Flesh and Blood (2020)

The main 8 cast members sitting on a bench on the beach posing for the camera with the sea behind.

Flesh and Blood (2020) © ITV

Director: Louise Hooper
Writer: Sarah Williams
Starring: Russell Tovey, Claudie Blakley, Lydia Leonard, Francesca Annis, Stephen Rea, Imelda Staunton
Production Company: ITV
Kent Locations Used: Farningham near Sevenoaks, Greatstone Beach (Romney Sands)

Flesh and Blood (2020), a new four-part series for ITV, is a modern story of three adult siblings, exploring universal themes of relationships, trust, loyalty and love against in aftermath of a tragic crime.

Russell Tovey, (Years and Years), Claudie Blakley (Manhunt) and Lydia Leonard (Gentleman Jack) lead the cast as the siblings Jake, Helen and Natalie. The series also stars Francesca Annis (King of Thieves) as their recently widowed mother with Stephen Rea (Dickensian) as her new love interest and Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1) as their neighbour.

Also joining the cast are Sharon Small (Trust Me), Lara Rossi (Cheat), Keir Charles (Love Actually), Vincent Regan (Victoria), David Bamber (Valkyrie), Stephanie Langton (Ransom) and Clara Indrani (Vera).

The drama was created and written by Kent resident Sarah Williams, whose previous credits include The Long Song, Case Sensitive and Poppy Shakespeare. Flesh and Blood is directed by BAFTA nominee Louise Hooper (Cheat, Cold Feet).

During filming production visited Farningham, near Sevenoaks, to film The Manor on the High Street as three separate location. Farningham nestles on the old London to Folkestone Road astride the River Darent. Scheduled as a Conservation Area, it includes many notable buildings and historic sites, including Farningham Mill, the site of a Roman villa and Farningham Woods SSSI and Nature Reserve.

Production also visited Greatstone Beach (Romney Sands) during filming. Greatstone is part of 26 miles of beaches in the Folkestone and Hythe District and the Dunes and Beach between Littlestone-on Sea and Lydd-on-Sea, often also referred to as Romney Sands is an area of SSSI.

Flesh and Blood will air on ITV over four consecutive nights starting on Monday 24th February 2020 at 9pm.

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


James Martin’s Great British Adventure (2019)

 

James Martin pictured in a black jumper standing next to a red mini car as he leans on it. Grass and trees are in the background.

James Martin’s Great British Adventure Series ©ITV

Starring: James Martin
Production Company: ITV Studios
Kent Locations Used: Folkestone, Canterbury

The ITV series James Martin’s Great British Adventure stars James Martin (Saturday Kitchen) and follows his journey around the UK. Guests of the series include Nick Nairn, Tom Kitchin, Lisa Allen and Paul Rankin while talking to the locals and cooking food with them.

James’ culinary tour also takes him to the county of Kent, where he meets up with local chef and restaurateur Mark Sargeant, owner of the Rocksalt. The series also sees further cooking taking place with James cooking two recipes at Folkestone’s Harbour Arm Folkestone is a popular filming location, some examples include Come Dine With Me (2012) and The Hotel Inspector (2018).

Additionally, production visited the Kentish Pip Cider Farm in Canterbury for some further filming. The City of Canterbury remains one of the largest tourism centres in England, known for its cobbled streets and wealth of historic buildings. Previous productions which filmed here were Terry and Mason’s Great Food Trip (2015) and A Taste of Britain (2014).

The series consists of twenty episodes, with one episode shown per day.

The first episode can be seen on ITV on Saturday 9th February 2019 at 2pm. The Kent episode will be episode 16 airing on Sunday 24th February 2019.

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


Dark Heart Series 1 (2018)

Actor Tom Riley from Dark Heart Series staring away from the camera in a suit and coat. City skyline in background.

