Dickens

Dickens Secret Lover (2008)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
David Haig and Amy Shiels in period costumes. David looking up to the ceiling and Amy is behind looking at him

David Haig as Dickens and Amy Shiels as Nelly © Channel 4

Director: Sarah Aspinall

Writer: Jim Barton

Production Company:  Flame Television Production Ltd.

Kent Filming Locations: Charles Dickens Chalet at Eastgate House Rochester and Theatre Royal Margate.

Dickens’ Secret Lover is screening on Channel 4 as part of their Victorian Passions season, examining Charles Dickens’ private life. The programme reveals the secret life of the literary giant,  in which he abandons his wife for a long lasting affair with a very young actress.

Charles Dance sat on a chair facing the camera. Colourful curtains are behind him.

Charles Dance presenting Dickens

The programme is presented by Charles Dance, an actor who was seen most recently in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House as the callous Tulkinghorn. Dance takes on the role of detective in this drama-documentary, questioning five Dickens’ experts on how the affair affected his writing and his public character of a virtuous Victorian. Key scenes are dramatised to give the viewer a more in depth understanding of Dickens (played by David Haig) and his secret life with actress Nelly, played by Amy Shiels.

Charles Dickens’ is arguably Kent’s most famous author, having lived both at Gad’s Hill in Higham and at Broadstairs in Bleak House, Kent is understandably rich in historical links to the author. Many of his novels were penned here and many of the locations used in his novels echo real life locations in Kent. For example Westgate House in the Pickwick Papers is widely reported to be based on Eastgate House in Rochester.

The programme filmed on location both at Rochester in Charles Dickens’ Chalet at Eastgate House in Rochester and the  Theatre Royal in Margate.

The Swiss Chalet, a present from a French actor to Dickens, was originally constructed in the grounds of his home at Gad’s Hill before moving to Cobham Hall in Gravesham, where the recent BBC series Bleak House was filmed. Nowadays, the Chalet can be seen in the garden at Eastgate house in Rochester.

Exterior shot of Eastgate House - red brick building with black windows

Eastgate House © Medway Council

The Theatre Royal in Margate was chosen because  the crew wanted to visit locations that Dickens was passionate about. A performer himself, he frequently read his works to the public throughout the UK, and of course in Kent.

Eastgate House, situated in Rochester was formerly a large private town house. Built by Sir Peter Buck; it has now been restored and is owned by Medway Council. Productions such as Jekyll and Hyde (2015),  BBC’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) and Great Expectations (1989) have previously filmed in the Rochester area.

The Theatre Royal is situated in the heart of Margate which is a vibrant seaside resort, with complementary historic and modern architecture. Margate has welcomed other productions including The Apprentice (2015), Last Orders (2002) and Only Fools and Horses: The Jolly Boys’ Outing (1989).

In 2012 England will celebrating the bicentenary of his birth.

Dickens’ Secret Lover will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on the 16th June 2008.

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

The Riddle (2007)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The Riddle Movieposter- Three cast members standing in a row with buildings faintly shown in the background. The Riddle is written in white on a black strip underneath.

The Riddle Movieposter ©  Image Entertainment

Director and writer: Brendan Foley

Starring: Vinnie Jones, Julie Cox, Jason Flemyng, Derek Jacobi, P.H. Moriarty, Vanessa Redgrave

Production Company: Grosvenor Park Productions, Manuscript Productions, Riddle Productions

Kent Filming Locations: Sittingbourne Greyhounds Racing Track

Journalist Mike Sullivan (Vinnie Jones) investigates a series of murders that occur after the discovery of an unpublished Charles Dickens’ manuscript. As Sullivan grows obsessive over the novel and its connection to his investigation, he seeks the help of police officer Kate (Julie Cox) and a beach-combing tramp  (Derek Jocobi) who together unravel a century-old crime hidden within the manuscript which enables them to solve the modern-day crime.

