DEREK (2008)

Tilda Swinton and Issac Julien behind a grey gravestone in a graveyard

Tilda Swinton and Issac Julien © JN Films

Director: Issac Julien

Production Company: Normal Films

Kent Locations: Dungeness, Prospect Cottage, St Clements Church, Old Romney

Drawing of Derek Jarman in black and white

Derek Jarman © Steve Pike & JN Films

Starring Tilda Swinton (The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, Michael Clayton) and directed by Issac Julien, DEREK explores the many faces of Derek Jarman and looks at his life as an artist and filmmaker. The film is based around previously unseen footage of an interview which was conducted with Jarman in 1991, which is interwoven with clips of his work including pop promos and feature films, as well as rare home movies depicting his family life.

In 2007, Tilda Swinton and Issac Julien visited Kent to film at Derek Jarman’s home ‘Prospect Cottage’ on the Dungeness estate. His garden, made from shingle, driftwood and other material salvaged from the beach, is much treasured and continues to attract both visitors and film crews alike.

Derek Jarman died in 1994 after a long battle with AIDS and he is now buried at St Clements Church in Old Romney.

DEREK was originally shown on More 4 as part of the Jarman Season and has garnered critical acclaim across the globe. This summer the documentary was shown at the Sundance Festival and at The Berlin Film Festival.

Dungeness is a unique coastal landscape with a shingle beach, two lighthouses and a power station. The area is a popular film location having previously been used for productions including Homes By The Sea (2014) and Parades End (2012).

Recently the documentary also received a nomination for Best Documentary at the British Independent Film Awards.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


Little Dorrit (2008)

The Cast of Little Dorrit standing on steps in front of a old worn out building with glass windows.

The Cast of Little Dorrit © BBC

Directed By: Adam Smith, Dearbhla Walsh & Diarmuid Lawrence

Written By: Charles Dickens (Novel) & Andrew Davies (Adaptation)

Starring: Clare Foy, Matthew Macfadyen, Tom Courtenay, Amanda Redman & Mackenzie Crook.

Production Company:

Kent Locations Used: Deal Castle

et Gowan (Georgia King) and Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen) having a conversation behind a market stool

Pet Gowan (Georgia King) and Arthur Clennam (Matthew Macfadyen) in Marseilles © BBC

Writer Andrew Davies achieved success with his adaptation of the Dickens’ classic Bleak House in 2005. Now the BBC has commissioned him to bring another Dickens tale to life, this time it was the  bard’s eleventh novel, Little Dorrit.

The novel was originally published over 19 monthly instalments between 1855 and 1857 and Davies’ adaptation tried to mirror this by creating 14 half hour episodes. First shown on BBC One over the festive period in 2008, it can now be purchased on DVD.

The series boasts an all star cast with appearances from Clare Foy (Upstairs, Downstairs) in the title role,  Matthew McFadden (Pride and Prejudice), Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who), Amanda Redman (New Tricks) and Kent’s very own Mackenzie Crook (The Office).

Maxine Peake, Freema Agyeman, Amanda Redman and Anton Lesser wearing period costumes standing in a street

Maxine Peake, Freema Agyeman, Amanda Redman and Anton Lesser in Little Dorrit © BBC

Telling the tale of young Amy Dorrit, known to those around her as Little Dorrit, who lives with her father in Marshalsea Debtors Prison in London, Dickens hoped to highlight the shortcomings of government and society at the time.  With the arrival of young Arthur Clenham, a business man returning to the family home after an extended stay in China, Amy Dorrit finds her whole world turned upside down. Hindered by the poorly run Circumlocution Office, Clenham begins an investigation into the secret his elderly mother is hiding and hopes to restore the Dorrit family’s wealth.

The production visited Deal Castle in April 2008 to film scenes set in Marseilles. Many locals were confronted with the strange sight of a French flag flying high over the Tudor fortress. The castle itself was transformed into a traditional Moroccan market, complete with aromatic spices, bright cloth and exotic birds in elaborate Victorian cages.

A fan of the Kentish Coast, Charles Dickens often spent time in the county’s popular seaside towns. From his summer residence in Broadstairs he would often enjoy “a walk of ten miles” to Deal, “a seaside town with no cliff”. He wrote about Deal in his novel Bleak House, where he set the temporary home of Richard Carstone, one of the wards in the case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce, who was visited by Esther Summerson.

