filmed in Kent

The Hotel Inspector – Series 14 Episode 4: Westward Ho! Hotel, Folkestone

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Image of presenter Alex Polizzi wearing a white top in a hotel smiling at the camera

Presenter Alex Polizzi ©Channel 5

 

 

Director: Tom Weston
Starring: Alex Polizzi
Production Company: Twofour (Channel 5)
Kent Locations Used: Folkestone

Alex Polizzi comes to Folkestone in her quest to improve some of Britain’s hotels and B+B’s.

The long running series is presented by hotelier Alex Polizzi (Restaurant Rescue), and in this episode, Polizzi visits Westward Ho! hotel and its owner in Folkestone to offer her sound business advice.

Scenes were filmed around Folkestone, including the Leas and seafront. Folkestone is popular as a filming location, some recent examples include David Jason’s Secret Service (2017), The Channel: The World’s Busiest Waterway (2017), and  Coast v Country (2017). As a location, Folkestone offers a seaside town with an elegant Victorian clifftop promenade, a creative quarter, gardens, a coastal park, and fishing harbour.

The Westward Ho! Hotel episode will broadcast on Channel 5 at 9pm on Tuesday 26th  June 2018.

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

Who Do You Think You Are? (2018)

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Actress Michelle Keegan smiling at the camera in a pink jumper. Who do you think your are? written in white

Michelle Keegan ©BBC One

 

Writer: Stuart Elliot

Starring: Michelle Keegan, Olivia Coleman, Boy George, Shirley Ballas, Lee Mack, Marvin Humes, Judge Rinder and Jonnie Peacock.

Production Company: BBC One

Kent Locations Used: General Views in and around Margate.

Returning to our screens for its 15th series, the hit TV series Who Do You Think You are? focuses on tracing back our much-loved celebrities’ ancestry, giving them the opportunity to discover family secrets.

DJ, presenter and former member of band JLS, Marvin Humes, travelled to Margate to investigate the history of his great grandfather, Frederick Buckingham. Frederick, who suffered from Tuberculosis, was admitted to the Margate Metropolitan Infirmary from a workhouse. Marvin also visits the beach as the seawater in Margate was important, being part of the treatment for the illness.

Frederick served in the merchant navy, so Marvin Humes meets expert Harry Bennett at Chatham Historic Dockyard where they talk about the importance of the merchant navy to the economy.

Written by Stuart Elliot, the series will feature eight well known celebrities: Michelle Keegan (Our Girl and former Corrie Star), Olivia Coleman (The Crown), Boy George (Musician, DJ, fashion designer and British icon), Shirley Ballas (Strictly Come Dancing’s Head Judge), Lee Mack (Comedian/Not Going Out), Marvin Humes (Former JLS member/Presenter), Robert Rinder (Barrister/Judge Rinder) and Jonnie Peacock (Gold medal winning Paralympian).

Margate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in Kent, England. It is well known for its amusement park, Dreamland, which first opened in 1880. Having been closed for over seven years, Dreamland re-opened in June 2015 to the public, featuring retro seaside rides and amusements.

Dreamland and Margate haven used previously as a location in TV series The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016) as well as Only Fools and Horses: The Jolly Boys’ Outing (1989).

Who Do You Think You Are? aired on 6 June 2018 at 9pm on BBC One. More episodes coming soon!

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

King Lear (2018)

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Portrait shot of character King Lear sitting on a chair with his three daughters by his side in the palace. Background is black and white chequered floor with black wall panels.

King Lear and his three daughters ©BBC

 

Director: Richard Eyre

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Emily Watson, Florence Pugh, Jim Broadbent, Andrew Scott, John Macmillan, Jim Carter, Christopher Eccleston, Tobias Menzies, Anthony Calf and Karl Johnson

Production Company: Playground Entertainment, Amazon Studios and BBC

Kent Locations Used: Dover

King Lear is a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play of the same name. The film tells the tragic story of King Lear (Anthony Hopkins) who abdicates his throne in favour of his two corrupt daughters Regan (Emily Watson) and Goneril (Emma Thompson), rejecting his loving and honest third daughter Cordelia (Florence Pugh) when she fails his test of flattery.

Director, Richard Eyre, has previously worked on films Notes on a Scandal, Iris, and Stage Beauty. Anthony Hopkins who plays King Lear, is best known for his role in The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and Hitchcock. Emma Thompson as eldest daughter Goneril, was previously in Love Actually and The Remains of the Day.

Scenes were filmed in various locations in Dover, such as at Dover Castle, Samphire Hoe, and Abbot’s Cliff.

