ITV

Seven Days With… (2015)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Ola and James Jordan standing with their arms round each other in their garden.

Ola and James Jordan © ITV Plc

Production company: Shiver

Kent Locations Used: Manor Park, West Malling

Reality show “Seven Days With….” which follows a number of celebrity couples for a week returns to ITV Be for a second series, giving viewers a taste of what daily celebrity lives entails.

Episode 1 of the new series feature Kent based professional ballroom dancers and Strictly Come Dancing stars James and Ola Jordan, as they deal with Ola’s potentially career-threatening leg injury.

During the week, the couple visited Manor Park Country Park in West Malling which is a large, open green space with a beautiful lake.

The surrounding area has previously featured on screen in productions including Missing Series Two (2010) and Cape Wrath (2007).

Don’t miss Seven Days With… James and Ola Jordan, which will be shown on Monday 22nd June 2015 at 22:00 on ITV Be.

 

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

Ade at Sea (2014)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Ade standing on a fishing boat with the sea and other boats behind

Ade at Sea © ITV

Production Company: ITV Studios

Kent Locations used: Thames Estuary – Redsand Forts, Whitstable Harbour, The Historic Dockyard Chatham

ITV’s new 5 part series, Ade at Sea, sees actor and presenter Ade Edmondson set sail to explore the history of Maritime Britain and meet people whose lives are still influenced by the sea today.

In the second episode of the series, Ade travels along the Thames Estuary visiting Kent locations such as The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Whitstable Harbour and Redsand Forts, also known as The Maunsell Forts.

With its cobbled streets, Georgian and Victorian architecture and period features spread across 80 acres, The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a popular filming location having been seen on screen in productions such as Mr Selfridge (2013-2014), Les Miserables (2012) and The Mummy (1999).

Whitstable is a seaside town near Canterbury and is famous for its annual Oyster Festival as well as the delightful harbour, shingle beach, busy high street and strong arts and culture scene.  Whitstable has been previously seen on screen in productions such as Things I Haven’t Told You (2008).   

The Redsand Forts are metal and concrete structures which were built as bombing defences during the Second World War and are located 6 miles out into the Thames Estuary off the coast of Whitstable. They have previously been used on screen for projects such as a Prodigy music video and a Red Bull challenge!

Don’t miss the Thames Estuary episode of Ade at Sea which airs on Thursday 27th March 2014 at 20:30 on ITV1.

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

Britain’s Best Bakery (2014)

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Britain’s Best Bakery Judges Mich Turner and Peter Sidwell standing outside in front of a pond

Britain’s Best Bakery Judges Mich Turner and Peter Sidwell © ITV

Production company: Shine Limited

Kent locations used:  Whitstable

Britain’s Best Bakery returns to ITV for a second series in the search for the best independent bakery in the UK.

The expert judges Mitch Turner (TV chef, author and owner of Little Venice Cake Company) and Peter Sidwell (TV chef, cookery writer and restaurateur) must whittle 60 competitors down to one champion as they travel across the UK to choose their favourite bakeries from each region. The remaining contestants will then compete in ‘baking challenges’ to fight for the crown.

In June 2013, the production visited Geoff Champs of Champs Bakery in Whitstable to learn about his business and passion for baking. Will Champs Bakery make it through to the South East final?

Whitstable is a seaside town near Canterbury and is famous for its annual Oyster Festival as well as the delightful fishing harbour, shingle beach, busy high street and strong arts and culture scene. The area has been previously seen on screen in productions such Venus (2007).

Don’t miss the episode featuring Kent bakery Champs which airs on Thursday 6th January 2014 on ITV at 16:00.

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

Take Me Out (2010-2019)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Take Me Out - cast of girls on a staircase with host paddy in front.

Take Me Out – Series 6 © Thames and ITV

Production Company: Talkback Thames
Kent Locations Used: The Maidstone Studios

Take Me Out (2010-2019) is a dating gameshow that aired on ITV. Hosted by King of matchmaking Paddy McGuinness, the show sees 30 single ladies try to have their dream date on the Isle of Fernando with one of the eligible bachelors that arrive via the Love Lift.

From 2010 to 2019, the show was recorded at The Maidstone Studios.

In 2012, a spin-off after show titled Take Me Out: The Gossip (2012-2015) began airing. Filming locations for the spin-off included Rochester Castle and Canterbury.

The Maidstone Studios is an independent TV studio complex on an 11-acre site with 5 television studios, dubbing facilities, edit suites, a fully saturated lighting grid and office space. It has previously welcomed shows such as Series 2 of The Split (2020) and Series 2 of This Time with Alan Partridge (2021).

Rochester Castle is a 12th Century Castle set in beautiful gardens and overlooks the River Medway. The castle has been used as a film location by The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) and Veer (2010).

