H.G. Wells

Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells (2016)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Time machine at The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Time machine at The Historic Dockyard Chatham © BBC South East

Production Company: BBC South East

Kent Locations Used: Sandgate, Folkestone, The Historic Dockyard Chatham, St Clere Estate, Sevenoaks

To mark H.G. Wells’ 150th birthday, Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells, presented by Dominic Sandbrook, discovers how a sleepy corner of the country inspired some of the most fantastic ideas in science fiction.

The BBC South East production team filmed at Sandgate beach and Wells House in Folkestone, The Historic Dockyard Chatham which is doubles as The Time Machine Workshop and St Clere Estate in Sevenoaks. They also filmed in East Sussex, Surrey and London.

Folkestone is a seaside town with an elegant clifftop promenade, a lower coastal park, a fishing harbour and Victorian cliff-top lifts. The area has featured in a wide range of productions including The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016), Lifeline (2012) and Is Anybody There? (2009).

The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a 17th century dockyard set over 80 acres, containing over 100 buildings dating from the Georgian and Victorian Periods. It has been used extensively for filming, appearing in productions such as Rustom (2016), Partners in Crime (2015) and The World is Not Enough (1999).

Set across 2,800 acres of the rolling Kent countryside, St Clere Estate offers stunning views of the North Downs. The house itself was built in 1630 and has some fine architectural examples of the Caroline era. St Clere Estate has been previously featured on screen in Road Games (2016) and The Mirror Crack’d (1980).

Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells will air on Friday 16th September 2016 at 19.30 on BBC One South East can be found wherever you are in the country: Sky Channel 963, FreeSat 959, Freeview 858.

 

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

 

Half A Sixpence (1967)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
a car driving along a road outside the Pantiles, people are walking along the side of the road

Screenshot from Half a Sixpence at The Pantiles © Paramount Pictures

Director: George Sidney
Starring: Tommy Steele, Julia Foster, Cyril Ritchard
Production Company: Ameran Films
Kent Locations Used: The Pantiles – Royal Tunbridge Wells, Aylesford

Based on the novel, Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul by H.G. Wells, Half a Sixpence (1967) is a musical based on the themes of wealth and class. The film follows a draper’s assistant, Arthur Kipps (Tommy Steele), who falls in love with a chambermaid named Ann (Julia Foster). When Kipps inherits a fortune, he is torn between two worlds.

Golden Globe winning director George Sidney (Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas) directs the film which stars Tommy Steele (The Happiest Millionaire, Tommy the Toreador), Julia Foster (Dad’s Army, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner) and Cyril Ritchard (Peter Pan, Blackmail).

The Pantiles in Royal Tunbridge Wells is the set for Shalfords Emporium in the film, where Kipps apprenticed and the town of Aylesford was the setting of Kipps’ childhood home.

Situated in West Kent, Tunbridge Wells is a large town with a busy town centre and a period shopping area, The Pantiles, offering a fascinating variety of small specialist shops, antique shops, open-air cafés, restaurants and bars. Previous productions that have been filmed in Tunbridge Wells include Terry and Mason’s Great Food Trip (2015).

A shot of Aylesford Bridge, with the river and village in the background

Screenshot from Half a Sixpence of Aylesford Bridge © Paramount Pictures

Aylesford is a picturesque village located on the banks of the River Medway complete with a Norman Church and Victorian houses, pubs and open spaces.

Half a Sixpence (1967) was released on Thursday 21st December 1967 and is available to purchase on DVD.

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