Bill Nighy to star in new movie as Liverpool Film Office approves two new productions in the city

Filming is now underway on two new productions in Liverpool, A Town in Nova Scotia and Saviour

These became the latest productions to receive investment from the Liverpool City Region Production Fund delivered by the Liverpool Film Office, following its relaunch in Autumn 2025.

They join an impressive investment portfolio that includes recent acclaimed dramas This City is Ours (BBC/Left Bank Pictures), The Responder (BBC/Dancing Ledge) and Time (BBC/BBC Studios)

The Fund is delivered by Liverpool Film Office and supported by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

A Town in Nova Scotia is the first feature film that the Fund has supported. Directed by Babak Jalali (Fremont) and co-written with Carolina Cavalli (Amanda), the film stars Bill Nighy as Leon, a widowed man living in a block of council flats in Liverpool. Makram Khoury (The West Wing, A Syrian Bride) plays his close friend Saleh. The two leads are joined by a cast of local professional and non-professional actors recruited from across the city region.

Bill Nighy already has strong links to the region, having been a member of the Liverpool Everyman Theatre repertory company during its so-called golden era in the 1970’s, alongside such stars as Julie Walters, Jonathan Pryce and Bernard Hill.

A Town in Nova Scotia is being produced by up-and-coming Liverpool-based producer Jennifer Monks for The Fold and Naïma Abed and Émilie Georges for Paradise City. Alongside the LCR Production Fund, it is supported with funding from BBC Films and the British Film Institute as well as from private investors Desmar and Hoopsa.

Saviour, is a new six-part courtroom thriller for ITV, marking another major collaboration between the broadcaster and the Fund following the success of The Ipcress File (ITV/Altitude Television) and the hit comedy G’wed (ITV/Golden Path)

Written by Liverpool-born criminal barrister, novelist and first-time TV drama writer Imran Mahmood, Saviour is produced by Nisha Parti’s independent production company, Parti Productions, in partnership with the award-winning Drama Republic (Riot Women, One Day). All3 Media are the production’s global partner.

Following the story of Ben’s (Archie Fisher) journey through the criminal justice system after a case of assumed identity turns deadly, the show will also star Anjili Mohindra (The Lazarus Project, The Red King) as Indy, a criminal barrister with secrets of her own. Shaun Parkes (The Suspect, Human Traffic) co-stars as Detective Inspector Jon Creasy and Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, Peaky Blinders) plays Eddie, Ben’s father and a fellow police officer.

Both productions will employ a large number of locally-based crew and facilities as well as trainees and new entrants through Liverpool Film Office’s Action! skills programme. They reflect the key aims of the LCR Production Fund, supporting high quality productions that deliver fresh, authentic portrayals and help to build long-term economic, cultural and social opportunities for the local screen industry.

A Town in Nova Scotia will be released in cinemas later in the year.

Saviour will air on ITV1 with streaming available on ITVX later this year/early next year.

Find out about some of the incredible productions that take place in Liverpool here.

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