. “I was working there with my colleague, who’s my mum, when the location manager came in.” “She asked if we would be willing for them to film here – if we would be interested.” “Then when the crew turned up, we found out.” “It was manic. We had a shop full of people taking everything off the shelves, readjusting items, hiding the stock.” “Customers were coming in, getting in the way as they do! Outside the shop we had people coming from all over town to see.” Amy Greenland, the filming lead at Dacorum Borough Council, has nicknamed the town “Hemelwood” due to several TV series, including Masters of the Air and After Life, being filmed there. She remarked that Paddington in Peru “was the biggest production I’ve been involved with.” “It was great. There were lots of film crews, it was quite a big scale.” Even Ms Greenland was not explicitly told which film was being shot beforehand. “There were some fun hints,” she said. “It was meant to be a secret. The production company were called Marmalade Films, so you could kind of piece it together.” “It will be lovely for the community in ‘Hemelwood’- come and visit the shops and see another filming location,” she added.