Exodus (2007)

Posted on February 4, 2007 by Kent Film Office

cast and crew talking in front of a graffiti wall

Penny Directing on the set of Exodus © Phil Fisk/Channel 4 Television

Writer/Director: Penny Woolcock

Starring: Bernard Hill, Ger Ryan, Daniel Percival, Clare-Hope Ashitey

Production Company: Artangel Media, Arts Council of England, Channel 4 Television Corporation

Kent Filming Locations: Margate and surrounding areas.

Produced and commissioned by Artangel in collaboration with Channel 4 and the Arts Council UK, EXODUS is a retelling of the Old Testament story of Moses’ search of the Promised Land in a contemporary setting. Filmed entirely in Thanet, the feature length drama is directed by Penny Woolcock, featuring artwork by Anthony Gormley (Angel of the North).

The film stars Bernard Hill (Lord of the Rings, Titanic) as the Pharaoh and Ger Ryan (Queer as Folk, Fat Friends) as his wife. Moses is played by Daniel Percival (Vital Signs) and Zipporah by Clare-Hope Ashitey (Children of Men). All other characters, as well as the supporting cast, were played by people from Margate and the Isle of Thanet who also assisted behind the scenes.

Antony Gormley Waste Man © ThierryBal (kingsgate)

A highlight of the film is ‘Exodus Day’ which culminated in the burning of ‘Waste Man’ a 25 metre structure made of unwanted rubbish by artist Anthony Gormley. It also featured a performance at Margate’s Winter Gardens by local musicians, performing songs written exclusively for Exodus by artists like Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, The Tiger Lillies and Imogen Heap. The theme for he music were the ten Biblical plagues: Blood, Frogs, Lice, Death of ivestock, Boils, Hailstones, Locusts, Darkness and death of the first born

The entire project revolved around the involvement of the local community including students and staff from Margate Adult Education Centre. The students took on speaking roles and helped to make the props and sets for the film in their classes. Programme manager, Viv Smith, even abseiled Anthony Gormley’s Waste Man to help in its creation.

The crew of Exodus were delighted at the help they received and gave their thanks in the credits of the film for KAES, the students in the film and the tutors who help build the sets and worked on textiles.

Margate is a delightful seaside town with a sandy beach, harbour, arcades, and period housing. The area has been used for filming by projects including True Love (2012).

Exodus premiered at the 64th Venice Film Festival and will be screened in Cinemas and on Channel 4 on Monday 19th November 2007 at 10pm.

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

Tittybangbang Series 3 (2007)

Posted on February 4, 2007 by Kent Film Office

The Italian Maid with a feather duster standing in an open doorway with fields behind

The Italian Maid © Pett Television

Production Company: Pett Productions

Kent Locations: Maidstone Studios

This popular sketch show, produced by Pett Productions, is back for its third series. The show has an almost entirely female cast led by Lucy Montgomery and Debbie Chazen and is partially written by Bob Mortimer. Some of the more well known characters include Italian Maid, a shy exhibitionist and Magwash who provides local villagers with long and obscure tales.

The pilot of the show almost doubled BBC Three’s average audience share and obtained the highest audience for a new comedy aired on the channel. The programme is also available on broadband allowing internet viewers to catch previews of the show and catch up on past episodes they missed.

Magwash © Pett Television

Pett Productions was set up by Kent resident Bob Mortimer, Vic Reeves and Lisa Clark in 2001. The company is based at Maidstone Studios and filming takes place mainly in and around Kent.

Tittybangbang returns to BBC3 on Sunday 11^th November 2007.

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

The Golden Compass (2007)

Posted on February 4, 2007 by Kent Film Office

Nicole Kidman bending down with her hand underneath Dekota Blue Richards's chin. Both staring at each other.

Director: Chris Weitz

Writer: Philip Pullman (novel), Chris Weitz (screenplay)

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Ian McKellen

Production Company: New Line Cinema, Ingenious Film Partners, Scholastic Productions, Depth of Field

Kent Locations: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Adapted from the novel Northern Lights, first in Philip Pullmann’s best-selling His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass is about orphaned tomboy Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) lives with her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) in a world where people’s souls manifesrt as animal companions called daemons.

When Lyra’s friend, Roger, is kidnapped by Gobblers, she vows to rescue him. Help comes in the shape of an offer from the enigmatic Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman) and the priceless gift of an alethiometer, a golden compass. This device answers truthfully to any question it is asked, but first Lyra must learn how to decipher its mysterious symbols.