The vibrant City of Canterbury has a Cathedral, busy shopping areas, parks and open spaces and two universities. The Canterbury area has previously been seen on screen on A Canterbury Tale (1944) and Rustom (2016).

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

The Poison Tree (2012)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The Poison Tree lead characters relaxing around a dinner table with fairy lights.

The Poison Tree © ITV

ITV Mini-Series

Production Company: GroupM Entertainment, ITV,  STV

Kent Locations Used: Dungeness Estate, The Pilot Inn pub

‘The Poison Tree’ is an atmospheric and psychological TV drama based on the popular book of the same name by Erin Kelly. The two 60 minute episodes tell the tale of Karen Clarke (MyAnna Buring), who has been waiting twelve long years for the release of her partner Rex (Matthew Goode), from prison.

With her partner now free, Karen is looking forward to settling down as a normal family with their daughter, Alice (Hebe Johnson). However, Karen starts to receive phone calls and anonymous text messages and she realises that her family are being watched. Despite her best efforts to keep their past a secret, someone knows the truth about what she and Rex did twelve years ago. How far will Karen go to protect her family?

‘The Poison Tree’ was written by Emilia di Girolamo, lead writer/Co-producer of Law & Order UK seasons 5 and 6 and directed by Marek Losey who previously made his debut feature film ‘The Hide’, which was also filmed in Kent.

Filming took place on the Dungeness Estate, which has a rich and diversified history with film and television. The BBC filmed episodes of Dr Who during the 1970’s and the 1998 film ‘I Want You’ staring Rachel Weisz and Alessandro Nivola, which was set in and around Dungeness.

In an interview with Broadcast magazine in December 2012, writer of the TV adaption Emilia di Girolamo  said: “First we decided to change the setting.  Relocating the story to Dungeness gave us an immensely powerful and evocative landscape to work with. Abandoning the traditional dimly lit world of the thriller for the bleached out, desert-like exteriors, the power station. Brooding in the distance, gave a real sense of there being nowhere to hide for Karen, upping the dramatic tension.”

The Poison Tree was shown in December 2012 on ITV 1 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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

Above Suspicion: The Red Dahlia (2010)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Kelly Reilly as DC Anna Travis and Ciarán Hinds as DCI James Langton stand looking at a board which has photos and newspaper clippings of The Black Dahlia pasted all over it. Both Reilly and Hinds are wearing suits, and Hinds is holding a torch.

Ciaran Hinds and Kelly Reilly in Above Suspicion (2010) © ITV

Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Writer: Lynda La Plante
Starring: Kelly Reilly, Ciarán Hinds, Shaun Dingwall, Celyn Jones, Amanda Lawrence
Production Companies: La Plante Productions, RLJ Entertainment, RLJ Productions
Kent Locations Used: Westgate-on-Sea, West Bay House

Based on the series of books by Lynda La Plante, Above Suspicion (2009-2012) was an ITV crime-drama series about a female detective trying to survive in a male-dominated industry. Each series focuses on a different homicide case, as the team desperately try to track down the killers.

Series 2, titled ‘The Red Dahlia’, sees the return of ambitious female detective Anna Travis (Kelly Reilly) and her boss, Detective Constable James Langton (Ciarán Hinds). Together they must tackle their most terrifying case to date: the discovery of a woman’s mutilated body in the Thames. They soon realise they face a copy-cat killer who re-enacts the murders of the infamous 1940’s Black Dahlia case.

All three episodes are directed by Gillies MacKinnon (Small Faces, Trojan Eddie) and star Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes (2009), Pride and Prejudice (2005)) as DC Anna Travis, Ciarán Hinds (Belfast, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as DCI James Langton, Shaun Dingwall (Top Boy (2019-2022), Doctor Who) as DI Mike Lewis, Celyn Jones (Set Fire to the Stars, Submergence) as DS Paul Barolli, and Amanda Lawrence (The Amazing Mr Blunden (2021), Summerland (2020)) as DC Joan Faulkland.

The production came to Westgate-on-Sea in Thanet to film various scenes for Episodes 1 & 2. The promenade features in various flashback sequences which see Louise Pennel (Ty Glaser) looking out to sea. The exterior of St Cecelia’s House on Sea Road doubled as the exterior of Mrs Pennel’s (Hildegard Neil) home, and the interior was filmed at West Bay House.

Westgate-on-Sea is a civil parish on the north-east coast of Kent. It is a charming Victorian town with two fantastic blue flag beaches – West Bay and St Mildred’s Bay. Previous productions to have filmed in Westgate-on-Sea include True Love (2012) and Series 2 of Humans (2016).

Above Suspicion: Red Dahlia – Part 1 aired on ITV on Monday 4th January 2010, with the subsequent episodes airing on the following days.

