November 05, 2013 -- A large aerial photomap from Bluesky is making a cameo appearance in Alan Partridge’s big screen debut Alpha Papa. Forming a backdrop for the nail biting moment Alan is called upon to help police negotiate a hostage situation the aerial photograph features alongside a more traditional street map. The aerial image, purchased by Alan Partridge Ltd, is taken from Bluesky’s nationwide archive of aerial survey images and shows an area of South West London where some of the hostage scenes were filmed. Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa was released to critical acclaim in July, premiering in Alan’s home city Norwich before a full premiere in Leicester Square, and is due out on DVD and Blu-ray in December.

“As is so often the case ‘art imitates life’ rather than the other way around,” commented Rachel Tidmarsh, Managing Director of Leicestershire based Bluesky International. “We have supplied aerial photography in various formats to many of the UK police forces where it is used, in conjunction with more traditional mapping, on a day to day basis. Aerial photographs can fill in the gaps left by other maps and tend to be easier to interpret as they provide a real world view for non-mapping specialists.”

She continued, “It was a great pleasure to work with the production company on this film and we were all delighted to see a Bluesky photomap on the big screen!”

A member of the production company commented, “Although clearly an action comedy it is important that both the storyline and it’s on screen representation are as true to life as possible and therefore believable to the audience. The use of props, such as the Bluesky photomap, ensures that scenes, like the tense police station one, are authentic and therefore credible.”

The Bluesky photomap can clearly be seen as the police request Alan’s help to deal with a siege inside the Norwich radio station where he works. Having been bought out by a multinational conglomerate, North Norfolk Digital is to be rebranded as ‘Shape’ with staff members facing redundancy. Alan’s colleague DJ Pat Farrell, armed with a shot gun, holds members of staff hostage having been given just thirty minutes to clear his desk after Alan betrayed him and wrote ‘Just sack Pat’ on a flip chart during a board meeting.

The film was directed by Declan Lowney, and written by Coogan, Armando Iannucci,Peter Baynham, Neil Gibbons, and Rob Gibbons. The film is a co-production between Baby Cow Productions, BBC Films, the BFI Film Fund, and StudioCanal and was released in the UK by StudioCanal.

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