Whitstable Pearl (2021-2022)

Kerry Godliman as restaurant owner Pearl Nolan is centre of the image wearing a green top and blue apron. She has blonde hair and behind her is a pebble beach with boats and fishing huts

Whitstable Pearl stars Kerry Godliman as restaurant owner Pearl Nolan © Acorn TV

Creator: Julie Wassmer
Starring: Kerry Godliman, Howard Charles, Sophia Del Pizzo, Frances Barber
Production Company: Buccaneer Media
Kent Locations Used: Whitstable, Canterbury, Faversham, Herne Bay, Margate, Ramsgate, Detling, Dover, Sevenoaks, Rochester

Based on the much loved series of novels ‘The Whitstable Pearl Mysteries’ by Kent resident Julie Wassmer (EastEnders, London’s Burning), Whitstable Pearl (2021-2022) is a detective series for Acorn TV. The story follows big-hearted local restaurant owner Pearl Nolan (Kerry Godliman) who sets up a local detective agency after undergoing police training in an earlier career. She is soon embroiled in her first case when she discovers the body of close friend, Vinnie. Pearl forms an unlikely partnership with DCI Mike McGuire (Howard Charles) and finds herself pulled into the dark underbelly of the picturesque town she calls home.

Whitstable Pearl was adapted for screen by Norwegian filmmaker Øystein Karlsen (One Night, Dag). Kerry Godliman (After Life, Call the Midwife (2012-2023)) headlines the show as Pearl Nolan alongside Howard Charles as DCI Mike McGuire (Shadow and Bone, Liar Series 2 (2020))and Frances Barber (Cold Feet, Queens of Mystery (2020-2021)) as Pearl’s mum Dolly.

A woman with red hair and a black hat (Frances Barber as Dolly) walks along the sea shore with a woman wearing a black coat carrying a box (Kerry Godliman as Pearl Nolan). In the distance is the shoreline with houses and a beach

Frances Barber as Pearl’s mother Dolly (left) and Kerry Godliman as Pearl Nolan © Mark Bourdillon / Acorn TV

For both Series 1 and 2, most of the filming took place in and around Whitstable itself, including scenes filmed by the coast at Whitstable Harbour, Whitstable Beach, Whitstable Yacht Club and Tankerton Beach. In Series 1, Whitstable High Street features and local shops were filmed including Iain’s Plaice (fish and chip restaurant) and art gallery Chappell Contemporary as Houlihan’s Hardware store. Other Whitstable businesses filmed for Series 1 include the Cemetery, Football Ground, MFA Bowl and Seaview Holiday Park, which features as the trailer park where Vinnie lives. Several private residences were used for filming, including Beacon House as Pearl’s House for Series 1, the exterior of The Ness as Mike’s Flat in Series 2 Episode 2, The Warehouse Cottages for the same episode, and various private residences on Island Wall for Series 2 Eps 1 and 2. Filming took place at The Old Neptune pub, which doubled as the Pearson’s Arms for both series. Whitstable train station also features briefly in Series 2 Ep 2 as Pearl trails a suspected cheating spouse.

The Kent Events Centre was used as a studio build location in Series 1 for interiors of Pearl’s seafood restaurant.

Meanwhile, Margate in Thanet features in both series with Margate Beach and The Walpole Hotel doubling for Whitstable seaside scenes in Series 1, Dreamland and the Nayland Rock Hotel featuring in Series 2 as a theme park and The Bradford Hotel. For Series 1, production also filmed at St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church on Canterbury Road in nearby Westgate-on-Sea. The Port of Ramsgate and Royal Harbour Marina double for the Port of Dover cruise terminal and Dover Marina in Series 1.

Dover features multiple times in Series 2, with locations such as The White Cliffs, Port of Dover, Lydden Spout Battery and Western Heights making an appearance in Episode 1, along with various nearby roads. The Citadel also appears in both series, doubling as a police station. The Citadel also features in Series 1 as a children’s home, and in Series 2 Episode 1 the location’s tunnels feature as the setting for the dramatic confrontation between Kruz Tomlin (Yaw Nimako-Asamoah) and his stepfather Leo (Oliver Walker).

For Series 2, production also visited various locations in Sevenoaks, including a private house which doubled as Dolly’s House, Stonepitts PYO Farm and the St Clere Estate which doubles as Zelda St John’s (Stephanie Beacham) mansion.

Rochester High Street in Medway appears in Series 2, with local businesses Baggin’s Book Bazaar, Kiss the Bride and a former Estate Agents featuring in Episodes 2 and 3.

Interior scenes for Series 1 were filmed at the former St Martin’s Hospital in Canterbury doubling as a police station and a hospital. Other filming locations for Series 1 include a field near Faversham at Belmont Park and private residence in Herne Bay.

