Suffragette (2015)

Suffragette film poster- The three sufragetters facing the camera with "The Time is Now" "Suffrafettes" written on top

Suffragette film poster © Pathe

Director: Sarah Gavron

Writer: Abi Morgan

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Anne-Marie Duff

Production Companies: Film4, BFI, Ingenious Media, Canal+, Ciné+, Ruby Films

Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Told through the eyes of a young mother, Suffragette is a powerful film about the foot soldiers of the suffragette movement in late 19th and early 20th century Britain. When peaceful protests fail, a group of suffragettes take radical moves to be heard, risking their jobs, homes, families and even their lives.

Carey Mulligan as Maud looking out of a window next to a vase of flowers

Carey Mulligan as Maud © Pathe

The film is directed by Sarah Gavron (Brick Lane, This Little Life) and written by Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady).

Featuring an all-star cast including Carey Mulligan (Drive, An Education), Helena Bonham Carter (Alice In Wonderland, Fight Club), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada, The Hours), Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, Cloud Atlas), Brendan Gleeson (Edge of Tomorrow, Troy) and Anne-Marie Duff (Nowhere Boy, Notes on a Scandal).

The production visited The Historic Dockyard Chatham for a week in February 2014 which doubled as the exterior to the Bethnal Green Laundry, a factory and a prison cell.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime heritage location set over an 80 acre site. The location boasts a variety of Georgian and Victorian architecture, maritime environment, cobbled streets, and industrial buildings. The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a popular film location and has previously been seen on screen in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) Our World War (2014) and Mr Selfridge (2012-2015).

Suffragette was released in cinemas on Monday 12th October 2015 and is now available for DVD and online purchase.

 

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

 

 


Bleak House (2005)

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

Bleak House filming at Cobham Hall © BBC and Terry Curran

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 - courtyard with people walking, horse and carriage driving past

Behind the scenes filming of Bleak House at Cobham Hall © Terry Curran

 

Behind the scenes filming of Bleak House at Cobham Hall - brick house with crew outside and a white horse on the grass in front

Behind the scenes filming of Bleak House at Cobham Hall © Terry Curran

Cast and crew filming outside at Cobham Hall gardens- fields and gardens can be seen in the background

Behind the scenes filming of Bleak House at Cobham Hall gardens © Terry Curran

cast members in costume in the gardens of Cobham hall.

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. 


Pride and Prejudice (2005)

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.