Vísir 2nd June 1978

It was an unusual sight that greeted the Vísir reporters when they entered the caféteria of Keflavik airport yesterday. A group of people stood outside covering their ears whilst emergency bells rang urgently on the walls.

Filmmakers and actors from Britain’s BBC television were there to film scenes for the television series based on the story Út í óvissuna [Running Blind] by Desmond Bagley, which is set in Iceland. Actually, the ringing of the alarm bells was not in the movie but had been activated by the heat of the strong filming lights – perhaps it was a warm up for things to come.

We had a short talk with Sue Butterworth, production assistant, who said that the BBC team is planning an eight-week stay here. She said the film would be a television series in three fifty-minute parts, which would be shown on BBC 1.

About twenty British people came here for the making of the film, including ten actors. The main female role in the film is played by and Icelandic actress, Ragnheiður Steindórsdóttir, other leading roles are played by British actors. The group of ‘extras’, on the other hand are Icelandic and they had plenty to do yesterday, with the arrival of a passenger aircraft and a short scene in the caféteria.

Sue told us that after this, the group would spend four nights in tents up in the highlands, where big things happen in the story, but before that they will be filming in Ásbyrgi, Húsavík, Reykjavík, Krýsuvik, Þingvöllum and beyond.