Behind the scenes image at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham- prop crates and barrels up against the building,

Behind the scenes image at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham © Visit Kent

Behind the scenes image at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham with props barrels and crates

Behind the scenes image at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham © Visit Kent

Dakota Blue Richards walking up a wooden ship plank towards the camera.

Daniel Craig staring at the camera in a suit with men sat around a table behind him

The sequence The Landing of Lyra and the Gyptians at the fictional Norwegian port of Trollesund was filmed at the Historic Dockyard Chatham . When Lyra first disembarks at the town of Trollesund, she did, in fact, step straight into the dockyard, where the Mast Houses and Mould Loft were dressed to look like the town’s harbour. CGI mountains were added to the background to create the illusion that the town has a fjord setting.

The meeting between Lyra and Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliot) was set in the impressive Slip 3, a great domed space built in 1838 which at the time of its construction was the largest timber structure in Europe.

Philip Pullman’s trilogy was first published in 1995 and won critical acclaim in the form of the coveted Carnegie Medal for Children’s fiction. The novels draw their inspiration from Milton’s Paradise Lost and like Harry Potter; have attracted their fair share of controversy.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham boasts a variety of buildings with period features ranging from Georgian to Victorian, right up to modern day and is becoming a popular film location and has been used by productions such as Sherlock Holmes (2009), Oliver Twist (2007) and Children of Men (2006).

The location is in the care of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, an independent charity whose task is to restore and preserve this important part of Britain’s national heritage.

The Golden Compass was released in cinemas in 2007 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries – Natural Causes (2006)

Posted on July 9, 2006 by Kent Film Office

Thomas Lynley and Detective Sergeant Barbara Haves standing next to each other facing the camera

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries © BBC

Starring: Sharon Small, Nathaniel Parker, Mary Stockley, Ben Lannoy, Liza Tarbuck, Nicholas Gleaves, Adrian Rawlins.

Production Company: BBC, WGBH

Kent Location: Dungeness

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a BBC One drama series about Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley of Scotland Yard and Detective Sergeant Barbara Haves who work together to solve unusual murder cases.

In ‘Natural Causes’, Detective Barbara Havers has been left without a partner after Detective Lynley’s suspension for threatening a suspect and is called in to solve the murder of a young woman, whose body was found after her car was shunted into a lake. Detective Lynley can’t help getting involved in the investigation, but will his participation help or hinder the case?

The series stars Sharon Small (About a Boy, Dear Frankie), Nathaniel Parker (Far From the Madding Crowd, Haunted Mansion), Mary Stockley (V for Vendetta, The Woman in Black), Ben Lannoy (Judge John Deed), Liza Tarbuck (Mount Pleasant Bonkers), Nicholas Gleaves (Scott & Bailey, Waterloo Road) and Adrian Rawlins (Dickensian, Harry Potter series).

Dungeness was used in Natural Causes as the area where the victim lived and Detective Barbara Havers (Sharon Small) and Detective Inspector Fiona Knight (Liza Tarbuck) interviewed the victim’s family and questioned suspects. The end of the episode culminates in a dramatic scene at the top of the Old Lighthouse in Dungeness.

Dungeness is a vast, natural space on the Kent coast and has a shingle beach, two lighthouses and power station. Dungeness is a popular film location having been used for ITV drama The Poison Tree (2012) and BBC drama series Parades End (2012) as well as various photo shoots.

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries Natural Causes was shown on BBC One in July 2006 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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

Pierrepoint (2006)

Posted on April 19, 2006 by Kent Film Office

The Last Hangman movieposter- Close up of a mans face looking scared, a rope noose to the right. Pierrepoint The Last Hang Man is written in yellow against a black background

The Last Hangman movie poster © IFC First Take

Writer: Bob Mills, Jeff Pope

Director: Adrian Shergold

Cast: Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, James Cordon

Production Company: UK Film Council, National Lottery through UK Film Council, Granada Television, Capitol Films, Masterpiece Theatre

Kent Filming Locations: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Pierrepoint is a feature film inspired by true events and is the story of Britain’s most famous hangman, Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall).

The film charts Pierrepoint’s meteoric rise to becoming Britain’s most famous hangman. Pierrepoint was present at the Nuremberg executions and the legendary hanging of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be given the death penalty in England.