It was also in Broadstairs that Dickens found inspiration for one of his most famous characters, that of Betsey Trotwood in David Copperfield. In what is now The Dickens House Museum, there lived a woman named Miss Mary Pearson who would often entertain Dickens with her belief that she had the right to stop donkeys from crossing the front of her cottage. It was this peculiarity that would find its way into David Copperfield.

Deal Castle is a Tudor castle built by the order of King Henry VIII located on the seafront. The Deal area has previously had filming from The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016), Antiques Roadshow (2015) and Legacy (2013).

The first hour long episode aired on Sunday 26th October 2008 at 8pm on BBC1 and is now available to buy on DVD.

Little Dorrit also features in the Kent Film Office Dickens Trail which launched in 2012: https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/kent-movie-map/dickens-movie-trail/ 

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


Inkheart (2008)

Silvertongue reading to a young Meggie. Both on green armchairs with a table in between them. Bookshelves can be seen behind.

Silvertongue played by Brendan Fraser reading to a young Meggie © Entertainment Film Distributors Ltd 

Director: Iain Softly

Starring: Helen Mirren, Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Jim Broadbent, Paul Bettan

Production Company: New Line Cinema, Internationale Filmproduktion Blackbird Erste

Kent locations used: Hever Castle

Based on the best selling novel by Cornelia Funke, Inkheart is about Mo ‘Silvertongue’ Folchart (Brendan Fraser – The Mummy) who has a special gift when reading aloud: the characters come to life. One night, he unknowingly brings to life three characters from a novel entitled Inkheart who kidnap him. Now it is up to Mo’s daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett – Nanny McPhee) and her great-aunt Eleanor (Helen Mirren – The Queen) to rescue him from the cruel dictator Capricorn (Andy Serkis, Lord of the Rings) and return the characters back to the pages of Inkheart. Alongside her real and fictional friends, Meggie learns the importance of family and having a place to call home.

Andy Serkis holding the Inkheart book staring at the camera

Andy Serkis in Inkheart © Entertainment Film Distributors Ltd. Photo: Close Murray

Helen Mirren wearing a red headscarf with her hands clasped together under her neck

Helen Mirren © Entertainment Film Distributors Ltd. Photo: Close Murray

Directed by Iain Softly (Hackers, The Skeleton Key) and featuring an all-star cast, Helen Mirren (Calendar Girls, The Queen) Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle, Journey to the Center of the Earth), Jim Broadbent (Bridget Jones’s Diary, Moulin Rouge!) Paul Bettany (A Knight’s Tale, Wimbledon) and Eliza Bennett (The Prince and Me, Nanny McPhee).

Hever Castle was used for three weeks for the filming of Inkheart, transforming the historical site into the Italian lakeside home of Great Aunt Elinor as the historical home of Anne Boleyn and the beautiful Italian gardens complete with a lake were ideal for this family-orientated fantasy film.

Hever Castle is a thirteenth century Tudor castle near Edenbridge, Hever which was originally the home of the Boleyn family. Hever Castle is a popular filming location with its stunning Italianate gardens, beautiful lake and a mock Tudor village.  Hever Castle has also be used for other productions such as  Walking through History (2013),  The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and Anne of a Thousand Days (1969).

Inkheart was released in cinemas in December 2008 and can now be bought on DVD.

 

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


Big Barn Farm (2008)

Labrador puppy in a field of long grass.

Digger the Puppy © Rdf Media Group

Production Company:  The Foundation

Kent Filming Locations: Stede Court Estate near Maidstone

New to CBeebies, Big Barn Farm tells the adventures of a group of farmyard animals living together and was filmed at Stede Court Estate near Maidstone.

Created and produced by Kent’s  The Foundation, which is part of the RDF media group, the programme combines footage of real animals with animation to create the charming, magical world of Gobo the baby goat, Petal the pig, a puppy called Digger and Dash the donkey.

Children will love the stories around the day-to day adventures of these animal characters and their many other farmyard friends – and the mischief they get into! Big Barn Farm is told from the animal’s point of view and provides a unique inside into their world.

Stede Court Estate is classic looking farm complete with two beautiful cottages, a coachhouse and a wooden barn; it was these classic features that made it perfect for the programme.

Maidstone lies on the River Medway and is the county town of Kent offering shopping areas, bars and restaurants and parks. It is close to many tourist attractions, such as Kent Life and Leeds Castle and is also home to The Maidstone Studios Take Me Out (2010-2019), Later… with Jools Holland (2015) and Couples Come Dine With Me (2014) have all filmed in the Maidstone area.

