Cameras, and not wagons, will soon be rolling once again at the north-east’s own slice of the wild west- this time in honour of a distinctly modern form of entertainment.
The cowboy-themed attraction Tranquility in Aberdeenshire has been solidifying its reputation as a filming location after previously producing their own westerns and being used for a documentary on the Highland Clearances and a vampire drama.
Now BBC film crews are to descend on the village again tomorrow – this time to film a multi-part comedy series on based hugely successful computer game Red Dead Redemption Two.
BBC the Social will create a multi- part comedy fantasy inspired by the game and the crew will even use locals at the town as extras in the shoot.
The computer game, which allows players to become a virtual cowboy, is already breaking sales records shifting 15 million copies worldwide in just eight days.
Alistair Baranawski, who founded the village in 2005, said: “They are keen to use the town, inside and out, as a backdrop for a comedy fantasy based on the new Red Dead Redemption 2 video game.
“They hope to have sufficient footage from their visit to make possibly a five-episode series along the lines of Red Dead Redemption using Tranquility as the backdrop and our members given cameo or extra roles.
“Anything like this can only help Tranquility and get us on the map, so to speak.
“Visitors from around the world have visited us and are always full of praise when they see what we have achieved. First and foremost Tranquility has always been just a hobby but it does help when media folks ask to use what we have for their own projects and are willing to make a donation in kind or cash which goes a long way to help with maintenance costs.”
He added that if any would-be gunslingers have enjoyed the game, there is plenty of room in the Tranquility posse.
To get involved, e-mail tranquility-_town@hotmail.co.uk
Last night co-director Charlie Parker said he had come across Tranquility nearly by accident.
He said: “I just put in a Google search for ‘wild west towns in Scotland’ and this was the one I saw.
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“We are based in Edinburgh so are always looking for locations that we can drive to.
“Obviously this one is a very specific genre so we had to look for something that really matched.
“Scotland has some great locations for genre specific stuff like this.”
Media Mashups is a online sketch show which uses computer games for inspiration and will be screened later this year.