Directed by Adrian Shergold (Persuasion, Dirty Filthy Love) and written by Bob Mills (Christmas Lights, Bob Martin) and Jeff Pope (Philomena). Starring Timothy Spall (Harry Potter Series, Sweeney Todd), Juliet Stevenson (Mona Lisa Smile, Bend it like Beckham), Eddie Marsan (Hancock, The Illusionist) and James Corden (The Wrong Mans, One Chance).

The Historic Dockyard Chatham was used to film a hanging scene and towards the end of the film, where Pierrepoint has to face an angry mob as public opinion towards capital punishment begins to change. One of the most popular filming locations in Kent, The Historic Dockyard Chatham has been used for Sherlock Holmes (2009), The Bank Job (2008) and The Golden Compass (2007).

Pierrepoint was released in cinemas in April 2006 and is now available to buy on DVD.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPHSw2X22Eg

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

We’ve Got The Toaster (2006)

Posted on February 4, 2006 by Kent Film Office

Lance (Jamie Mander) sat on a step in school uniform staring at the pavement, the legs of another student can be seen next to him

Lance (Jamie Mander) © Toaster Productions

Writer/Director: Mike Laloe

Production Company: Toaster Productions

Kent Filming locations: Tunbridge Wells

We’ve Got The Toaster was made on a tiny budget and took over 3 years from beginning to premiere. The cast and crew was made up of over 100 people, the vast majority of whom were under 18 when they started working on the project. Many of them had never been on a film set before. But they all had one thing in common ” they knew what it felt like to be teenager.

In the definitively middle-class Royal Tunbridge Wells, 16 year old Lance (Jamie Mander) has been romantically obsessed with Steph (Emma Blake) ‘the fittest thing since sliced fit” for exactly 3 years, 11 months and 25 and a half days’. And he’s barely even spoken to her!

Filming taking place in a shop © Toaster Productions

Unable to approach Steph, but desperate for something to change, Lance faces his worst fear ” of holding ‘the worst party ever’ when his parents go away for the weekend. Enlisting his enigmatic, porn-addicted best mate Henry (Rob Smith) to help plan things, Lance tries to work out what to do when “You’ve got no girls, no idea and 24 hours to throw a party”.

“A huge-hearted comedy tour de force from a future master story-teller” – James Delow, Producer ‘That Film Show’ Rapture TV.

“A deeply amusing and I believe accurate portrayal of the teenage psyche” – Henry Thomas, former head of Universal Pictures, London.

“Packed with wit and canny observation of character. Laloe is something of a modern-day Hogarth, revealing our everyday absurdities in a hilarious but also intelligent way.” – Steve Gough, Award winning Writer/Director of ‘Elenya’ and ‘Heartland’ starring Anthony Hopkins.

Tunbridge Wells is a town in West Kent, home to a host of historic buildings, specialist shops, churches and a busy town centre. Productions which have previously filmed in the area include Britain’s Best Bakery (2012), Terry and Mason’s Great Food Trip(2015) and Hunted (2012).

We’ve Got The Toaster premiered in Tunbridge Wells to an audience of 600 and was covered in a live report by the BBC that lasted for 4 minutes. The film was screened in independent cinemas in locations including London, Oxford and Brighton.

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

Gypo (2006)

Posted on February 4, 2006 by Kent Film Office

an actor leaping off a concrete structure into the air

The Leap © Medb Films

Writer/Director: Jan Dunn

Producer: Elaine Wickham

Production Company: Medb Films, British Broadcasting Corporation, Distant Eye Films, Molinare Studio, Spotty Dog Films, VMI

Starring: Pauline McLynn, Chloe Sirene, Paul McGann, Rula Lenska

Kent Filming Locations: East Kent College, Kingsgate Bay, Margate, Pegwell Bay, Port of Ramsgate, Ramsgate, Royal Harbour Hotel and the Wig & Pen pub

Gypo is a 2005 feature length film follows the breakup of a working class family when their teenage daughter befriends a Romany Czech refugee. Gypo told in three revelatory narratives, each from a particular character’s point of view, reveals how the disintegration of an ordinary working class family finally comes to a head when unexpected emotions are unleashed. An innovative, gripping and engaging journey into the heart of a dysfunctional British family on the Kent coast, Gypo reveals how suburban fears and tabloid sensationalism have come to perpetuate the myths surrounding refugees.