Big Barn Farm was shown on Cbeebies weekdays at 4pm from February 2008.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


The Bank Job (2008)

Jason Statham standing behind an open train door staring away from the camera

Jason Statham in The Bank Job © Lionsgate Films

Writer: Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais

Director: Roger Donaldson 

Production Company: Mosaic Media Group , Relativity Media, Skyline, Atlas Entertainment, Omnilab Media

Kent Filming Locations: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Starring Jason Statham (The Italian Job, The Transporter) and Saffron Burrows (Boston Legal, Enigma), The Bank Job is inspired by true events. When Martine, an attractive model from Terry’s old neighbourhood, offers information on a bank, Terry finds that it is too tempting to resist.

By tunnelling their way into the bank, the crew not only walked away with a jackpot of over £3 million, but more importantly, stumbled upon scandalous Royal secrets. Almost as soon as the daring heist hit the headlines, the government fearing the release of the uncovered secrets put in place a gagging order that has shrouded the true nature of this crime for over thirty
years.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham provided the ideal double for a London railway station of the 70’s, as well as the post office scene in the closing stages of the film.

Set over 80 acres, The Historic Dockyard Chatham contains over 100 Georgian and Victorian buildings as well as cobbled streets and dock spaces. The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a poplar location for filming having previously featured in Rustom (2016), Downton Abbey (2013) and The World is Not Enough (1999).

The Bank Job was released in cinemas on 29th February 2008 and is now available on DVD.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


Jetsam (2008)

Alex Reid standing in wet clothes on a empty sandy beach

Alex Reid in Jetsam © Simon Welsford

Director/Writer: Simon Welsford

Production Company: Skyman Films

Kent Locations: Margate

Washed up on a deserted beach with no recollection of how she got there and who she is, Grace’s (Alex Reid – Life on Mars, The Descent) world changes dramatically as she collides with a man (Jamie Drevan, – Billy Elliot, Ultimate Force) who is intent on killing her.

In a desperate attempt to recall her memories and stay alive, Grace goes on the run. I her mind, the chaos of the city mixes with the bleak and savage coast and she begins to piece together her past, frantically working out how she became embroiled in a world of betrayal and espionage.

Filmed on a budget of less than £3000, Jetsam premiered at this year’s London Film festival to packed cinemas, forecasting a very promising future for the film.

Simon Welsford, a Kent resident, was inspired by his surroundings and the Margate coast provided the perfect backdrop for the moody, volatile atmosphere the thriller demanded. The weather was even on hand to help reflect the mood.

Margate is a coastal town that offers a sandy beach, arcades and period shopping areas in Old Town. Margate has welcomed filming from a variety of projects including The Apprentice (2015), Last Orders (2002) and Only Fools and Horses: The Jolly Boys’ Outing (1989).

Jetsam was shown at various film festivals around the world including the Slamdance Festival and the London Film Festival.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


The Fixer (2008)

Jody Lee Latham, Peter Mullan, Andrew Buchan and Tamsin Outhwaite all in a row staring at the camera with a block of flats behind them

Jody Lee Latham, Peter Mullan, Andrew Buchan and

Tamsin Outhwaite cast of The Fixer © ITV1

Written by: Neil Cross

Directed by: Alrick Riley

Starring: Peter Mullen, Andrew Buchan, Jody Lee Latham ,Tamsin Outhwaite

Production Company: Kudos Film and Television

Kent Filming Locations: Botany Bay

From the award winning production company Kudos, who also brought you Hustle, Life on Mars and Spooks , comes a six part drama starring Tamsin Outhwaithe (Eastenders, Hotel Babylon), Peter Mullan (Children of Men, The Magdalene Sisters), Andrew Buchan (Cranford, Party Animals) and Jody Lee Latham (Ruby Blue, Shameless).

Retired police officer, Lenny Douglas (Peter Mullan), heads up a renegade group acting outside  the law to bring order to the spiralling criminal activity in the country. He hires John Mercer (Andrew Buchan), a former Special Forces member who has just been released from prison, to fix problems by carrying out assassinations. Rose (Tamsin Outhwaite), a disgraced ex police officer, and petty thief Calum  (Jody Lee Latham) help Mercer carry out his hits effectively, making them a deadly force to reckon with.

The production team visited Kent briefly in 2007 to shoot scenes at Botany Bay in Thanet.

