At the start of the year, we saw the return of BBC One’s most popular entrepreneur show, The Apprentice. Staring the nation’s favourite businessman, Lord Sugar for series 17.

We saw the candidates sell and run bespoke tours on the magnificent Caribbean Island of Antigua. They have created advertising campaigns for electric motorbikes, and branded and packaged dog food, naming a few of their projects.

The line-up gradually reduced from 18 to the winning contestant.  We witnessed toe-curling negotiations, firings, and a number of disgruntled clients followed by the announcement of who was to become Lord Sugars’ next business partner.

GB Helicopters Tasked with Aerial Filming

Now, we have enlightened you on some of the projects the candidates worked on during the production. Discover GB Helicopters’ involvement in series 17 of The Apprentice.  

In 2022 we collaborated with the BBC Creative team on various projects, including series 16 of The Apprentice. We accomplished and exceeded the producers’ expectations when conducting the aerial filming, and they contacted us again.

Following discussions with the producers, they specified their desired shots.  We were required to capture aerial shots across London and popular landmarks of the city. Our twin-squirrel AS355 helicopter was the ideal aircraft for this project.

To conduct the aerial filming for The Apprentice, we rigged the helicopter with our GSS C516 compact lightweight gyro-stabilised gimbal.  The GSS C516 can be fitted with a range of camera and lens payloads. To carry out the aerial filming for The Apprentice, we paired the GSS with our Red Epic camera and the Canon 30 – 300 lens.

You can watch the aerial footage we shot for The Apprentice throughout series 17 as crossovers between scenes.

Bespoke Aerial Film Services

At GB Helicopters we have provided aerial filming services to the film, TV and commercial industries. Covering a range of aerial film services such as air-to-air filming, live broadcasting and aerial stunts, we’ve covered everything. And if we haven’t already, discuss it with our team to explore your visions. 

Contact our operations team today to use our aerial film services for your next project! Complete the form below and a member of our team will be in contact with you shortly.

Aerial Film Services

The Apprentice series 17 is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

The post Series 17 The Apprentice appeared first on GB Helicopters.

The Traitors is the UK version English of the Dutch reality show “De Verraders”.  It is a psychological competition where contestants decide whom they can trust. In the Scottish Highlands, at a remote castle, Claudia Winkleman welcomes 22 strangers. They begin a psychological battle in the new BBC reality competition series. To win a cash reward of up to £120,000, the competitors start the ultimate game of deception, betrayal, and trust.

Disguised amidst the 22 participants are those known as Traitors, individuals hand-picked by Winkleman at the beginning of the series at ‘the roundtable’. The remaining members are referred to as the ‘Faithfuls’.

The Traitors’ mission is to assassinate one of the other players every night while avoiding detection from the Faithfuls. Before they become the next victim, the Faithful role is to detect who the traitors are and banish them from the game.

The competitors are given challenges to complete as a team, whether a Traitor or a Faithful. These challenges allow the contestants to build a total cash prize of up to £120,000. By the end of the game, the surviving Faithful has the chance of winning the life-changing sum. But if the Traitor goes unnoticed, they can take it all. 

How did GB Helicopters participate?

For this project of The Traitors, we conducted many of our services from aerial filming and helicopter stunts. Working with Studio Lambert and the BBC, we made their vision a reality as we perform many services under our umbrella of aerial filming services. Our expert team at GB Helicopters do their best to exceed producers’ vision for their projects.

Flying over the Scottish Highlands in our AS355 helicopter rigged with our Red Epic Dragon camera to capture the picturesque views. The footage provided the series with aerial shots of the scenery and castle used within the production. The shots taken are seen throughout the series as crossovers.

The production team requested footage of the Jacobite Steam Train crossing The Glenfinnan Viaduct, renowned for its appearances in the Harry Potter blockbusters. The train travels from Fort William to Mallaig twice daily. We examined the train schedule to ensure we were airborne ahead of time to capture the incredible shots. The opening title of the series includes this footage of the Jacobite Steam Train.

Who doesn’t get excited about an aerial stunt?

At GB Helicopters we are well-known for carrying out aerial stunts for TV productions. You can see our previous aerial stunts in various productions which aired last year such as Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars, and RTEs Ultimate Hell Week. Studio Lambert and the BBC took the opportunity to put our aerial stunt expertise to the test.

Well, for The Traitors the stunt selected by the production team was the popular heli-jump. Over the bitter Scottish lake, our chief pilot and director Will Banks flew the contestants in our AS355 helicopter before they plunged into the intensity of the water. This was filmed by drone pilot Steve Peters.

Permissions required?

