Shakespeare and Hathaway BBC Drama showing on BBC1  2.15 pm to 3.00pm

Mark Benton and Jo Joyner star as the lead characters in the daytime drama, entitled Shakespeare & Hathaway – Private Investigators.

Benton plays private investigator Frank Hathaway, with Joyner playing his rookie sidekick Lu Shakespeare.

In the program the unlikely pair investigate a hotbed of extramarital affairs, celebrity stalkers, missing police informants, care home saboteurs and murderous magicians in rural Warwickshire

The Stratford Herald

dropped by to interview Mark and Jo at Wroxall Abbey, just outside Warwick about how they had found filming in the Bard’s hometown.

Jo said: “It’s great working in Stratford, at this time of year I would usually be working away from home, but I can be here in Stratford in 20 minutes from where I live, it’s lovely. It’s win, win for me.

“I think Shakespeare and Hathaway will be a good advert for Stratford. It’s a very special place, I used to go to college here and every time I came over the motorway and got close it just felt like coming home.

“The thing about filming close to where you live is you can discover places on your doorstep that you’ve never visited before, it’s great.”

Mark said: “It’s fantastic to be filming in Stratford, it’s got all these beautiful buildings, and I find it quite odd that nobody has based a series here before”

“I think Warwickshire is a bit of a hidden gem for filmmakers, you get a lot going on in places like the Cotswolds, but there are great settings here.”

Speaking about the new show Jo said: “One of the things that I think will appeal about Shakespeare and Hathaway is that there’s a bit of comedy in it, our characters are not perfect. It’s a bit quaint and it doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

Mark added: “I’m not enjoying having the long hair but it’s great for the part. I think as long as the quality is high enough, Shakespeare and Hathaway will keep running.”

Places they have filmed

Their office which is used throughout, is filmed at the Lord leycester Hospital – Warwick

The wedding episode one is filmed at Coughton Court Alcester

Third episode outside RSC – Royal  Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, where you can also sit on the bench (like in the photograph above) and have the bard looking over your shoulder.

The photograph above shows them actually filming outside the ‘Leamington Assembly’, and ‘The Valles at the Basement’ in Leamington Spa

They have also filmed at primrose street in Alcester,  in Aston Cantlow using the wonderful timber framed village hall and the kings head pub opposite, the Wroxall Abbey Hotel, and the butterfly farm in Stratford upon Avon.