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| Yellowthread Street
A Few Bruce Tidbits Yellowthread Street: Hailed as the new Don Johnson, Payne insists the show's nothing like Miami Vice. "Our guys sweat... They don't get out of Ferraris with uncreased trousers." Previous jobs: Payne worked as a carpenter, a salesman and a landscape gardener before he was accepted at RADA.
- click on above image to view Yellowthread Street images - CHECK OUT EVEN MORE YELLOWTHREAD STREET PHOTOS
WHO WILL WIN THE BATTLE OF YELLOWTHREAD STREET TV TIMES January 13 - 19, 1990 Night in Hong Kong. A British television film crew with Chinese assistants is about to shoot a scene for the £8 million police adventure series Yellowthread Street. 'The Man', presumed to be a Triad gang member who claims he controls this area, has had his palm greased, with money to guarantee. trouble-free working. Then another man comes and demands payment. The situation's tense, and within seconds two rival groups of Chinese, each abput 15-strong, square up to each other. They're heavily' armed with guns and knives; ..'., This .isn't TV fiction but real' life," Hong Kong-style. The cast and crew stand aside. It's frightening and definitely not in the script. As the brawl erupts, the Hong 'Kong Police 'arrive and cool things down. The crew is advised to move on. Yorkshire Television's controller of drama, Keith Richardson - executive producer of Yellowthread Street -'still shudders at what might have been, 'The police stopped, anything serious developing,' he says, in the safety of his London office. 'But ...' The l3-part series is a massive; "gamble for Yorkshire TV - it's the most expensive drama to be fully financed by an ITV company." It's gritty, atmospheric and action-packed. .'We've wanted to make Yellowthread Street for seven years but there always seemed to be another police series coming up,' says Richardson. 'Then the opportunity came and we grabbed it.'
The series was developed from the novel of ex-Hong Kong journalist William Marshall, and revolves around the lives and work of 'a group of seven detectives in the overcrowded Colony. It stars Ray Lonhen, of Harry's Game fame, as Chief Inspector Alex Vale who deploys his small team against the Criminal underworld; Bruce Payne, star of film Queen and Country, 'as Detective Nick Eden; Mark. McGann, who recently portrayed John Lennon in the television mini-series John and Yoko - A Love Story, as Detective. CJ Brady; Catherine Neilson, who appeared in the film White Mischief, as Detective Kelly Lang; and Doreen Chan,'who made her acting debut in the 1985 movie Year of the Dragon, as Detective Jackie -Wu.- Australian ex-swimming champ turned actor Robert Taylor brings his 6ft 4in presence to the screen as Detective Peter. Marenta and Chinese-American actor Tzi Ma, whose credits include' L.A.Law, is Detective Eddie Pak. Because of the high cost of location filming, producer Ranald Graham worked out a corn plex schedule to allow two episodes to be shot simultaneously every 14 days.. Nearly 50 British technical crew were backed up by some 160 local technicians. Meanwhile, the cast and crew had to adapt to Hong Kong conditions. Apart from the small sums of money to ensure trouble-free filming, a Fung-Shui -man was wheeled into action.accompanied by sacrificial roast pigs, to drive away evil spirits before "the first scene could be shot. The vastly, predominant Cantonese Chinese population of Hong Kong stubbornly clings to its ancient traditions, some of them stretching back 4000 years. Fung-Shui -literally wind and water - is a mixture of belief, superstition and divination, aimed at placing man in a harmonious relationship with the physical and spiritual world. The cast and crew .took.part in a simple ceremony of placing three incense sticks in sand, lighting them, and bowing twice to the Fung-Shui man. 'It was nice and I was very pleased to be asked to take part,' says actor Ray Lonnen. Although Yellowthread Street is based on fiction, many of the episodes reflect life as it really is in the cultural melting pot which is modern-day Hong Kong. 'We didn't have any official help - or official hindrance,' says Richardson. 'Apart from the one incident when the fight broke out, we felt very comfortable. 'We would set up our equipment and someone would approach us and ask for money to ensure that filming went smoothly. It seemed to work on a street by street basis, and could be as little as 20 dollars.
"It was very difficult to establish who these people were. They could have been local residents, they might have been members of the Triads who operate in Hong Kong and in many countries around the world, including Britain.' Richardson and the crew admired the way the police do their job in Hong Kong. 'It's a tougher place than most to police. For a start, language is a major problem. Even if you speak Cantonese, there are still more than 50 other dialects. The Hong Kong police force is a multi-national one, with British, Chinese, Australian, German and Canadian officers.' Although Hong Kong is a violent place, much of the trouble is inter-family or gang. Hong Kong villains are increasingly employing criminals from the Chinese mainland to rob banks and other businesses in the Colony. The TV cameras explored most areas of Hong Kong, which posed a particular threat to health in one or two districts. 'In the Walled City area, the oldest part of Hong Kong, the British and Chinese crew wore face masks to avert any risk of typhoid. "This district is very primitive, with no sanitation, and there were dead dogs and cats lying around all over the place,' says Richardson. 'We went in there for one specific episode. I wanted to get across the fantastic, unique contrast of Hong Kong. The slums, the huge skyscrapers, the amazingly expensive shopping areas.' Yellowthread Street was shot in cinema quality 35mm film - unusual for a TV production which is usually done in 16mm film. Yorkshire TV hopes it will help to sell the series worldwide
Everything was finished on time despite a typhoon, high winds and heavy rain - and the political events in China which culminated with the massacre of students in Tiananmen Square. Even the uncertainty of Hong Kong's future after it is handed over to the Chinese in 1997 did nothing to mar the relationship between the British and Chinese crew. Ray Lonnen, like most of the cast and crew, had never been to Hong Kong before but was captivated by the Colony. Now waiting to hear whether he will be needed for a new Yellowthread Street series, he says: 'Filming on location to capture the flavour of Hong Kong was essential. It's a fascinating place and in the four months I spent there, I came across something different every day. 'As far as I am concerned, Hong Kong never lost its mystery or magic, and I never felt threatened. We did have a bit of trouble during a one-night shoot when residents threw water down on us from their windows because we were disturbing them, but we just postponed filming till later that evening!' Keith Richardson was pleased at the way the series turned out. Intrigued as he was by the Colony, he was happy to come home. 'If you go to Hong Kong as a tourist for 10 days or so it is very nice, but if you spend much longer there you begin to feel it is very Chinese, totally alien. I think it has given the series an exciting and dangerous edge.'
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