Brian Kirk

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. 

 

Great Expectations (2011)

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Douglas Booth, Ray Winstone, Gillian Anderson, David Suchet and Vanessa Kirby staring into the camera in front of a misty sky and house

Great Expectations featuring Douglas Booth, Ray Winstone, Gillian Anderson, David Suchet and Vanessa Kirby © BBC

Directed By: Brian Kirk

Written By: Charles Dickens (Novel) & Sarah Phelps (Adaptation)

Starring: Gillian Anderson, David Suchet, Ray Winstone, Douglas Booth & Harry Lloyd.

Production Company: BBC and Masterpiece co-production

Kent Locations Used: St Thomas A Beckett Church in Fairfield

This three part mini-series based on Charles Dickens novel, Great Expectations has been adapted by writer, Sarah Phelps (Oliver Twist, Dickensian). The story centers on orphan Pip (Douglas Booth) and his transformation to becoming a gentlemen when a mysterious benefactor leaves him a large sum of money.

This BBC production was directed by Brian Kirk (Luther, Game of Thrones) and stars Douglas Booth (Noah, Jupiter Ascending), Ray Winstone (The Departed, Snow White and the Huntsman), Gillian Anderson (The X Files, Hannibal) and David Suchet (Agatha Christie’s Poirot, The Bank Job).

This adaption forms the centrepiece of the BBC’s celebration of Dickens as we move into 2012 and the bicentenary of his birth.  The most recent version of the novel to have been shot by the BBC was in 1999 and starred Ioan Gruffudd as Pip and Charlottte Rampling as Miss Havisham. This version aims to capture the romance whilst giving it a thrilling edge.

For those unfamiliar with the story, it tells of young orphan Phillip Pirrip (Pip) who lives with his sister and her husband, the kindly blacksmith Joe Gargery. Local spinster Miss Havisham requests his company at her home where she entertains herself by encouraging her adopted daughter Estella to be cruel to the young boy.  As he grows up, Pip’s circumstances change after the visit from Mr Jaggers who brings news that an unknown benefactor has left a substantial fortune on the condition that the boy is educated as a gentleman. Consequently, Pip travels to London where he lodges with Herbert Pocket, a boy from his youth and it is there that Pip finally learns the truth about his benefactor.

The filming for this adaption took place near Fairfield, at the isolated St Thomas Becket Church, which is situated on Romney Marsh. This iconic location was the ideal setting for the opening scenes, where Pip visits his parent’s graves and instantly the theme is set in a melancholy manner. Dickens found inspiration for this scene from another Kentish Church, St James’ at Cooling, on the marshes near the Hoo Peninsula.

An interesting piece of trivia for Dickens fans of Dickens is the fact that the role of Herbert Pocket, Pip’s friend in London, is played by none other than Charles Dickens’s great, great, great grandson Harry Lloyd, who also featured in a remake of David Copperfield starring a young Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter). Filming took place near Fairfield, at the isolated St Thomas A Becket Church. Situated on Romney Marsh, it was the perfect setting for the bleak opening scenes of the novel where Pip visits the graves of his parents. Another Kentish church, St James’ at Cooling on the marshes near the Hoo Peninsula , inspired Dickens to write this dramatic scene which also introduces Pip’s nemesis, prisoner Magwitch.

Great Expectations also features in the Kent Film Office Dickens Trail which launched in 2012.

Great Expectations aired on BBC1 from Tuesday 27 December 2011 at 9pm and is now available for DVD purchase.

 

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