Jan Dunn (The Calling, Ruby Blue) directs and writes the screenplay to her debut feature length film. Pauline Mclynn (Father Ted, Eastenders, Angela’s Ashes) stars as Helen with a supporting cast including, Chloe Sirene (United 93, The Calling, Ruby Blue), Paul McGann (Alien 3, Withnail & I, Queen and the Damned).

The production filmed at a variety of locations in Thanet including East Kent College, Kingsgate Bay, Margate, Pegwell Bay, Port of Ramsgate, Ramsgate, Royal Harbour Hotel and the Wig & Pen pub.

Chloe Sirene and Freddie Connor running along Ramsgate Harbour In Gypo 2005 © Medb Films

Director Jan Dunn and Gypo Crew at Ramsgate Harbour © Medb Films

The Thanet area is made up of the towns Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, and boasts beautiful sandy beaches and busy vibrant towns. The area has been featured on screen in productions including The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016), The Lady in the Van (2015) and Top Dog Model (2012) .

Since their success with GYPO, Elaine Wickham and Jan Dunn, the team behind Medb Films have made a second feature set in East Kent, RUBY BLUE starring Bob Hoskins, as well as a short, MY MOTHER, both currently in post-production.

The film was released in November 2005 and is now available for DVD release.

With thanks to Jan Dunn and Elaine Wickham from Medb Films for the photos

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

Children of Men (2006)

Posted on February 4, 2006 by Kent Film Office

Clive Owen and Julianne Moore stood facing each other having a conversation in the Slip roof at Chatham Dockyards

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Writer: Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby

Starring: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Pam Ferris, Clare- Hope Ashitey

Production Company: Universal Pictures, Strike Entertainment,Hit & Run Productions, Ingenious Film Partners 2, Toho-Towa

Kent Filming Locations: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Adapted from P.D James’ novel of the same title, Children of Men is set in 2027, eighteen years after global human infertility has begun. The youngest citizen of the world has died at the age of 18 and in a world without children, or the possibility of children, there is no hope. Miraculously a young woman named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) falls pregnant against all expectation and a dormant activist, Theo (Clive Owen) is forced to decide whether he will fight for humanity’s survival by protecting mother and child or leave her to fend for herself.

Directed and written by Alfonso Cuarón (Great Expectations, Gravity) and starring Clive Owen (Sin City, The Knick) Julianne Moore (The Kids Are All Right, Still Alice), Michael Caine (The Dark Knight, Inception), Pam Ferris (Call The Midwife, Luther) and Clare- Hope Ashitey (Exodus, All Is by My Side).

The production filmed at Slip 3 at The Historic Dockyard Chatham is the setting for the rebel safe house where Julian first enlists Theo’s help to protect Kee, a young, Fijian woman who needs to leave the country. Will she make it out in time to give birth to the first child born in 19 years?

The Historic Dockyard Chatham is one of Kent’s most popular filming destinations previously hosting productions such as Call the Midwife (2012-2013), Les Miserables (2013) and Sherlock Holmes (2009).

Children of Men was released in cinemas in September 2006 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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

Miss Marple – The Moving Finger (2006)

Posted on February 4, 2006 by Kent Film Office

Geraldine McEwan and James D'Arcy staring into the camera in front of a period style house

Director: Tom Shankland

Writer: Kevin Elyot

Starring: Geraldine McEwan, James D’Arcy, Emilia Fox, Jessica Hynes, Kelly Brook, Sean Pertwee, Ken Russell , Harry Enfield .

Production Company: Granada, WGBH Boston, Agatha Christie

Kent Filming Locations: Chilham village, Chilham Castle, St Mary’s Church

Miss Marple is the popular ITV series adapted from Agatha Christie’s murder mystery novels. The Moving Finger is a feature length episode about a delightful countryside village named “Lymstock” where Jerry Burton (James D’Arcy) comes to recuperate after an accident, accompanied by his sister Joanna (Emilia Fox). Beneath the beautiful exterior of Lymstock lies an ugly web of deceit and evil unleashed by a poison pen writer and gruesome murders. Along with Miss Marple (Geraldine McEwan), Jerry Burton (James D’Arcy) look for clues to try and stop the killer in their tracks.

