Brenda Blethyn

Kate & Koji (2020-2022)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Koji sits at a table in a dated looking café. He holds a white mug and has a full English breakfast in front of him. Kate stands behind him, wearing a green apron and smiling at the camera.

Brenda Blethyn as Kate and Okorie Chukwu as Koji in Kate and Koji (2020-2022) © Hat Trick Productions

Writers: Andy Hamilton, Guy Jenkin
Director: Ben Kellett
Starring: Brenda Blethyn, Jimmy Akingbola (Series 1), Okorie Chukwu (Series 2), Blake Harrison, Barbara Flynn, Meera Syal
Production Company: Hat Trick Productions, ITV Studios
Kent Locations Used: Romney House, School Road, Charing, Herne Bay Beach, Pier & Promenade

Kate & Koji (2020-2022) is a six-part TV sitcom about a working-class woman played by Brenda Blethyn (Vera, Pride & Prejudice (2005)) who runs an old-fashioned café in a neglected seaside town. Kate develops an unexpected and spirited friendship with Koji, an asylum-seeking African doctor (Jimmy Akingbola – Series 1 (In the Long Run (2019), Bel-Air); Okorie Chukwu – Series 2 (The Complex: Lockdown (2020)). Although from very different worlds, they are similar in ways which they do not recognise, including a dogged determination to never back down!

Kate’s resourceful nephew ‘Medium’ played by Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners (2010), Big Bad World (2013)) is often on hand to act as peacemaker. Barbara Flynn (The Durrells, Cracker) also stars as Kate’s lifelong nemesis Councillor Bone, and in Series 1, Meera Syal (Back to Life (2019-2021), The Split (2020)) guest stars as an adversarial GP to Koji.

The series is directed by Ben Kellett and written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. It is a Hat Trick Production for ITV Studios filmed on location in Kent and at Elstree Studios in front of a live audience.

The seaside café for the TV sitcom was filmed at Frasiers Pie and Mash Shop in Herne Bay, standing in for the fictional seaside town of Seagate. For Series 1, the production also filmed exteriors of The Divers Arms pub and various scenes around the Promenade and Pier and an exterior scene at Herne Bay Industrial Estate. A further sequence was shot on the Promenade featuring a storm and its after-effects.

Series Two returned to Herne Bay for exterior filming and once again filmed along the Pier and Promenade, as well as the Neptune Arm and the Bandstand, which doubled as the exterior to a Community Centre.

A damaged road sign saying ‘Seagate’ on the side of a coastal road with the sea in background.

Herne Bay stands in for the fictional seaside town of Seagate © Hat Trick Productions

Herne Bay is a seaside town which has a Pier and shingle beach and is set just outside of the historic City of Canterbury. Recent productions to film in the area include Blue Planet UK – Series 1 (2019), The 1900 Island – Series 1 (2019) and Coast vs Country (2016).

Series 2 of Kate and Koji began airing on ITV on Wednesday 16th March 2022 at 9PM.

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

On a Clear Day (2005)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Frank (Peter Mullan) looking out at the sea with mountains in the background

On A Clear Day © Icon Film Distribution

Director: Gaby Dellal

Writer: Alex Rose

Starring: Peter Mullan, Brenda Blethyn, Jamie Sives, Billy Boyd, Sean McGinley, Ron Cook, Jodhi May, Benedict Wong

Production Company: Baker Street, Forthcoming Productions, Glasgow Film Finance, InFilm Productions, Isle of Man Film, Scottish Screen, Take Film Partnerships 

Kent Locations Used: The White Cliffs of Dover, the Port of Dover                                

On a Clear Day is the story of a middle-aged Glasgow shipbuilder, Frank (Peter Mullan –Trainspotting, Tyrannosaur) who is suddenly made redundant and starts to feel lost. When his friend jokes that he could swim the Channel on a clear day, Frank decides to take the challenge on, unbeknown to his family. Will Frank be successful and will he be able to repair his strained relationships? 

Alongside Peter Mullan stars Brenda Blethyn (Pride and Prejudice, Atonement), Jamie Sives (Clash of the Titans, Get Him to the Greek), Billy Boyd (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy The, Forger), Sean McGinley (Braveheart, Love/Hate), Ron Cook (Chocolat, Hot Fuzz), Jodhi May (Defiance, Ginger and Rosa) and Benedict Wong (Prometheus, Kick Ass 2).

Frank (Peter Mullan) at the foot of the White Cliffs of Dover with his friends preparing for the swim

On A Clear Day © Icon Film Distribution

The production visited Kent to shoot at the foot of the White Cliffs of Dover where Frank (Peter Mullan) starts his swim of the English Channel and the famous cliffs can also be seen in the background throughout his challenge.

The Port of Dover was used for the scenes where Frank’s family and friends race to meet him in France at the end of his swim.

Dover is a busy town that boasts the historic Dover Castle as well as the famous White Cliffs of Dover. It is also home to Europe’s busiest passenger port, facing France across the narrowest part of the English Channel.

Productions that have previously filmed in the Dover area include Sherlock Holmes – A Game of Shadows (2011), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) and Johnny English (2003).

On Clear Day was released in cinemas in September 2005 and is now available on DVD.

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

Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Elizabeth Bennett (Keira Knightley) and Mrs Bennet (Brenda Blethyn) running down some steps in a garden, plants and shrubbery either side of path

Elizabeth Bennett (Keira Knightley) and Mrs Bennet (Brenda Blethyn)

Director: Joe Wright

Writer: Deborah Moggach

Starring: Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn, Matthew Macfadyen, Judy Dench, Talulah Riley, Kelly Reilly, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Jena Malone, Carey Mulligan

Production Company: Focus Features, Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films, Scion Films

Kent Filming Locations: Groombridge Place and Gardens

Jane Austen’s classic love story “Pride and Prejudice” is adapted for the big screen with an all-star cast which follows Elisabeth Bennett (Keira Knightley) through the trials and tribulations of love in the 1800’s. A first encounter between head strong Elisabeth and the rich and cold Mr. Darcy (Matthew Macfadyen) leaves Elisabeth hating him and declaring that he is the ‘last person’ she could ever marry. Are they able to overcome their ‘pride and prejudices’ to realise that they truly are meant to be together?

Directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Hanna) and starring a wealth of acting talent including Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean series, Anna Karenina), Brenda Blethyn (Vera, Secrets and Lies), Matthew Macfadyen (The Three Musketeers, Frost/Nixon), Judy Dench (Philomena, Skyfall), Talulah Riley (Inception,  St. Trinian’s), Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes, Flight), Rosamund Pike (Jack Reacher, Die Another Day), Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, The Italian Job), Jena Malone (Step Mom, Sucker Punch) and Carey Mulligan (Drive, Never Let Me Go).

Keira sitting under a tree at Groombridge holding a stick

Elizabeth Bennett (Keira Knightley) sitting under a tree at Groombridge © Groombridge Place

Groombridge Place in Tunbridge Wells was chosen for the perfect location to where they made use of the 17th century house, gardens, extensive woodlands and lake which doubled as the Bennett’s house and grounds.

Jane Austen has many connections with the county as her family originated from Kent and her brother Edward Knight owned Godmersham Park which lies between Ashford and Canterbury. Both Jane and her sister Cassandra were frequent visitors; this is perhaps why Kent appears throughout her novel Pride and Prejudice and it is therefore no surprise that Kent was chosen as the prime location for the new adaptation.

Pride and Prejudice was released in cinemas in September 2005 and can now be bought on DVD.

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