Whitstable is a 16th century thriving seaside resort in Kent. Known for its native oysters, Whitstable boasts a working fishing harbour, shingle beach and busy high street. Recent productions to film in the town include The Great Pottery Throw Down – Series 3 (2020) and The Thames: Britain’s Great River With Tony Robinson (2019).

Beacon House is a colonial clapboard wooden turn of the century Beach House.  Set above beach on a private sea road, the grounds include wild woodland gardens and views out to sea and lines of beach huts. Catastrophe Series 4 (2019) filmed at this location.

The Kent Events Centre based in Detling is the largest, most flexible conference and exhibition venue in Kent, offering 7,000 sqm of indoor space available to film productions as studio space and 200 acres of outdoor space.

Margate is a traditional seaside town complete with sandy beach, harbour, amusement park, period housing and ultra-modern art gallery Turner Contemporary. The Walpole Hotel was built for discerning guests in 1914 and extended in 1927.  Built over 5 floors it has 42 Bedrooms, 2 flats and a newly added small museum space. Dreamland is considered to be the oldest-surviving amusement park in Great Britain, and has played host to a variety of productions, including Killing Eve (2018-2022), Two Weeks to Live (2020) and Jellyfish (2018). Located nearby, The Nayland Rock Hotel also featured in Killing Eve (2018-2022), as well as King of Thieves (2018).

Westgate-on-Sea is a charming Victorian town, steeped in Heritage with quaint shops and two fantastic blue flag beaches. Margate is popular as a film locations with recent productions including Two Weeks to Live (2020), Pandemonium (2020) and Top Boy (2019-2022).

The Port of Ramsgate offers 32 acres of dedicated Port Land including 3 modern Ro-Ro bridges and Water and bunker facilities on all berths. It is often used as ‘stand-in’ for the Port of Dover. Royal Harbour Marina offers 700 finger moorings set in a picturesque and historic harbour setting. Crime dramas to previously film at the Port of Ramsgate include The Tunnel: Vengeance (2017) and Baptiste (2019).

Dover houses the major port, connecting the UK with the European mainland. Dover Castle towers above the town, signalling Dover’s strategic importance in the defence of the country and the White Cliffs are one of the most recognised landmarks in Britain. Recent productions to have filmed in Dover include Pistol (2022), Rogue Agent (2022), and The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016).

The Citadel, located on Dover‘s Western Heights was constructed in the late 1700’s as a port of defence during the Napoleonic war. Most recently it has been used as a borstal, prison, and immigration detention centre up until its closure in 2015. It is now becoming popular as a filming location and has welcomed several productions over the past year – soon to broadcast.

The town of Sevenoaks has a varied landscape, featuring a bustling high street, stately homes and castles as well as beautiful countryside. Located in that countryside is the St Clere Estate, which offers stunning views of the North Downs, formal gardens, paddocks, a kitchen garden, orangery, green houses, and a temple by the lake. Built in 1630, it has some fine architectural examples of the Caroline era. It has recently played host to a variety of productions including The Great (2020-2023), Gangs of London (2020-2022) and The Third Day (2020).

Rochester is a city with the feel of a medieval market town, including a cathedral, castle ruin and unspoilt high street by the River Medway. Other productions to have filmed in Rochester include Unforgotten (2021), Jekyll and Hyde (2015) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012).

Herne Bay is a coastal resort popular for filming along the Kent coast. Kate & Koji (2020-2022) is a recent production to film here. Faversham is a beautiful historic market town set on Faversham Creek. TV productions to film in the area include Hetty Feather Series 1 – 6 (2015 – 2020) and Celebrity Antiques Road Show – Series 8 (2018).

St Martin’s Hospital is a large building on the outskirts of busy Canterbury town centre. It has hosted filming for crime drama The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016) and The Tunnel: Vengeance (2017).

Series 1 of Whitstable Pearl was released on Acorn TV on Monday 24th May 2021.

Whitstable Pearl Series 2 will be released as a box set on Acorn TV on Monday 28th November 2022.

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


Queens of Mystery (2020-2021)

Cast Julie Graham, Siobhan Redmond, and Sarah Woodward standing by a table full of books outside a church with bunting in the background.

Queens of Mystery (2019) © Sly Fox Productions

Directors: Ian Emes, Theresa Varga, Jamie Magnus Stone
Starring: Julie Graham, Siobhan Redmond, Sarah Woodward and Olivia Vinall (Series 1), Florence Hall (Series 2)
Production Company: Sly Fox Productions Limited
Kent Locations Used: Farningham, Cranbrook, Smarden, Lympne Castle, Woodchurch Windmill

Queens of Mystery (2020-2021) follows the adventures of detective Matilda Stone (Olivia Vinall – Series 1; Florence Hall – Series 2) and her three crime writing aunts Cat Stone (Julie Graham), Jane Stone (Siobhan Redmond), and Beth Stone (Sarah Woodward) as they attempt to solve crimes in the picturesque English village of Wildemarsh.