Actor Tom Riley from Dark Heart Series ©ITV

Writer: Chris Lang
Director: Colin Teague
Starring: Miranda Raison, Anjli Mohindra, Tom Riley
Production Company: ITV Studios
Kent Locations Used: Shellness beach, Swale

ITV crime drama Dark Heart (2016-2018) will soon be hitting our screens, starring Tom Riley as DI Will Wagstaffe, who is haunted by his past after both his parents were murdered when he was just sixteen years old. Will and his team try to solve brutal crimes, whilst he also attempts to hold his own fractured life together.

Alongside Tom Riley (The Nevers (2021), Da Vinci’s Demons) are Miranda Raison (Spooks (2007), My Week with Marilyn) and Anjli Mohindra (The Lazarus Project, Bodyguard) and the series is written by Chris Lang (Unforgotten, Innocent) and directed by Colin Teague (Torchwood, Being Human).

Scenes were filmed at one of the beach chalets on Shellness Beach and included a drone shot of a car travelling along Shellness Road.

Shellness Beach has proved to be a popular filming location recently, with Netflix series End of the F***ing World (2017) and Channel 4’s Kiss Me First (2018) using the area as a filming location also.

Dark Heart can be seen on ITV on Wednesday 31st October 2018 at 9pm.

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


Vanity Fair (2018)

Poster for Vanity Fair series- women in long red dress sat on a gold chair with her feet up on a globe model.

Poster for Vanity Fair series ©ITV Studio

 

Writer:  Gwyneth Hughes

Director: James Strong

Starring: Olivia Cooke, Suranne Jones, Martin Clunes

Production Company: Mammoth Screen

Kent Locations Used: Deal, Dover, Sevenoaks and Medway

This new ITV series is an adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s classic Victorian novel Vanity Fair. Set in the time of the Napoleonic wars, it follows the life of a beautiful and determined woman named Becky Sharp (Olivia Cooke) as she attempts to claw her way out of poverty and climb straight to the top of 19th century English Society.

Starring Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One, Bates Motel) as the antihero Becky Sharp, Suranne Jones (Doctor Foster, Scott and Bailey) as Miss Pinkerton, Martin Clunes (Doc Martin, Men Behaving Badly) as Sir Pitt Crawley, Michael Palin (Monty Python, Remember Me) as Thackeray, Tom Bateman (Snatched, Into The Dark) as Captain Rawdon Crawley.

A cottage on Chevening House Estate was used for filming and featured as Rawdons’ (Tom Bateman) Cottage. This location is situated at the foot of the North Downs in Sevenoaks with extensive parkland surrounding it. It is set aside for official Government business.

A scene on the promenade, featuring soldiers and horses was filmed outside the Royal Hotel in Deal. The town is situated on the South Coast of Kent and has a longstanding naval history as one of the major Cinque Ports and many period features remain.

Squerryes Court in Sevenoaks was also used for filming Miss Pinkertons’ (Suranne Jones) school interiors. This location is a beautiful 17th century manor house which has been in the residence of the Warde family since 1731. It is surrounded with 20 acres of attractive and historic gardens which includes a lake and 18th century dovecote. Previous films that have used this location are The Hollow Crown: Henry V (2012) and The Boat that Rocked (2009).

The Historic Chatham Dockyard was also used. Production filmed various London street scenes outside the Ropery, as well as Anchor Wharf for an embarkation to France and the interior of Commissioners House. The Historic Chatham Dockyard built many ships for the Royal Navy over the last 400 years, including HMS Victory, and it is the home of the Royal Rope Makers, having produced ropes since 1618. It is a popular filming location which offers many period locations, authentic cobbled streets and three historic warships. The Dockyard has previously been featured in films such as Suffragette (2015) and Mr Turner (2014).

Vanity Fair begins on 2nd September 2018 at 9pm on ITV, with episode two airing the next day, on Monday (3rd September 2018). It will then continue for 5 Sunday nights at 9pm.

 

 

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

 

 

 


Next of Kin (2018)

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. 