King Lear will air on Monday 28 May 2018 at 9:30pm on BBC Two.

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

The Hospice

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

5 Featured Staff from the Hospice- Two doctors in the middle with two nurses to their right and another nurse to the left.

The Hospice Series – Featured Staff of the Show ©Ellenor

 

Production Company: Knickerbockerglory

Kent location used: Gravesend, Kent

The Hospice is a new, ground-breaking series focusing on the lives of patients under the care of ellenor – a British hospice based in Gravesend, Kent that provides an individualized approach to end of life care.

The series was commissioned by Together and produced by Knickerbockerglory – the creators of Channel 5’s long running series GP: Behind Closed Doors.

The Hospice follows the deeply personal stories of adults and children who are receiving end-of-life care both in their own homes, and at the ellenor inpatient ward in Gravesend as well as the daily tasks of the many hospice workers and volunteers who are so essential to providing this service.

Together will broadcast the first of 13 hour-long episodes of ‘The Hospice’ on Tuesday 8th May at 10pm on Freeview, Sky, Virgin, freesat and on demand services, like TV Player.

 

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

The Big Painting Challenge Series 3

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Image of presenters Mariella Frostrup and Rev. Richard Coles in front of a multicoloured painted background.

Image of the series presenters Mariella Frostrup and Rev. Richard Coles© BBC One

 

Production Company: BBC

Starring: Mariella Frostrup and Rev. Richard Coles

Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard, Chatham

The Big Painting Challenge is back on the BBC! Presented by Mariella Frostrup and Rev. Richard Coles, along with artistic mentors Pascal Anson and Diana Ali, the programme search nationwide for the best up-and-coming amateur artists.

Mariella Frostrup previously appeared on BBC Two series World’s Most Dangerous Roads, and both her and he co-presenter  Have I Got News for You. Rev. Richard Coles have been guests on Have I Got News for You.

For the finale the production chose The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, where the first challenge was to paint a self-portrait followed by the masterclasses, all in the Tarred Yarn Store. The Final challenge meant the contestants were able to choose any motif and, unsurprisingly, there were a few paintings of ships that made it to the final exhibition in Slip 3.

The series kicks off on Easter Sunday 1st April 2018 at 6pm on BBC One, and continues weekly on Sundays with the finale airing on Sunday 6th May 2018.

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

 

Queen of Spain (2018)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Two young boys stand in an english garden with a manor house behind. They are stood with bicycles and a butterfly net

Queen of Spain © Theo Lowenstein

Writer: Stephen Lowenstein and Greer Ellison
Director: Stephen Lowenstein
Starring: Miles Richardson, Jordan Long, Karen Lewis
Production Company: Blue Shadows Films, I Spy Films
Kent Locations Used: Hartlip Place in Sittingbourne, Barrows Antiques in Faversham, Queendown Warren in Sittingbourne

Queen of Spain is a coming of age story set in the world of butterfly collectors on the eve of the First World War. A thirteen-year-old boy spots one of the rarest butterfly species ever to be seen on the British Isles.

Queen of Spain is a short drama starring Miles Richardson (Peterloo (2018), The Crown (2016-2020)), Jordan Long (The Nevers (2021), Temple (2021)) and Karen Lewis-Attenborough (Grange Hill, The Bill). The story is by Stephen Lowenstein and was developed by Greer Ellison.

Various scenes for Queen of Spain were filmed around Kent; Georgian house Hartlip Place in Sittingbourne was used to shoot its mature garden as well as a private residence in the area for some interior scenes. Barrows Antiques in Faversham features in a small yet poignant scene where a confrontation takes place between the protagonist and the local butcher boy, who has “abducted” his butterfly. Queen Down Warren in Sittingbourne was chosen for its beautiful woods and wild flower meadow paths, which feature with the protagonist hunting butterflies.

Faversham is a beautiful historic market town in the Swale Borough of Kent. The historic town boasts over 500 listed buildings and there are many beautiful walks the picturesque countryside has to offer. Previous productions in the town include Hetty Feather Series 3 (2017) and Walks With My Dog (2017).

Sittingbourne, also in the Swale district, offers town areas, flat open landscapes and beautiful beach areas. Southcliffe (2013), Great Expectations (2012) and The Sweeney (2012) have previously been filmed in Swale.

Queen of Spain is due to be released in the UK on 25 February 2018.

