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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Barney Davis

Actors dressed as orcs seen fleeing huge fire on Lord Of The Rings set in Windsor

The cast of Lord Of The Rings: Rings of Power were seen fleeing a huge fire that broke out during a shoot on season two of the popular fantasy series.

Actors dressed as orcs were seen walking away from the electrical fire which broke out at Bray Studios during filming at 12.30pm on Monday.

Plumes of smoke were seen billowing out of a warehouse on the perimeter of the back lot.

There are no reports of any injuries or evacuations from the site.

Drone shots of the set resembling Elven architecture were taken at Bray Studios before the fire.

Filming for one of the most expensive series ever made was stopped for an hour before restarting an Amazon source told The Sun.

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “At 12:26pm on Monday, 3 April, we received reports of a fire at Bray Studios near Windsor.

“Upon arrival, crews discovered a fire in a single storey storage workshop located away from the filming set. Firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus used three hose reels and a main jet to extinguish the fire.

“Firefighters were on the scene for approximately four hours and 35 minutes. An investigation will take place to determine the cause of the fire.”

Amazon has reportedly spent a whopping $465 million (£399 million) on the opening season of The Rings of Power alone, making it the most expensive television show ever produced.

The fire came the week after Peta criticised producers when a horse died of heart failure during filming of the latest series.

The animal rights group said producers should use CGI to put animals in films and TV shows from now on after the horse died of a “cardiac arrest” on March 21 during rehearsal filming in the UK.

A spokesman for Amazon Studios said: “We are deeply saddened to confirm that a production horse died. The incident took place in the morning whilst the horse was being exercised prior to rehearsals. The trainer was not in costume, and filming had yet to commence. Both a veterinarian and a representative of the American Humane Association were present at the time. The independent necropsy has confirmed that the horse died of cardiac failure.”

Set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings books, the series follows the events of the Second Age and the forging of the famous rings.

Since landing on Prime Video in September, the first series – consisting of eight episodes – has been viewed by more than 100 million people, according to Amazon.

It starred a host of talent including Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo and Sir Lenny Henry.

The second series will also see Ciaran Hinds, Rory Kinnear and Tanya Moodie join the cast.

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