Created and written by Julian Unthank (Doc Martin, New Tricks), with Mathew Thomas (Marcella (2016)The Chameleon) writing four episodes, each series consists of three murder mysteries told in six episodes.

The principal cast includes Julie Graham (SurvivorsShetland), Siobhan Redmond (The Smoking RoomCaptives) and Sarah Woodward (The Merry Wives of Windsor) with Florence Hall (The Princess Switch: Switched Again, The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star) joining in Series 2 to take over from Olivia Vinall (The Woman in White, Where Hands Touch). Other regulars include Martin Trenaman (The Inbetweeners Movie, PhoneShop), Andrew Leung (Cruella, Lilting), Michael Elcock (The Grey Tarmac Road) and Rebecca Grant (Holby City, Showtrial). Juliet Stevenson (Bend it Like Beckham, Truly Madly Deeply) was Emmy-nominated as a narrator in Series 1 and reprises the role for Series 2.

Queens of Mystery‘s impressive guest cast have included Josette Simon (Wonder Woman (2017), The Witches), Nancy Carroll (The Crown (2016-2023), Stephen), Mark Heap (Friday Night Dinner, Stardust), Danny Webb (Humans (2016), Liar (2017-2020)), Michelle Collins (EastEnders, Death in Paradise), Omid Djalili (His Dark Materials, Lucky Man), Emma McDonald, Charlie Maher (The Titans That Built America, Black Narcissus), Rufus Hound (Trollied, Zapped), Sarah Hadland (Miranda, Horrible Histories (2019-2023)), Sara Stewart (Batman Begins, Doctor Foster) and Colin McFarlane (Outlander, Little Princess).

Behind the scenes photo from the set of Series 2 of Queens of Mystery. A man stands in the background of the photo wearing a police uniform and cap. In the foreground are the hands of someone from the crew holding a clapperboard open.

Behind the scenes of Series 2 of Queens of Mystery (2021) © Sly Fox Productions

Series 2 sees lead director Ian Emes return to direct two of the three murder mysteries, with Theresa Varga (Secret Life of Boys, Hetty Feather (2015-2020)) directing the middle block. Both series’ make use of multiple filming locations in Kent.

Production visited several locations in Farningham for the hero village of Wildemarsh. Beth’s cottage, which features throughout Series 1 and 2, was filmed on the Mill Estate. In Series 2, the exterior of the doctor’s surgery as well as of Victoria Durrell’s (Selina Griffiths) and Henry Wade’s (Aki Omoshaybi) houses and Rachel’s Papers shop were also filmed on the Mill Estate. Wadard Books on the High Street doubles as the Murder Ink bookshop and Jane’s house. Farningham Village Store also features as Wildemarsh Village store and the entrance to The Corn Exchange Theatre in Series 1. Farningham has previously been used as a filming location for Flesh and Blood (2020).

Production used Lympne Castle as Hiddledean Castle in the Series 1 episode entitled Murder in The Dark. Lympne Castle is an unspoiled 13th century Manor in the Folkestone & Hythe district of Kent that boasts stunning views of the Romney Marsh. It has previously been used as a filming location for The Honourable Woman (2014) and Great Expectations (2012).

In the Death By Vinyl episode in Series 1, Stoneydale craft shop in Cranbrook was converted into the The Sound and Fury record shop in Wildemarsh. Cranbrook also features as the High Street throughout both series. In the Series 2 episode Sparring with Death, Part 1, St Dunstan’s Church and graveyard in Cranbrook feature when Matilda and Beth visit the grave of Beth’s husband.

St Michael’s Churchyard in Smarden was used as the Wildemarsh churchyard, and a private residence in Water Lane featured as the village’s Embittered Hack Pub in Series 1. Productions that previously filmed in Smarden include The Mirror Crack’d (1980).

Woodchurch Windmill in Ashford features as the exterior of Wildemarsh Windmill throughout both series. The view from the mill to the village below also features throughout.

Series 1 launched on 29th April 2020 on Acorn TV and can be found here.

Series 2 of Queens of Mystery was released on AcornTV on Monday 29th November 2021.

Lead actress Florence Hall sits at a wooden desk in a bedroom with lime green walls. She has a platinum blonde bob haircut, and wears a blue shirt with black and grey flowers printed on it. On the desk are multiple files stacked on top of one another, and she holds a sheet of paper in her hand. She looks off to the right hand side of the frame, and on the left hand side a TV camera is pointed at her.

Behind the scenes of Queens of Mystery Series 2 (2021) ©Sly Fox Productions

 

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