Polar bear roams London to promote new TV series

A polar bear appeared to have turned up in London on Tuesday, after residents reported seeing a large white creature on Hampstead Heath, the London Underground and the South Bank.

The lifesize polar bear goes for a ride on the London Underground. Picture: PA

The animated animal, constructed by 19 prop specialists who spent two months designing and building the replica bear, took to the streets of the Big Smoke as part of publicity for a new Sky Atlantic series.

Two puppeteers from the West End show War Horse controlled the movements of the bear from inside, to help promote “Arctic-noir” series Fortitude.

The thriller, set in a fictional town with 3,000 polar bears for every 713 residents, stars Sofie Grabol - famed for her role as Detective Inspector Sarah Lund in Danish crime series The Killing - Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon, and Christopher Eccleston and launches on Sky Atlantic on Thursday January 29.

The lifesize polar bear goes for a ride on the London Underground. Picture: PA

Sky Atlantic director Zai Bennett said: “We wanted to bring a realistic polar bear to the streets of London to give people an up-close experience of what it must be like to come face-to-face with one of the biggest, but uncredited stars of our new show.”