BBC one drama

Hard Sun (2018)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Promotional image showing Renko (AGYNESS DEYN) and Hicks (JIM STURGESS) against a London skyline

Agyness Deyn as Renko and Jim Sturgess as Hicks in BBC drama Hard Sun © BBC/Euston Films


Writer: Neil Cross

Director: Brian Kirk, Nick Rowland, Richard Senior

Starring: Agyness Deyn, Jim Sturgess

Production Company: Euston Films

Kent Locations Used: Thanet – Ramsgate Tunnel

Hard Sun is a new BBC One drama TV series set in a pre-apocalyptic criminal world which follows the story of two detectives attempting to retain law and order amongst the civilian population five days before the world is about to end.

Detective Robert Hicks (Jim Sturgess) is very corrupt and  must learn to work with honest copper, Detective Elaine Renko (Agyness Deyn) to save as many civilians as possible from the fast-approaching apocalypse.

Writer Neil Cross is well known for his ground breaking work on drama series Luther and the recent horror flick, Mama, both globally acclaimed. Director Brian Kirk has experience of directing several high profile series, including Game of Thrones and Luther. Nick Rowland is a relatively new director on the scene whose credits include BBC’s Cuffs and Ripper Street. Richard Senior who debuted as a director in 2011, is known for his work on a Doctor Who episode and two episodes for Poldark.

The stars of the show are  Agyness Deyn (Clash of the Titans, Hail, Caesar!),a supermodel turned actress and Jim Sturgess (Geostorm, The Other Boleyn Girl 2008) who gave up a music career in 2006 to become an actor.

In one Episode during the series Detective Hicks is thrown out of a van in a tunnel. For this tricky stunt work, the production visited Kent to use the Ramsgate Harbour Approach Tunnel.

The Ramsgate Harbour Approach Tunnel has been credited in The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016).

Hard Sun is set to begin on BBC One on 6th January 2018 at 9.35pm. There will be six hour-long episodes.

 

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

 

SS-GB (2017)

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Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer staring at the camera with barbed wire behind him on a red background

Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer (SAM RILEY) © Sid Gentle Films

Writers: Robert Wade and Neal Purvis

Starring: Sam Riley, Kate Bosworth, Aneurin Barnard, Rainer Bock, Jonathan Cass, James Cosmo, Maeve Dermody, Lars Eidinger, Kit Connor and James Northcote

Production Company: Sid Gentle Films, BBC

Kent locations used: The Historic Dockyards Chatham

Set in the 1940s, in an alternate world where the Germans won the Battle of Britain, BBC’s new five part series SS-GB follows Scotland Yard detective Douglas Archer (Sam Riley), who is investigating a murder in German-occupied England. The gripping new drama is an adaptation of Len Deighton’s 1978 novel and will be split into five parts.

Writers Robert Wade and Neal Purvis both studied Film and Photographic Arts at the University of Kent. Since then they have forged a successful career writing screenplays together, with their first success being the controversial drama Let Him Have It (1991). Both writers have also co-written five James Bond films, including Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012), which was the UK’s highest grossing movie!

Archer (Sam Riley) and Harry Woods (James Cosmo) standing in an office room

Episode 1 Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer (SAM RILEY), Harry Woods (JAMES COSMO) © Sid Gentle Films

SS-GB brings together a fantastic cast including, Sam Riley (Maleficent, Control), Kate Bosworth (Still Alice, Superman Returns), Aneurin Barnard (Citadel, The Truth About Emanuel), Rainer Bock (War Horse, Inglorious Basterds and Unknown), Jonathan Cass (Transformers: The Last Knight, Kingsman: The Golden Circle), James Cosmo (Braveheart and Troy), Maeve Dermody (Black Water, Marcella), Lars Eidinger (Clouds of Sils Maria, Everyone Else), Kit Connor (Get Santa, Mr Holmes) and James Northcote (The Imitation Game).

Exterior street scenes were shot at The Ropery and Anchor Wharf and also around the church and South Stables. The Tarred Yarn store was featured as a mortuary and there was also a small scene in The Commissioners House garden.

Set over 80 acres with more than 100 Victorian and Georgian buildings, The Historic Dockyard Chatham is one of Kent’s most popular film locations and has previously been used for the BBC TV series Call The Midwife (2012-present), The Crown (2016) and most recently The Halcyon (2017).

SS-GB premiers on Sunday 19th February 2017 at 21:00pm on BBC One

 

 

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

New Blood (2016)

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New Blood written in balck, Stefan (MARK STREPAN) and Rash (BEN TAVASSOLI) headshots in front of a derelict landscape

New Blood Stefan (MARK STREPAN), Rash (BEN TAVASSOLI) © BBC / 11th Hour Films

Director: Anthony Philipson

Starring: Mark Strepan, Ben Tavassoli, Ariyon Bakare, Dorian Lough, Rachel Palmer, Aiysha Hart, Matt Bardock, Mark Bonnar, Mandana Jones

Production company: Eleventh Hour Films

Kent Locations Used: the M2 and Medway Services

New Blood is a new, seven part investigative drama, created and written by bestselling author Anthony Horowitz (Foyle’s War, Collision). The story follows Stefan (Mark Strepan) and Rash (Ben Tavassoli) who are junior investigators for the Serious Fraud Office and the police respectively, brought together by two seemingly unrelated cases.

The duo comes up against the rich and powerful as well as criminals who hide behind legitimate facades and are guarded by lawyers. As their friendship grows, they understand that they make a formidable crime-solving team.

The series stars Mark Strepan (The Mill, Northmen – A Viking Saga), Ben Tavassoli (Tomorrow, Healey’s House), Ariyon Bakare (Doctors, The Dark Knight), Dorian Lough (Notting Hill, Far from the Madding Crowd), Aiysha Hart (Atlantis, Honour), Matt Bardock (Casualty, Sixty Six), Mark Bonnar (Casualty, Catastrophe) and Mandana Jones (Bad Girls Random Quest).

The production visited Kent in September 2015 to film driving sequences the M2 motorway as well as Medway services.

Medway is a group of towns set along the River Medway, steeped in history, particularly with Charles Dickens connections. Rochester City offers beautiful cobbled streets, parks as well as a Cathedral and castle. The Medway area has previously been used for filming by projects including Secret Britain (2016), Black Sea (2014) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012).

New Blood will start Thursday June 9th 2016 at 21:00 on BBC One.

 

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

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries – Natural Causes (2006)

Posted on 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.