Brendan Foley’s latest project stars Vinnie Jones (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Derek Jacobi (Gladiator), Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement) Julie Cox (David Copperfield) and Jason Flemyng (Snatch)

The Riddle production team visited Sittingbourne Greyhounds Racing Track to shoot the opening sequence of the film where sports tabloid journalist Mike Sullivan (Vinnie Jones) is reporting on a dog race. What fans may not know is that Jones has been known to race his own greyhound, Smoking Bullet, at the stadium!

Sittingbourne falls under the district of Swale and The Riddle isn’t the only filming project to visit the district. Brogdale Farm in Faversham saw The Hairy Bikers visit in 2009 and the Shepherd Neame Brewery featured in The Darling Buds of May series.

Another location to feature was the Chislehurst Caves in Bromley as they were the perfect location to act as the home to Derek Jacobi’s beach combing tramp.  Chislehurst Caves has over 200 miles of caverns dug over a period of 8000 years and three distinct sections, Druid, Roman and Saxon and has also been used in filming for Doctor Who in 1976 and more recently for BBC’s Merlin.

The film was released in cinemas in September 2007 and is now available on DVD.

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

The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1993)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The Mystery of Edwin Drood movieposter 1993- close up reflection of a blurry face in the water, the figure of a man stood facing it. The Mystery of Edwin Drood movieposter written in red

The Mystery of Edwin Drood movieposter 1993 © A&E Home Video

Directed By: Timothy Forder

Written By: Charles Dickens (Novel) and Timothy Forder (Adaptation)

Starring:  Robert Powell, Gareth Arnold, Gemma Craven & Michelle Evans.

Production Company: First Standard Media

Kent Locations Used: Rochester Cathedral, Rochester

Famed as Dickens’ unfinished novel, the acclaimed author died in 1870 leaving the ending of the book a mystery forever.  Although both story and film are named for Edwin Drood, the narrative focuses on Drood’s uncle, choirmaster John Jasper, who is in love with his pupil Rosa Bud. Miss Bud is Edwin Drood’s fiancé, but she has also caught the eye of the hot tempered Neville Landless who arrives with his sister Helena. Landless and Drood take an instant dislike to one another just before Drood disappears under mysterious circumstances.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood was scheduled to be published in twelve monthly instalments, each costing one shilling. However Dickens’ died after the publication of the sixth instalment, leaving the story approximately half complete.

Much of the film is set in the fictional city of “Cloisterham”. Dickens was inspired by Rochester when writing many of his novels, including The Mystery of Edwin Drood, so it was only fitting for Director Timothy Forder to shoot the film in the great city itself.

Familiar Rochester sites will include Rochester Cathedral which doubled as Cloisterham Cathedral as well as Rochester Castle, which can be seen in the background of many shots. A row of Edwardian houses near the Cathedral called Minor Canon Row also appears in the film as Cloisterham streets. Famous actress Dame Sybil Thorndike lived at number 2 Minor Canon Row after growing up in Rochester City. Her final TV appearance was 6 years before her death in The Great Inimitable Mr Dickens, a story of the life of the author starring Anthony Hopkins.

Rochester Cathedral is of special significance regarding Charles Dickens. The author expressed a wish to be buried opposite the west front in the Castle moat which then formed part of the graveyard of St Nicholas Church. The spot is marked with a commemorative plaque and Dickens’s ghost is said to haunt the area. Inside the Cathedral, to the right of the Presbytery, by the magnificent Chapter room door, is another brass plaque memorial to Dickens. At 3pm on the last Sunday of the Summer during the Dickens festival held in early June each year, a garland of scarlet geraniums (his favourite flowers) are laid here during a service commemorating his life.

The city of Rochester is the home to many locations that feature in the classic Dickens novels. Chertsey’s Gate on Rochester High Street was the inspiration for Mr Jasper’s home in The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Topes Restaurant for the house of Mr Tope, the verger in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, where the character of Mr Datchery also stayed when visiting “Cloisterham”.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood also features in the Kent Film Office Dickens Trail which lauched in 2012: https://kentfilmoffice.co.uk/kent-movie-map/dickens-movie-trail/ 

The film was released in cinemas in 1993 and is now available to buy on DVD.

 

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