Long Lost Family Series 7 (2017)

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell smiling at camera

From Wall To Wall Productions
LONG LOST FAMILY on ITV
Pictured: Nicky Campbell and Davina McCall
© ITV
Photographer Tony Ward

 

Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell sitting on chair looking at camera

From Wall To Wall Productions
LONG LOST FAMILY on ITV
Pictured: Nicky Campbell and Davina McCall
© ITV
Photographer Tony Ward

Kent Locations Used: Haysden Country Park – Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells

The highly popular award winning ITV programme, Long Lost Family returns to TV screens for its seventh series with more heart-breaking stories.

Presenters Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell embark on an emotional journey around the UK, helping to reunite estranged families. The new series filmed segments in Royal Tunbridge Wells and Haysden Country Park in Tonbridge.

Situated in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Tunbridge Wells is a highly popular town full of independent shops and restaurants set alongside the trendy colonnaded Pantiles and the bustling High Street. Previous shows that have filmed in the area include Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year (2016) and Question Time (2016)

Popular for family days out, Haysden Country Park in Tonbridge offers a beautiful countryside setting for a variety of leisure activities. The park plays home to two lakes and is a popular venue for water activities.

The new series of Long Lost Family starts on Wednesday 26th July at 9pm on ITV

 

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


The Halcyon (2017)

The Halcyon cast standing in a hall on a small staircase,

The Halcyon © ITV

Writer: Charlotte Jones

Starring: Kara Tointon, Steven Mackintosh, Alex Jennings, Olivia Williams, Jamie Blackley, Edward Bluemel, Hermione Corfield, and Matt Ryan

Production Company: Left Bank Pictures, ITV

Kent Locations Used: The Ropery and Anchor Wharf at The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Set in the 1940s, ITV’s The Halcyon charts the lives of staff and guests in a five-star hotel during World War II. The story is told from the point of view of Joe O’Hara (Matt Ryan), an American journalist and illustrates how the war permeated all areas of London life; be it that of the guests seeking an escape from the war or the forbidden love affair of the hotel’s resident jazz singer, Betsy (Kara Tointon). Samuel Sim’s soundtrack punctuates the action with sultry jazz tunes, and will be released the day the show airs.

The Halcyon brings together an incredible ensemble cast, including Kara Tointon (Eastenders, The Sound of Music Live!), Alex Jennings (The Queen, Babel) and Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, An Education), Steven Mackintosh (Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Sope Dirisu (Undercover, Humans) and Matt Ryan (Constantine, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour).

Exterior scenes of bombed London streets were shot at The Ropery and on Anchor Wharf, at  The Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent.

Set over 80 acres in the Medway area of Kent, The Historic Dockyard Chatham has more than  100 Georgian and Victorian buildings as well as cobbled streets and dock spaces. The Historic Dockyard Chatham has previously welcomed filming from The Crown (2016), Partners in Crime  (2015) and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows  (2011).

The Halcyon premiered on Monday 2nd January 2017 at 21:00 on ITV

 

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

 

 


Long Lost Family Series 6 (2016)

Long Lost Family presenters Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell standing next to each other in front of a white pillar

Long Lost Family presenters Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell © ITV

Kent Locations Used: Folkestone

Long Lost Family is an award winning British television series that started on ITV in 2011. The programme, presented by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell, aims to reunite close relatives after years of separation. The new series explores new territory and tackles some of the most difficult social history of family separation through compelling and touching personal stories.

Following stories in and around the UK, the show inevitably came to Kent, particularly in Folkestone.

Episode four of the new series features 70-year-old widow Susan Webb who fell pregnant as a teenager and decided to have the baby adopted. With the help of specialist adoption intermediaries, Long Lost Family track down Susan’s daughter to find she is living in Folkestone and the duo are reunited for the first time in 48 years.

