HMS Cavalier

A Spy Among Friends (2022)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliott and Guy Pearce as Kim Philby dressed in black suits and ties sit on a beige sofa. Both look at the camera. Lewis on the left wears wire-rimmed glasses and Pearce on the right sits with his legs firmly crossed.

Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce in A Spy Among Friends (2022) © ITV

Director: Nick Murphy
Writer: Alexander Cary
Starring: Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce, Adrian Edmondson, Anna Maxwell Martin
Production Companies: BritBox, ITV Studios, Sony Pictures Television, Spectrum, Veritas Entertainment Group
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Based on the best-selling book by Ben Macintyre, A Spy Among Friends (2022) details the defection of notorious Soviet double agent Kim Philby and his complex relationship with MI6 colleague Nicholas Elliott.

Adapted for the screen by Alexander Cary (Homeland, Taken), the mini-series stars Guy Pearce (Genius (2016), Mare of Easttown) as Kim Philby, Damian Lewis (Wolf Hall (2015), The Sweeney (2012)) as Nicholas Elliott, Adrian Edmondson (Back to Life (2019-2021), The Rizen (2017)) and Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House (2005), Line of Duty).

Anchor Wharf and HMS Cavalier at The Historic Dockyard Chatham feature in Episodes 1 & 2 of the series, doubling as a Russian ship and dock.

Chatham Dockyard is a historic 17th Century Dockyard which spans over 80 acres and contains over 100 buildings dating from the Georgian and Victorian periods. It is one of Kent’s most popular filming locations, with high-profile productions such as Sherlock Holmes (2009), Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019), and Operation Mincemeat (2022) making use of the site.

A Spy Among Friends will be available to stream on the brand new ITVX on Thursday 8th December 2022.

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

Operation Mincemeat (2022)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The three actors pictured left to right are Matthew Macfadyen, Colin Firth and Johnny Flynn are dressed in Naval uniform and pose in front of a large Naval building. They carry brown leather satchels

Operation Mincemeat (2022) © Warner Bros / Netflix

Director: John Madden
Writers: Michelle Ashford, Ben Macintyre
Starring: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Johnny Flynn, Kelly Macdonald
Production Company: See-Saw Films
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Operation Mincemeat (2022) is a drama set during World War Two. The film is based on the true story on how British intelligence officers pulled off one of the most successful wartime deceptions of Nazi Germany.

The film was written by Michelle Ashford (The Pacific, Boomtown) and is based on the book by Ben Macintyre. Stars of the film include Colin Firth (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Pride and Prejudice) as Ewen Montagu, Matthew Macfadyen (The Current War (2019), Churchills Secret) as Charles Cholmondeley, Johnny Flynn (Vanity Fair (2018), Stardust, The Dig) as James Bond author Ian Fleming and Kelly Macdonald (Line of Duty, The Victim) as Jean Leslie. Supporting cast includes Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey (2010-2013), Summerland (2020)) and Alex Jennings (The Crown Series 1 – 6 (2016-2023), The Halcyon (2017)).

Production visited The Historic Dockyard Chatham to film on HMS Cavalier and at Anchor Wharf. HMS Cavalier is hard to spot, but it features at the beginning and end of the film in a sequence where the Allied forces are approaching the coast of Sicily.  Anchor Wharf doubles as the R.N. Submarine Base at Holy Loch, where Charles (Matthew Macfadyen) tells Ewen (Colin Firth) that he is going to travel with the dead body to Spain.

Set on the River Medway The Historic Dockyard Chatham was once an active Royal Navy shipyard and is a popular Kent filming location, especially for period dramas looking for London street doubles. Previous WWII-based productions to film at the Dockyard include Summerland (2020), World On Fire (2019) and Red Joan (2019).

Operation Mincemeat was released in UK cinemas on Tuesday 15th April 2022.

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