Film crews have completed location work in Huddersfield on a massive new period drama.

And their view of the locations and landscapes captured in the making of the eight-part series Jericho was easily summed up: “It’s stunning”.

Production crews have spent the past 23 weeks working in a variety of locations in and around the town for what is expected to be one of the major ITV dramas of 2016.

Much of the work has centred on a quarry at Outlane, which was used to recreate a navvies’ shanty town from the 1870s.

But there were also three sets built at the Northlight Film Studios in Armitage Bridge and location work at Pule Hill, Marsden, Meltham Moor, Golcar’s Colne Valley Museum and Netherton.

Jericho is the latest in a series of major films to be shot in Huddersfield, further establishing the town’s reputation in the TV and film world.

Only last year, Hollywood stars Sigourney Weaver and Liam Neeson were in town to film A Monster Calls, due for release next year.

Scenes for the second series of the gritty TV drama Happy Valley, starring Sarah Lancashire, have also been filmed here.

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Ben Sweet, of Northlight, said: “It is tremendous for the town and also for many local firms who have benefitted from the production being here.

Ben Sweet of North Light Film Studios

“It is a big budget operation and we have managed to get many local companies involved, to ensure a large part of the spend stays in Huddersfield.

“At the same time we have also been able to offer work experience in film and TV production to students from the University of Huddersfield and Kirklees College and they have benefitted from the experience.

“The dramatic landscapes are exactly what was wanted”.

Angie Daniell, co-producer of the drama, agreed.

“The work we have done in Huddersfield was at key locations, especially the quarry near Outlane, the moorland and the film studios.

“We were aiming for an epic with big, dramatic land and skyscapers and that is what we got. That’s why it has been so good to film here for the past 23 weeks.

“Some of the scenes for example on Meltham Moor were stunning and we were even lucky with the weather.

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“Now we have moved into post-production, getting the sound and the visuals right.

“We need to have the series ready for January and then it is up to ITV programme planners to decide when and where it goes out”.

A Victorian cart brought into Golcar for the Jericho filming

Jericho, an eight-part drama, stars Call The Midwife star Jessica Raine and also features Clarke Peters, Mark Addy and Hans Matheson, and comes from Sherlock and Doctor Who writer Steve Thompson.

Set in Yorkshire in the 1870s, it follows a community of pioneers, settlers and outcasts, many of whom have secrets to hide, as they battle to build a huge railway viaduct.

Raine plays Annie Quaintain, a woman who is left shattered and penniless by her husband’s death. Turfed out of her home and shunned by her former friends, she leaves for Jericho with her two teenage children in a bid to rebuild their lives.