This post first appeared on Ren’s Patreon page.

A couple of weeks ago there was nothing in Ren Studio 2.0 but a few piles of a scrap wood and a couple of tables. Now there’s a market!

A few of the stalwarts like Rose, Ross and Michael had done days here and there getting things started in the second half of March. The farmer who owns the studio space very kindly gave us a lot of unwanted wood that he had around the yard, including some skate ramps which we disassembled and Ross used to make all the framework of the market stalls. Michael focused on building the bar for the tavern, which is finished now apart from the top surface.

Several volunteers came along to our first Making Weekend on April 1st and 2nd, and they quickly got stuck in making props and other set-pieces. Dale and Sanjay smashed out a set of ‘stone’ steps and tavern window shutters. The beginnings of a carriage have popped up on one side of the studio thanks to Sean, while a variety of fake foods, melted candles and other mysterious items have started to populate the other side thanks to Ash, Sarah, Kim, Carole, Gary, Rebecca and Jack.

Jonnie Howard, who you may have seen on social media was recently announced as the director of episode 203, paid his first visit to the studio. We discussed the tavern set as well as picking outdoor spots for his exterior scenes and even testing a drone shot with the help of our BTS filmmaker Christopher Buckenham. Gaffer Jeremy Dawson dropped in too, to start making a plan with me for lighting the emerging sets.

Meanwhile Suzanne and her team have been busy in London making toiles – ‘draft’ costumes using cheap fabric – and fitting them to some of our new characters. Our new Ren and Hunter have had their first fittings too, and Hunter has taken part in a fight choreography session of episode 204 with Sophie Black. And I’ve been holding lots of Zoom interviews with potential crew, as well as sorting out mundane but important things like insurance.