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

Next of Kin (2018)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Actress Archie Panjabi and actor Jack Davenport embrace against a grey background

Next of Kin: Archie Panjabi as Mona Shirani and Jack Davenport as Guy Harcourt © ITV / Mammoth Screen

Writers:  Natasha Narayan, Paul Rutman

Directors:  Justin Chadwick, Jamie Childs

Starring:  Archie Panjabi, Jack Davenport

Production Company:  Mammoth Screen

Kent Locations Used:  Oakdene Cafe, London Road, Wrotham

ITV’s new drama series Next Of Kin follows whip-smart GP Mona Shirani who lives in London with political lobbyist husband Guy Harcourt. Family life is shattered when Mona’s brother is brutally murdered whilst working for a medical charity abroad. In the wake of the murder, Mona’s family comes under suspicion and is drawn deep into a tangle of betrayal and conspiracy as they try to protect their loved ones and careers.

The six-part series was written and created by husband and wife team Paul Rutman (Indian Summers, Vera) and Natasha Narayan. Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee, Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife, The Fall), and renowned actor, Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean, Smash), star in Mammoth Screen’s fast-paced family thriller, Next Of Kin.

Oakdene Cafe, London Road in Wrotham Kent  features in Episode 4 where filming took place in June 2017.  Wrotham is a village on the Pilgrims’ Way in Kent, at the foot of the North Downs. It is one mile north of Borough Green and approximately five miles east Sevenoaks, a historic market town which has attracted several large productions in 2017 including Judwaa 2 (2017) and The Big Family Cooking Showdown (2017).

Kent is increasingly popular with ITV drama productions and hosting popular series such as Liar (2017) filmed partly in Deal and Walpole Bay and Mr Selfridge (2016) partly filmed at The Historic Dockyard Chatham.

ITV’s new drama series Next Of Kin starts on Monday 8th January at 9pm and the episode featuring Kent will be screened on 29 January 2018.

 

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

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. 

 

The Tunnel: Vengeance (2017)

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Actors Clémence Poésy and Stephen Dillane look on at camera in police building

The Tunnel: Vengeance – © Sky Atlantic

Writer: Emilia Di Girolamo

Directors: Anders Engstrom and Giles Bannier

Starring: Clémence Poésy and Stephen Dillane

Production company: Kudos

Kent locations used: The Production was based in the County and locations are across East Kent and France

The Tunnel: Vengeance returns for its final and third series this December. The six-part crime-thriller is set against the backdrop of a refugee crisis in Europe, which leads British detective Karl (Stephen Dillane) to partner with Elise (Clémence Poésy) from the French National Gendarmerie. Together they investigate crimes such as the setting alight of a fishing vessel transporting refugees across the Channel. The series examines themes of terrorism, refugees and the rise of far-right political groups.

In March 2017, the production team, which was based in Sandwich, filmed across East Kent, with locations including Reculver, Botany Bay, Ramsgate Royal Harbour and the Port of Dover.

East Kent is home to spectacular coastal landscapes and historic towns, and boasts excellent transport links to London and western Europe. East Kent has been used for filming by productions such as Liar (2017) and Humans: Series 2 (2016).

Don’t miss the return of The Tunnel: Vengeance, with all the episodes available on Thursday 14 December on Sky Atlantic at 9pm.

 Watch the series teaser here:

 

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

David Jason’s Secret Service (2017)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
David Jason appears in a vintage car in front of a historic espionage building. David Jason's Secret Service, epiisode one- 5th December, Episode two- 12th December, Episode three- 19th December, 9pm on More 4 is written in white on top.

David Jason’s Secret Service – © More 4

Director: James Tovell

Starring: David Jason

Production Company: October Films

Kent locations Used: Folkestone

Sir David Jason presents this three-part documentary series which reveals the secret places, people and stories from Britain’s 20th Century spy history. Episode One explores the inception of the British Secret Service in 1909 by Sir Mansfield Cumming. In 1914, when the First World War broke out in Europe, this group of spies were crucial in securing Allied victories and Folkestone became the frontline for British spy organisations.

In June 2017, the production team filmed at various locations in Folkestone, including the clifftop promenade, The Leas.

The Leas boasts sea views to France and Folkestone itself is renowned for its Creative Quarter with many galleries, shops, relaxing bars and restaurants. Tourists can visit the Kent Battle of Britain Museum which pays homage to the aircrews that defended Britain during the Second World War or visit Folkestone Harbour to explore Kent’s maritime history.

The town has been used previously for filming by productions such as Who Should We Let In? Ian Hislop on the First Great Immigration Row (2017), not to mention the seaside episode for Darling Buds of May, starring Mr Jason himself (1991-1993).

 

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