Throughout the filming, for this project, we obtained the permissions necessary to allow us to achieve the required footage. To enable us to conduct the aerial filming for this project we operated at our long-standing permit for low-level flying. When conducting the aerial stunts for The Traitors we obtained a permit from the CAA to allow for jumps into the cold waters.

The Traitors is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Complete our enquiry form below to contact our operations team to use our aerial filming services for your next production.

Take a look at more of our aerial film projects.

The post The Traitors appeared first on GB Helicopters.

Following series 9, BBC One Ambulance returns for its tenth series, focusing on the North East Ambulance Service. Since 2018, our crew has been performing aerial filming for the production of Ambulance. For series ten, we followed our amazing ambulance and paramedic crews from the sky across the North East. Series 9 and 10 are the first time BBC Ambulance has focused on the North East Ambulance and emergency response team.

How did GB Helicopters’ participate in the production of BBC One’s Ambulance?

Flying overhead in one of our AS355 twin-engine helicopters, we followed the emergency response teams to significant incidents across the North East. We equipped our twin-engine aircraft with our cutting-edge GSS C516 lightweight camera system and our RED Helium camera to capture the required footage.

Combining our ultra-high-definition camera systems, we flew overhead convoy with several emergency response vehicles and filming crew. This allowed us to capture the required footage of the North East ambulance service attending emergency scenes.

Additionally, we filmed overhead views of the Tyne River, Tees Transporter bridge, and scenic views. This footage captured can be seen throughout the series as transition scenes.

This series shows us a small fraction of what our paramedics attend to at heart-wrenching scenes. 24 hours 365 days a year.

Production and permissions required

GB Helicopters collaborated with Dragonfly Television and the BBC who produced the BAFTA Award-winning documentary series Ambulance.

The permissions required for this production were covered under the permit we hold from the CAA permitting us to fly at low levels.

Ambulance Series 10 air’s every Wednesday on BBC One and is available on iPlayer.

Contact our operations team to use our aerial filming services by completing the form below.

Aerial Filming Enquiry

The post BBC One Ambulance appeared first on GB Helicopters.

The series began with high expectations from the entrepreneurs as they boarded a cruise ship in Portsmouth. The contestants’ initial task was to create a marketing campaign for an upcoming cruise line.

As the tasks and series progressed we watched the contestants deal with a variety of tasks. The final task before the interview stage, Candidates were required to create and brand, a new baby food, then pitch and sell it to leading retailers.

Last Thursday, we saw Lord Sugar decide who will become his next business partner. Harpreet Kaur and Katheryn Burn were the final candidates, paired with former competitors who returned to assist them in presenting their business ideas. 

GB’s Involvement

Our line pilot Ian Smith took flight in one of our Twin Squirrels. We rigged our helicopter with our GSS C516 nose-mounted camera system. We also used in conjunction with the GSS camera system, our Red Epic Dragon camera and 30-300mm lens.

GB’s contribution to the production of The Apprentice Series 16 was to film aerial shots over London. Popular London landmarks such as The Gherkin are among the aerial shots we filmed for the series. You can watch the aerial footage we filmed in between scenes of Series 16.  

The Apprentice series 16 is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

The post The Apprentice appeared first on GB Helicopters.

Written by Tony Schumacher a former Merseyside police officer. Tony used his experiences from his time as a first responder to write the gripping police thriller TV series. With first-hand accounts where good, hard-working people are being stretched beyond belief.

The Responder explores the emotional difficulties of life on the front lines, which British Policing face. Starring Martin Freeman as Chris Carson, a morally compromised first responder. Carson tackles a series of night shifts on the beat on the streets of Liverpool. Consequently, officer Carson becomes stretched to the point of mental exhaustion as a result of countless ‘on-the-job’ scenes. His duties require him to attend to emergency calls, which can include anything from recovering body parts from road traffic accidents to neighbour disputes. He parades across the city of Liverpool, amidst the hustle and bustle.

Along with dealing with the mentally demanding activities officer Carson encounters daily. Carson’s professional life starts to influence his personal life, causing his mental health to deteriorate after many years on the force. As a result of this, his marriage suffers. As the series progresses, Chris begins to wonder what is right.

How was GB involved?

To complete the required filming shots for this project we used one of our As355 Twin-engine helicopters. Filmed with our GSS nose-mounted camera system, which we paired with our Red Epic Dragon camera and a 30-300mm lens. We used our equipment to film and collect extracts providing aerial footage for the series.

The 5 part series aired in January on BBC One and is available to watch on iPlayer.

The post The Responder appeared first on GB Helicopters.