Exclusive:Filming for Frankie Boyle crime thriller starring James McAvoy moves to Glasgow this week

There are 25 days of road restrictions in place for filming in Glasgow for the month of June. GlasgowWorld can confirm that part of this schedule is devoted to the filming of scenes for a new television series adaptation of Frankie Boyle’s novel Meantime. Filming will get underway on Monday 1 June in Govan before moving to the Merchant City on 2 and 3 June.

The Meantime production unit has advised local businesses that NQ64 Arcade Bar on Bell Street will be the focus of filming for both days with part of Candleriggs closed to accommodate the crew: “Several scenes will be filmed in Bell Street, involving various actors coming and going from a property and vehicles arriving and leaving Bell Street.”

The confirmation that the television series is responsible for at least part of the announced filming road restrictions in Glasgow will dampen expectation that Glasgow will feature in The Batman Part II. The sequel was expected to follow the pattern of the previous Matt Reeves film and use Glasgow and Liverpool for external Gotham City scenes. As vehicles and stunt crew have already been seen making technical preparations in Liverpool, and no sign of Batman yet in Glasgow, it may be that the city will not feature this time.

Drumchapel actor James McAvoy leads the cast for the six part series that is moving production to Glasgow after filming scenes in London in March. Jamie Michie, Benedict Wong, Christopher Eccleston, Mark Bonnar, Shirley Henderson and Josette Simon are among the stellar supporting cast.

Meantime is a Sky Original crime thriller starring BAFTA winner James McAvoy, based on Glasgow comedian Frankie Boyle’s Sunday Times bestselling debut novel of the same name. The six-part series is directed by filmmaker Jon S. Baird and produced by Happy Tramp North and Expectation (Alma’s Not Normal, Malice) in association with Sky Studios.

Meantime follows Felix McAveety (James McAvoy), a full-time addict whose best friend is found murdered in a Glasgow park, leaving him as the police’s most convenient suspect. In a fog of intoxication and paranoia, Felix sets out to clear his name, enlisting the help of an ageing former Detective Inspector turned crime novelist (Josette Simon) and a chaotic friend (Jamie Michie).

“Their search for the truth becomes an exhilarating and frequently laugh-out-loud race through the murkier edges of contemporary Scotland, as events rapidly spiral out of control around him.”

Meantime, the novel, was published in 2022: “Meantime is a picaresque detective story set against the backdrop of post-referendum Scotland. Frankie Boyle's compelling debut novel is a tale of murder and revenge, and of personal and political loss.”

The Guardian review of the book states: “Imagine Withnail and I stumbling into a Bond movie co-written by William McIlvanney and Mick Herron, and that gives only a vague idea of the mashup that follows. Unsurprisingly, there are passages that are piercingly funny, especially when Boyle is on familiar turf.”

Meantime will be available next year on Sky and streaming service NOW in the UK and Ireland. The show comes after Sky adapted Nick Cave’s novel The Death of Bunny Munro with Matt Smith playing the lead.

The series also stars Shauna Macdonald, Janine Harouni, Emun Elliott, Laurie Brett, Martin Quinn, Jordan Young, Lois Chimimba, Michael Moreland, Joy McAvoy, Hanna Stanbridge, Greg Hemphill, Robin Laing and Kate Donnely.