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

Half Broken Things (2007)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Penelope Wilton standing on the driveway at Boughton Monchelsea Place with grass and benches behind

Penelope Wilton standing on the driveway at Boughton Monchelsea Place © ITV

Production Company: Festival Film & Television, Festival Films, ITV

Kent Locations: Boughton Monchelsea Place, Herne Bay, Teston, Teston Bridge Country Park

Part of ITV’s autumn drama schedule Half Broken Things, starring Penelope Wilton (Calendar Girls, Doctor Who, Ever Increasing Circles), is a psychological thriller set against the idyllic backdrop of the Kent Weald.

The drama is an adaptation of the award winning novel of the same name by Morag Joss. Penelope Wilton plays Jean, a sixty-something house sitter, who is looking after Walden Manor. The house is full of mysteries and locked doors. When Jean isinformed that this will be her last job, she decides to defy all the rules and live the life she has always wanted.
Soon she is joined by Michael (Daniel Mays), a thief, and Steph (Sinnead Matthews), a pregnant girl on the run from her abusive boyfriend.

Over a blissful summer, these three live in an idyll that is soon to shattered when their past begins to catch up with them and events take a dangerous and sinister turn.

 

Filming with views over the Weald, swimming pool in the left hand corner

Filming with views over the Weald © ITV

  

Boughton Monchelsea Place exterior and garden

Boughton Monchelsea Place © Kent Film Office

 The programme was shot on location throughout Kent, with the main location being Boughton Monchelsea Place, which doubled as Walden Manor.  A stunning 16th Century manor house, Boughton Monchelsea Place has an ancient deer park and has unrivalled views across the Kent Weald.

The house is no stranger to filming. In addition to the many fashion shoots that it has hosted, last year it played host to reality TV series Australian Princess which sees young Australians going through lessons in ‘royal deportment’, the winner being ‘crowned’ Princess.  The house itself is not open to the public. However they are open for events, weddings and of course filming.

The programme also filmed on location in Teston village and Country Park as well as Herne Bay.

Herne Bay has a shingle beach, bandstand and seafront gardens as well as many shops and eateries, amusement arcades, and a windmill. Previous productions which have filmed in Herne Bay include Boomers (2014) and Big Bad World (2013).

Teston is a rural village on the outskirts of Maidstone and is home to Teston Bridge Country Park which has 32 acres of grazed meadow, river walks, a children’s play area and the picturesque 14th century Teston Bridge which was used for filming of feature film Dunkirk (1958).

The novel written by Morag Joss won a CWA Silver Dagger Award in 2003. She has recently completed her fifth novel Puccini’s Ghosts.

Half Broken Things was shown on ITV on Sunday 28th October 2007 at 21.00

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

The Bill (2000)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The Bill Poster- headshots of all the cast members in a row with the bill written on top

The Bill Poster © ITV

Creator: Geoff McQueen

Starring: Graham Cole, Trudie Goodwin, Jeff Stewart, Russell Boulter, Tony O’Callaghan, Peter Ellis, Lisa Geoghan, Mark Wingett

Production Company: Thames Television

Kent Locations: Allhallows, Rochester

The Bill is an ITV police drama about the trials and tribulations faced by the officers working at Sun Hill Police Station in the fictional East London area of Canley.

Created by Geoff McQueen (Big Deal, Stay Lucky, Bureau Kruislaan), The Bill ran from 1984 – 2010 and won a number of awards including a BAFTA.

Throughout the years, the series starred Graham Cole (Doctor Who, Sooty), Trudie Goodwin (Emmerdale, Heartbeat), Jeff Stewart (Crossroads, The Mr. Men Show), Russell Boulter (Casualty, Isaac), Tony O’Callaghan (EastEnders, The Coven), Peter Ellis (Emmerdale, Acorn Antiques), Lisa Geoghan (Desmond’s, Honeymoon) and Mark Wingett (Snow White and the Huntsman, Far from the Madding Crowd).

bottle of Chardonnay with The Bill written on it

The Bill Chardonnay © Mike & Jacky Davies

The production visited Kent in 2000, to film a high speed car chase on Ratcliffe Highway in Allhallows Marshes and local residents were presented with their very own bottle of ‘The Bill Chardonnay’ as a thank you from the team.

Allhallows is a village set on the Hoo Peninsula in Medway with a church, creek, farmland and caravan park. The Medway area has featured on screen in productions including Jekyll and Hyde (2015), Great British Railway Journeys (2014) and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (2011).

The Bill aired on ITV between 1984 and 2010.

 

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

 

 

Fox (1980)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Fox DVD cover. Backdrop of a London skyline during sunset. In the foreground is a close-up of Peter Vaughan as Billy Fox, wearing a grey suit and looking stern. Behind him are close-up images of two men who have been badly beaten up.

