Pride and Prejudice and the Harry Potter series are among films and television dramas that have become “virtual brochures” for Britain’s history and culture, according to a report by the UK Film Council.

Visitors were previously drawn to Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, to see a mighty medieval fortress, one of Europe’s finest. Since it became the setting for Hogwarts, the boy wizard’s school, there has been a 120 per cent increase in visitor numbers. That in turn has brought an estimated £9 million in tourist revenue to the area. Lyme Park, the National Trust property in Stockport, Cheshire, previously attracted visitors to the 18th-century Italianate palace, Lyme Hall. Its main draw, it seems, has become the lake from which Colin Firth, as Mr Darcy, emerged dripping in the television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Lyme experienced a tripling in its visitor numbers. Firth fans are still visiting in droves nearly 12 years after the series was first shown.

The figures are published today in How Film and Television Programmes Promote Tourism in the UK, which notes that, although the phenomenon of “screen tourism” has long been acknowledged, the evidence has been largely anecdotal until now.

The report also singles out Balamory, the children’s drama about colourful characters living in a close-knit community on a Scottish island, which went out to 15 million viewers across Europe.

The village of Tobermory experienced a 40 per cent rise in visitors - an increase of 160,000. The series is thought to be contributing £5 million a year to the local economy.

The report concludes: “The effect of films and television can be far-reaching. They help to project an updated image of the UK overseas while historical films and programmes reinforce a brand for the UK as a country steeped in history.”

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