AHEAD of the release of The World’s End, reporter Ewan Foskett caught up with the trio behind the film and their time shooting in Letchworth GC.

The Comet: ........ (Image: Archant)

THE team behind comedy classics Hot Fuzz and Shaun of The Dead knew straightaway they wanted to film in Comet country.

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright thought Letchworth GC and nearby Welwyn Garden City would be the perfect host for the boozy sci-fi picture.

Director Wright said: “There is something about it that felt quite timeless. The huge irony of it is that both Welwyn GC and Letchworth were Quaker towns and so they were designed dry, so we had to fabricate some of the pubs.”

Among the mock pubs were Wendy’s shop on Leys Avenue, the railway station and Broadway Cinema.

The pubs are toured by old friends – played by Frost, Pegg, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan – who have reunited to try and finish a legendary pub crawl in their home own.

It is only when they begin to visit their 12 teenage haunts they realise the fictional town of Newton Haven is home to killer robots.

Long-running collaborators Frost and Pegg said they were pleased at how welcoming people were in Letchworth GC.

Pegg said: “We had great fun, we were thoroughly welcomed.

“People were so lovely in terms of opening their pubs for us to shoot in and allowing us to disrupt their daily working routines.”

One pub is set to change its name to honour Letchworth GC’s role in the third part of the Cornetto trilogy. The Arena Tavern will become the Kings Head Tavern after its movie moniker.

Despite the boozy narrative, Pegg said he does not really drink and could not recommend a pub for thirsty film fans.

There is one location he did put forward though – The Broadway Cinema, which Wright transformed into The Mermaid pub after an art deco picture house in his hometown was turned into a JD Wetherspoon.

He said: “So I thought with the Broadway Cinema it can become a pub, but what is great is there is one cinema in the country where you can watch the movie in one of the pubs and that is the Broadway Cinema in Letchworth.”