104608: Robert Downey Jr. Filming at Manchester Town Hall

Sightseers in the vicinity of Manchester Town Hall recently need not have been detectives to suspect that filming was afoot at the 19th century edifice. Much like the bees decorating the mosaic on the floor of the entrance hall, actors in Victorian vestments buzzed about as they readied themselves to step in front of the camera alongside the star of the cinematic venture being shot at the site, Robert Downey Jr. As he exited the building, the Oscar-nominated star portraying England’s famed fictional sleuth in Guy Ritchie’s adaptation of Sherlock Holmes caught a glimpse of the stone visage of Prince Albert across the way, eternally gazing at Manchester Town Hall from its plinth on the Albert Memorial, which served as an artistic muse for the more well-known Albert Memorial in London.

The cast and crew of Sherlock Holmes is slated to appear at a number of locations as filming continues this fall. When the whodunit arrives on the the silver screen the Chatham docks, Freemason’s Hall in Covent Garden, London, the Liverpool docks and St. Paul’s Cathedral will all play supporting roles.