Pramface: It’s all about location location location

Hailed as the successor to The Inbetweeners, the comedy drama is shot entirely in Edinburgh, despite giving the impression that it’s not.

“The show is set in a non-specific, south of England suburb, but it was all filmed in Edinburgh,” confirms Dylan, who plays Mike Fenton in the series, which airs on Thursdays at 9.30pm.

Pramface charts the lives of 16-year-olds Jamie and Mike, and 18-year-old Laura. After attending a party, Jamie wakes up the next morning in the same bed as Laura. A few weeks later, as she is about to head to university in Edinburgh, Laura discovers she is pregnant, by a 16-year-old.

Dylan continues: “Usually, we filmed in quite generic-looking houses and locations, however, in Thursday’s episode, me and Jamie travel up to Scotland, which was great because we could go to town and show off all the best parts of the city.”

Filming the series brought the cast to Edinburgh for the best part of three months, with scenes shot at locations as diverse as the Meadows, West Register Street, Foodies in Holyrood Road and Edinburgh University’s Library Cafe.

“We filmed it in May, June and July last year,” says Dylan. “The production company put us up in a lovely flat on Castle Terrace and I was in heaven because there was a farmers’ market right outside. Every Saturday, I’d head down to get stuck into the black pudding.”

It goes without saying that the “Edinburgh” episode has an obligatory shot of the Castle, but it also boasts a night shoot in the Grassmarket.

“That was rather boisterous,” admits Dylan. “They decided to film on a Thursday night. Now, for me, a Thursday is usually a quiet night in – the Grassmarket had other ideas. It was absolutely packed with stag parties and hen dos.

“There were people cutting into the middle of scenes; I saw a few bare bums that night – a few moonies were pulled at me – and lots of insults were lobbed in our direction, but it was all in jest. It just meant it took a lot longer to shoot than was necessary.”

Viewers will also see The Voodoo Rooms in West Register Street double up as a student pub, in a scene shot around Snax Cafe, the Cafe Royal and Register Place. Dylan also found himself filming in the Meadows, as his character enters a fun run, dressed as “a giant turkey”, he laughs.

“The costume ladies were quite happy with that find. We filmed during a marathon and I had to stand around with about 600 other people, dressed like that. It was a whole-day shoot and one of the hottest days we had in Edinburgh, which was nice, but also not nice because of the turkey costume.”

Still, the 27-year-old says he loved his time in the city and can’t wait to return, which is just as well as a second series starts shooting this winter.

“On days off, I’d get my walking gear on. I went up to Arthur’s Seat a few times – dragged my 75-year-old dad up there one day but, to be fair, he got up there before me,” grins Dylan.

“I’m really looking forward to getting back. The only thing is, this time we start at the end of August and shoot through until November, so I’m bracing myself for it being a bit colder.”

• Pramface, BBC Three, Thursday, 9pm, repeated BBC Three, Tuesday, 10.30pm