Botany Bay is a beautiful sandy bay popular with tourists but it was once the home of notorious smugglers! In fact, Botany Bay is said to have been the location of the infamous Battle of Botany Bay, where Joss Snelling’s gang were caught red handed smuggling goods into the county. Botany Bay has previously welcomed projects such as the BBC drama True Love (2012).

The seclusion of the bay provided the perfect backdrop for a dark and sinister hit by The Fixer!

The first series aired on the 10th March on ITV and is now available to buy on DVD

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


The Things I Haven’t Told You (2008)

The Cast of Things I Haven't Told You at the seafront. Three cast members are sat at a bus shelter, one stands next to the sea and the other two are in the front of the shot with their arms around each other

The Cast of Things I Haven’t Told You by the seafront © Tiger Aspect/BBC Three

Writer: Lisa McGee

Director: Marcal Fores

Starring: Elizabeth Day, Nathalie Lunghi, Sophie Loftus, Haruka Abe, Mark Adams, Ryan Sampson and Lenora Chrichlow

Production Company: Tiger Aspect Productions

Kent Filming Locations: Herne Bay, Whitstable, King Ethelbert School in Birchington

 Elizabeth Day as Aisling Hunter and Nathalie Lunghi as Geri West in school uniforms in a school coridor

Elizabeth Day as Aisling Hunter and Nathalie Lunghi as Geri West © Tiger Aspect/BBC Three

The Things I Haven’t Told You is a BBC Three drama which follows six adolescents attempting to make their way through the traumas of being a teenager.

When super popular Geri West and barely average girl Aisling Hunter suddenly become friends, everyone is suspicious. What does Aisling know about Geri and what does she want in return for her silence?

Then Aisling disappears after a bizarre car accident.  Immediately rumours abound: was it really an accident or was it deliberate?

Starring Elizabeth Day, Nathalie Lunghi, Sophie Loftus, Haruka Abe, Mark Adams, Ryan Sampson and Lenora Chrichlow and Andrew Lincoln (Love Actually, Teachers).

The filming took place in the summer of 2007 and King Ethelbert School in Birchington, Whitstable and Herne Bay are featured.

Whitstable and Herne Bay are popular seaside destinations for Londoners on day trips. Herne Bay is a traditional pebble stone beach flanked with quaint and picturesque beach huts whilst Whitstable has a traditional fishing harbour. Whitstable has been previously seen on screen in productions such as Venus (2007).

Birchington is a coastal village near to Margate which is a vibrant seaside resort, with complementary historic and modern architecture. The Carer (2016), Free Speech (2014) and Exodus (2007) have previously used the Margate area for filming.

Things I Haven’t Told You was shown on BBC Three at 9pm on 17th March 2008.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Scarlett Johansson standing behind Natalie Portman, both looking out of the window in front of them

Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman as Mary and Anne Boleyn Photo Credit Alex Bailey © 2006 Universal Studios ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Director: Justin Chadwick

Writer: Peter Morgan

Starring: Scarlett Johansson,  Natalie Portman, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas, David Morrissey, Benedict Cumberbatch

Production Company: Columbia Pictures, Focus Features, BBC Films, Relativity Media, Ruby Films, Scott Rudin Productions
Kent Filming Locations: Knole House, Dover Castle, Penshurst Place
The screen adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s best selling novel The Other Boleyn Girl is a dramatic story of love, passion and ambition set in the cut-throat court of Henry VIII. Mary (Scarlett Johansson), considered the more beautiful sister, gains the young king’s (Eric Bana) attention and, though married, becomes his mistress. When it becomes politically adventageous, Mary is cast aside for her dazzling young sister Anne (Natalie Portman) and can only watch as Anne’s ruthless pursuit of the crown propels her towards her doom.

The Boleyn family had extensive connections with Kent; the family lived in Hever Castle while Henry VIII adored Knole. With this connection in mind, filming took place at three fantastic locations across Kent.

Filming in Kent began at Knole in Sevenoaks, a grand house set in a deer park that Henry VIII was so impressed with; he demanded that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer give it to him. In the film, Knole was the setting for many of the film’s London night scenes and the inner courtyard doubles for the entrance of Whitehall Palace where the grand arrivals and departures were staged.

 

Filming of The Other Boleyn Girl at Knole- courtyard of Knole filed with cast members and filming equipment

Filming of The Other Boleyn Girl at Knole © Photo Credit : Alex Bailey © 2006 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson) in the Grounds of Penshurst Place walking away from a wooden door

Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson) in the Grounds of Penshurst Place © Photo Credit : Alex Bailey © 2006 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

 

Behind the scenes at Dover Castle- queues of cast members entering the entrance to the castle along a concrete driveway. Cars and lorries are scattered along the side.