Folkestone is a seaside town with an elegant clifftop promenade, a coastal park, fishing harbour and Victorian cliff-top lifts. It has featured in productions The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016), Is Anybody There? (2009) and The Darling Buds of May (1991 – 1993).

Long Lost Family featuring Folkestone will air on Wednesday 3rd August 2016 at 21:00 on ITV.

 

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


Love Your Garden (2016)

Alan Titchmarsh standing in a garden looking at the camera

Alan Titchmarsh © Spungold

Production Company: Spun Gold Productions

Kent Location Used: Canterbury

Love Your Garden is an ITV programme fronted by Alan Titchmarsh as he travels around the country with his team to create beautiful gardens for extraordinary people.

Gurkha Hari Budha Magar with Alan Titchmarsh in the garden

Gurkha Hari Budha Magar with Alan Titchmarsh © Spungold

Episode three of series six features a visit to Canterbury, where the team help outstanding soldier  Gurkha Hari Budha Magar and his young family. Despite tragically losing both his legs in an IUD incident in the Afghanistan war, Hari goes out of his way to help others.

However, Hari’s own garden has proven difficult to manage, so his friends and colleagues asked Alan and the team to help. With Hari’s Nepalese homeland in mind, they transform his garden into a colourful private sanctuary for the whole family. There is even a surprise visit from Joanna Lumley!

Canterbury is a vibrant City that offers a variety of locations ranging from the modern day city, parks and open spaces, shopping areas to neighbouring quaint, traditional towns. Previous productions that have shot in Canterbury include Bargain Hunt (2012), Songs of Praise (2011) and A Canterbury Tale (1944).

The Kent episode of Love Your Garden will air on Tuesday 12th July 2016 on ITV at 20:00.

 

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


Marcella (2016)

Anna Friel as Marcella sitting on a bed hugging her knees

Anna Friel as Marcella © ITV

Director: Charles Martin, Andrew Woodhead

Writer: Hans Rosenfeldt

Starring: Anna Friel, Laura Carmichael, Nicholas Pinnock, Ian Puleston-Davies, Nina Sosanya, Ray Panthaki, Jamie Bamber, Sinead Cusack, Patrick Baladi, Harry Lloyd

Production Company: Buccaneer Media

Kent Locations Used: The Port of Dover

This brand new eight part ITV noir thriller centres around Marcella (Anna Friel), who finds herself heartbroken when her husband leaves her unexpectedly and isolated from her children. After deciding to return to the Metropolitan Police following a 10 year break, she instantly becomes involved with a serial killer case she worked on in 2005. Marcella finds herself looking for answers to both her work and personal life, but will she find what she is seeking?

The series is written by internationally renowned screenwriter and novelist Hans Rosenfeldt (Rederiet, The Bridge) and directed by Charles Martin (Skins, The Returned) and Andrew Woodhead (Fortitude, Law & Order: UK).

Marcellacast reading their scripts

Marcella Readthrough © BUCCANEER MEDIA FOR ITV

Starring alongside Anna Friel (Limitless, Land of the Lost, London Boulevard) as Marcella is Laura Carmichael (Downton Abbey, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Nicholas Pinnock (Fortitude, Captain America), Ian Puleston-Davies (Coronation Street, Being Human), Nina Sosanya (W1A, Last Tango in Halifax), Ray Panthaki (Eastenders, Convenience), Jamie Bamber (Law & Order: UK, Battlestar Galactica), Sinead Cusack (Jekyll and Hyde, Eastern Promises), Patrick Baladi (The Office, Mistresses) and Harry Lloyd (Game of Thrones, The Theory of Everything).

The production visited Kent for one day to film at The Port of Dover where a police officer finds an abandoned car.

The Port of Dover is the UK’s busiest passenger port, with the town also boasting Dover Castle and the infamous White Cliffs of Dover. The Dover area has previously featured on screen in The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016), Wolf Hall (2015) and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (2011).

Don’t miss Marcella aired from Monday 4th April 2016 at 21:00 on ITV1.

 

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