Over the weekend, the streets of Leeds was lined with onlookers hoping to get a glimpse of Hollywood legends like Samuel L Jackson and Emilia Clarke as they were out filming for their new Marvel series, Secret Invasion.
Over the entire weekend, Bond Court, Greek Street, Alexander Street and Gusto alleyway between Greek Street and Bond Court were closed off to the public for filming.
Popular restaurant, Blackhouse has transformed into the movie set, where the restaurant signage and street signs changed into Russian for filming.
Tattu and Blackhouse were main filming spots for the Marvel series. / Image: George Garforth
Meanwhile, neighbouring restaurant Tattu was used as a crew area and outside onlookers could see a Russian taxi and expensive cars that were being used to film the series.
Throughout the day, both Samuel L Jackson and Emilia Clarke were seen on multiple occasions alongside cast member Ben Mendelsohn.
Hundreds of people queued up to try and catch a glimpse of Hollywood's greatest Marvel cast, but many were turned away due to the set's viewpoint capacity. If you missed out on the cast in Leeds, you'll find them a mere thirty minutes from the city centre, filming in Halifax's Piece Hall.
Over in Halifax, the Piece Hall will be shut from today, Monday 24 January and Monday 31 January for filming. It is rumoured that there will be 260 members of cast and extras, plus an additional 200 crew members taking part throughout the TV show’s weeklong stay in Halifax.
MP for Halifax, Holly Lynch shared on Twitter that the celebrity appearances are going to be a great opportunity for Yorkshire.
A Russian taxi was spotted at filming in Leeds. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
“Not to coolest quote I’ve ever given but this is awesome! I confess to being a massive Marvel geek and so the prospect of filming taking place here in Halifax is incredibly exciting!”
This is what we know about the series Secret Invasion so far:
“Secret Invasion is an upcoming American television miniseries created by Kyle Bradstreet for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics storyline of the same name“.
Filming took place outside Blackhouse. / Image: The Hoot Leeds
Samuel L Jackson will play Nick Fury, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D who is working with Skrulls in deep space; Ben Mendelsohn will play Talos, the leader of the Skrull sect and an ally of Fury, and Kingsley Ben-Adir has been cast as the lead villain.
At the moment, there’s no further information about the roles of the rest of the cast, only that the series will be six episodes long and all the revealed cast will feature in at least one episode.
Loyle Carner has been announced as the headliner for ‘Above All Else’ a new curated event that will form part of the Live at Kirkstall Abbey concert series.
Boy oh boy are we excited about this one.
An all-day celebration of music and culture is coming to Kirkstall Abbey, ‘Above All Else’ is a new event from independent Leeds promoters Futuresound with forward-thinking curation at its heart.
And who better to headline its debut than Loyle Carner.
Released last summer, Loyle Carner’s fourth full-length album Hopefully! reasserted his position at the forefront of the UK’s emotionally-charged hip hop movement.
Images: Supplied
First finding his voice in 2013 with the A Little Late EP, it was Loyle Carner’s debut album 2017’s Yesterday’s Gone that brought the artist to national attention and earned himself a Mercury Music Prize nomination and BRIT award nominations for British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist at just 23 years old.
Joining Loyle Carner at ‘Above All Else’ will be a full supporting line-up including acclaimed Grammy and Ivor-Novello award nominated songwriter Jordan Rakei and Kokoroko, the London based sextet.
Completing the line-up is much-hyped Birmingham rapper Kofi Stone and rising Dublin collective Bricknasty.
Also announced for Live At Kirkstall Abbey 2026 are revered British multi-hyphenates The Streets, reunited Leeds indie heroes The Sunshine Underground, art rock royalty The Maccabees will be performing their only northern gig and the hugely successful Kirkstall Abbey Comedy Festival is gearing up for a return featuring Dara Ó’Brien, Jason Manford, Lucy Beamount and more.
Kirkstall postcode pre-sale for local residents (LS4, LS5, LS13 & LS18) will open at 10am on Wednesday 28 January here with general sale opening at 10am on Friday 30 January here.
‘The pub that refused to die’ – reborn Leeds pub receives glowing national review by Jay Rayner
Clementine Hall
Food critic Jay Rayner headed to Leeds for his latest restaurant review for The Financial Times, with his sights set on one of the city's newest pubs - The Highland Laddie.
Having only opened in May last year, The Highland Laddie has practically received a stream of praise ever since.
From the team behind the beloved Empire Cafe, it's a pub unlike any you'll find in the city.
Charming interiors and cosy fires matched with stellar food that rivals that of any restaurant in the city, it's no surprise that The Good Food Guide rated the Laddie has the Best Pub in Britain for 2025.
And now Jay Rayner, one of the country's most rated critics, has jumped on the Laddie-loving bandwagon.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The review is glowing in every aspect, stating that "The Laddie, as it’s now being called, answers all those miserable questions about whether a pub is actually a restaurant in disguise, by making them feel irrelevant."
After making himself comfortable, Rayner continues to order a myriad of delicious things off the menu.
"Some of the food is purely comforting", he remarks before claiming "the must-have is the lyrically described “Sliced ham from the fire, dinner roll, butter & mustard”.
"It starts with the delivery of a laminated mustard menu. There’s Colman’s or Taylors English, Grey Poupon wholegrain and five types of Dijon, among others. More restaurants should have mustard menus. We are pointed at the Händlmaier Sweet Bavarian, a jar of which is delivered to the table.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
"It eases the cheek-pink slices of still warm, thick-cut salty ham on their way as I fold them into the sweet springy block of bread with its butter-brushed crust. It is a dish ripped gently from the pages of The Darling Buds of May and made heavenly reality."
High praise indeed from Mr Rayner who finds joy in his experience til the very end, "At the end, the bill comes with a couple of Fruit Salad sweets, a ’70s classic.
"It’s a shameless clapback to an imaginary back-in-the-day, for nothing then was ever as good as this. But let’s not quibble with wonky nostalgia. Let’s just celebrate a present which has found space for the Highland Laddie amid the high-rise clutter."
Sophie Smith -
24th January 2022 