Kelly Brook and Harry Enfield along with other cast members looking down to the floor at a funeral, film crew are to the left filming them

Emilia Fox sat on a chair in costume signing autographs

Directed by Tom Shankland (Ripper Street, The Children) and starring many familiar faces including Geraldine McEwan (Vanity Fair, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), James D’Arcy (Cloud Atlas, Age of Heroes), Emilia Fox (Merlin, Randall & Hopkirk), Jessica Hynes (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Shaun of the Dead), Kelly Brook (The Italian Job, Piranha 3D), Sean Pertwee (Equilibrium, Event Horizon), Ken Russell (Waking the Dead, Zero) and Harry Enfield (Bad Education, Kevin & Perry Go Large).

The beautiful village of Chilham was chosen to represent the fictitious hamlet of Lymstock and the production also made use of other locations in the area including Chilham Castle which was used as Mr. Pye’s House and St Mary’s Church which doubled as Lymstock church and graveyard.

Chilham has a remarkable fifteenth century square of black and white timbered buildings and is no stranger to filming, having been used for other projects such as for a variety of filming projects including Channel 4 comedy Chickens (2011), BBC’s Emma (2009), and Hercule Poirots Christmas (1995).

The programme was shown on ITV in 2005 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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

Bleak House (2005)

Posted on December 23, 2005 by Kent Film Office

Bleak House filming at Cobham Hall - Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlock and Anna Maxwell Martin as Esther sat on a bench in a formal garden, cobham hall can be seen behind

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

Starring: Gillian Anderson, Ana Maxwell Martin, Carey Mulligan, Charles Dance, Patrick Kennedy & Denis Lawson

Production Company: BBC, WGBH, Deep Indigo Productions, Smallweed Productions

Kent Locations Used: Cobham Hall

This BBC A dramatic thriller set in Victorian England. It tells the story of the beautiful but icy Lady Dedlock (Gillian Anderson). Nursing a dark secret in her past, her merciless lawyer Tulkinghorn seeks to uncover it.

Running parallel to the central story, the generous John Jarndyce struggles with his own past and takes in two young wards Richard (Patrick Kennedy) and Ada (Carey Mulligan). Like the infamous Lady Dedlock, all three are caught up in the case of Jarndyce Vs Jarndyce, a court case many years long that is yet to be resolved. When it is, the winning party will be rich beyond all imagination.

The two young wards are accompanied by Esther Summerson (Ana Maxwell Martin), a woman of questionable background. Told she will never amount to anything, is she the key to Lady Dedlock’s secret?

First published in 1852, the novel was released in 19 instalments. To mirror Dickens’ original dramatic storyline and typical cliff-hanger endings, the TV adaptation was comprised of a one hour opening episode with subsequent 30 minute programmes lasting for 14 episodes. The programme was shown twice weekly in 2005 on BBC 1 and is now available to buy on DVD.

Behind the scenes filming of Bleak House at Cobham Hall © Terry Curran	Behind the scenes filming of Bleak House at Cobham Hall © Terry Curran
Behind the scenes filming of Bleak House at Cobham Hall gardens © Terry Curran	Gillian Anderson as Lady Dedlockk at Cobham Hall © Terry Curran

The BBC adaption stars Gillian Anderson (The Fall, Johnny English Reborn), Ana Maxwell Martin (Becoming Jane, Philomena), Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby, Suffragette), Charles Dance (The Imitation Game, Ghostbusters), Patrick Kennedy (Atonement, War Horse) and Denis Lawson (New Tricks, Broken).

Cobham Hall is a private boarding school near to Gravesend located in 150 acres of Grade II listed parkland. The interiors boast a stunning ball room, library, cobbled courtyards, formal gardens, classrooms as well as sports facilities, including a swimming pool. Cobham Hall is a popular film location having previously been used for Hetty Feather series 1-2 (2012), The Great Fire (2014) and Wild Child (2008).

Bleak House features in the Kent Film Office Dickens Trail which was laucnhed in 2012: https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/kent-movie-map/dickens-movie-trail/

Bleak House was shown on the BBC in 2005 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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

Kent's Premier Film Commission

Author: Kent Film Office

Exodus (2007)

Tittybangbang Series 3 (2007)

The Golden Compass (2007)

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries – Natural Causes (2006)

Pierrepoint (2006)

We’ve Got The Toaster (2006)

Gypo (2006)

Children of Men (2006)

Miss Marple – The Moving Finger (2006)

Bleak House (2005)