The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, and the introduction of the first of the Corn Laws, had resulted in periods of chronic famine and unemployment, felt with particular hardship in the industrial north of England. By 1819, the pressure generated by poor economic conditions, coupled with the relative lack of suffrage in Northern England, had enhanced the appeal of political radicalism, causing alarm amongst the government of insurrection.

On 16th August 1819, a crowd of some 80,000 people from Manchester and its surrounding towns gathered in St Peter’s Fields to demand Parliamentary reform and an extension of voting rights. The meeting had been peaceful, but in the attempt to arrest Henry Hunt, one of the leaders of the meeting, a cavalry charge by local yeomen and the 15th Hussars into the huge crowd resulted in at least 15 people being killed, with an estimated 700 others injured. The massacre was quickly given the name ‘Peterloo’ in mocking comparison to the Battle Of Waterloo, which had taken place just four years before.

Production on Peterloo began in May 2017, concluding at the end of August. With Manchester offering precious few authentic shooting opportunities, production took place at locations around Northern England, including rural exteriors in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and interiors in Chester, Halifax and Burnley. Production also encompassed a working cotton mill, where the original weaving machines were used to make an impressively thunderous appearance in the film.