Behind the scenes at Dover Castle © Dover Castle

 

Behind the scenes at Penshurst Place- lighting equipment and stage set up against church wall

Behind the scenes at Penshurst Place © Penshurst Place

Production then moved to Penshurst Place near Tonbridge, which was also once owned by Henry VIII  and where the unspoiled estate and gardens still bring the Tudor era to life. The Baron’s Hall was transformed into the interiors of Whitehall Palace to film the scenes of Henry’s extravagant feast. The Tudor Gardens were also used for the scene where Anne (Natalie Portman) and the King (Eric Bana) talk about their relationship.

As England’s oldest fortress at the shortest sea crossing to Continental Europe, Dover Castle was a vital strategic centre in the Tudor era and able to provide the ideal setting for the final and climatic scenes in The Other Boleyn Girl. Dover Castle was transformed into the Tower of London for the execution scenes of George Boleyn (Jim Sturgess) and Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman).

Knole Park is nestled in a medieval deer-park .  The area has welcomed filming from productions such as Rush (2013) and Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides (2011).

Historic house Knole is set in a medieval deer-park in Sevenoaks. Now a National Trust property, it is over 500 years old and was once the palace of archbishops and royal property of the Tudor dynasty. Knole has previously featured in productions such as Great British Railway Journeys – Series 7 (2016), Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (2011) and Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides (2011).

Medieval and Tudor style manor house, Penshurst Place is set in gorgeous parkland and boasts period rooms and formal Elizabethan gardens. Penshurst Place is a popular film location, having previously welcomed productions such as Wolf Hall (2015), The Great Fire (2014) and The Hollow Crown – Henry V (2012)

Situated on the White Cliffs of Dover, overlooking the English Channel is the stunning medieval fortress – Dover Castle. A popular film location, Dover Castle has featured in Into the Woods (2015), Poirot “The Clocks” (2009) and Hamlet (1990).

To celebrate the cinematic release and the locations that were used in the film, the Kent Film Office and Kent Tourism Alliance in association with Universal, National Trust, English Heritage, Penshurst Place, Hever Castle and the Heart of Kent released a movie map in 2011 to highlight the Kent locations to the world! You can download your own The Other Boleyn Girl movie map and to find out more about the Kent Campaign at: https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/kent-movie-map/austens-in-kent/

The Other Boleyn Girl features in the Kent Film Office Tudor(ish) Trail, released in May 2016, celebrating Kent’s Tudor history and film connections.

The film was released on 7th March 2008 and is now available on DVD.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map. 


Son of Rambow (2008)

Will Pouter and Bill Milner standing in front of a lake in uniform, both with moody looks on their faces

Will Pouter as Lee Carter and Bill Milner as Will © Optimum Releasing

Director and Writer: Garth Jennings

Production Company: Hammer & Tongs, Celluloid Dreams, Good Film Productions, Arte France Cinéma, Network Movie Film-und Fernsehproduktion, Reason Pictures, Soficinéma 2, Soficinéma 3, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Kent Filming Locations: Richborough Power Station, Sandwich

Set during a long English summer in the 80’s, two boys, Will (Bill Milner) and Lee Carter (Will Poulter) watch a pirate copy of Rambo: First Blood and set about making their own version.

Bill Milner crouched on the ground of a forest staring away from the camera

Bill Milner as Will Proudfoot in Son of Rambow © Optimum Releasing

Will’s religious upbringing means that he has never been allowed to watch TV, listen to music or mix with the outside world, whilst Lee is the school’s trouble maker, known for his crazy home videos. After his first film viewing Will is persuade to partake in some death defying stunts; all in the name of Lee’s next filming project.

Will’s imaginative mind is not only given the chance to flourish in the world of film making, but also called upon to to dream up elaborate schemes to keep his new friendship a secret from his family.

The disused power station at Richborough, near Sandwich, provided the perfect backdrop for the kids to perform their crazy stunts and run wild. Abandoned in the mid 90’s,  the power station has now been demolished.

Sandwich is a medieval town situated on the River Stour and boasts golf clubs, eateries and B&B’s as well a museum, windmill and Roman Fort. The nearby Discovery Park has been used used for filming projects such as The Tunnel (2013) and World War Z (2013).

The film was released in cinemas in April 2008 and is now available to buy on DVD.

For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map.