Fox (1980) DVD Cover © Thames Television

Director: Jim Goddard
Writer: Trevor Preston
Starring: Peter Vaughan, Bernard Hill, Derrick O’Connor, Larry Lamb, Ray Winstone
Production Company: Euston Films, Thames Television
Kent Locations Used: Margate, Herne Bay, Kingsgate Bay, Botany Bay

Fox (1980) was an ITV crime-drama series following the titular Fox family and their gangland feuds. In episodes 5 and 6, Kenny Fox (Ray Winstone) finds himself in Kent and becomes the victim of a slapdash kidnapping plot.

The series was directed by Jim Goddard (Shanghai Surprise, Kennedy) and written by Trevor Preston (Night Hair Child, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead). It stars Peter Vaughan (Straw Dogs, Brazil) as old Billy Fox, Bernard Hill (Exodus (2007), The Mill on the Floss (1997)) as Vin Fox, Derrick O’Connor (Daredevil, Lethal Weapon 2) as Ray Fox, Larry Lamb (Essex Boys (2000), Eastenders (2007-2023)) as Joey Fox and Ray Winstone (The Sweeney (2012), Great Expectations (2011)) as Kenny Fox.

Margate, Herne Bay, Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay in Broadstairs feature in Episodes 5 and 6 of the series, as the seaside location where Kenny Fox finds himself victim of a kidnapping. Locations featured include Margate Main Sands, Margate Harbour Arm, The Parade  and Marine Drive in Margate. A private house on East Cliff Parade, which doubles for the squat where Kenny is held captive as well as Central Parade feature in Herne Bay.

Margate is a seaside town complete with sandy beach, harbour, Dreamland amusement park, period housing and ultra-modern art gallery Turner Contemporary. It is one of Kent’s most popular filming locations, having played host to Only Fools and Horses: The Jolly Boys’ Outing (1989), Last Resort (2000) and Last Orders (2002).

Herne Bay is a coastal resort which is home to the world’s first free-standing purpose built clock tower. Other productions to have filmed here include Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (1973), Blue Jeans (1977) and Cockles! (1984).

Botany Bay is a sandy bay against a white cliff backdrop with steep, sandy track for vehicle access and small portable café. It is one of Kent’s most popular beaches for photoshoots but has also featured in many TV programmes and films, including Á nous les petites Anglaises (1976), The Fixer (2008) and True Love (2012). It connects to a similar cove, Kingsgate Bay at low tide.

Fox (1980) aired on ITV between Monday 10th March 1980 and Monday 2nd June 1980 and is currently available to purchase on DVD.

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

The Saint – Season 5 (1967)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Roger Moore as The Saint sits behind the wheel of a vintage racing car. He is in a grey jumpsuit and wears a black helmet with a white vizor, grey goggles and white gloves.

Roger Moore as the Saint in “The Fast Women” © ITC

Director: Leslie Norman
Writer: Leslie Charteris, Leigh Vance
Starring: Roger Moore, Jan Holden, John Carson, Kate O’Mara
Production Company: Bamore, Incorporated Television Company (ITC)
Kent Locations Used: Brands Hatch

The Saint (1962-1969) is an ITV spy thriller series following Simon (The Saint) Templar, a wealthy adventurer who travels the world solving mysteries. Season 5 Episode 16, The Fast Women, sees the Saint at Brands Hatch racing circuit, where he meets famous racing rivals Cynthia Quillen and Teresa Montesino, who both have plans to assassinate the other.

The episode is written by Leslie Charteris (The Saint (1997), The Saint’s Double Trouble) and Leigh Vance (The Black Windmill (1974), Mission: Impossible) and directed by Leslie Norman (Dunkirk (1958), X the Unknown). The episode stars Roger Moore (The Carer (2016), Moonraker) as Simon Templar “The Saint”, Jan Holden (Casanova ’73, Agony) as racing driver Cynthia Quillen, John Carson (Doomsday, Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter) as her cheating husband Godfrey Quillen, and Kate O’Mara (The Vampire Lovers, Doctor Who) as her racing rival Teresa Montesino.

Episode 16 is set at Brands Hatch in Fawkham, Sevenoaks and filming took place on the racing circuit and in the pits.

Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit with views across almost the entire Indy Circuit. Surrounded by woodland, the site also contains a rally course and off-road 4×4 course which are available for filming. Other productions to have filmed there include Grand Prix (1966), CI5 The New Professionals (1999) and Rush (2013).

The Saint first aired on ITV between 1962 and 1969. Season 5 Episode 16, The Fast Women, aired Friday 13th January 1967. Seasons 5 and 6 are available to stream on ITVX.

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