Seagull (2019)

Movie poster of Seagull showing a woman wearing a mask against a sunset beach scene

Seagull (2018) © IMDb

Writers: James Abbott, Peter Blach
Director: Peter Blach
Starring: Gabrielle Sheppard, Adam Radcliffe and Jessica Hynes
Production Company: Seagull The Movie Ltd
Kent Locations Used: Folkestone

Seagull (2019) is a British thriller about a young woman, Rose (Gabrielle Sheppard), who has been missing for eight years. She returns to her hometown having some unfinished business to take care of. The mystery of her disappearance haunt her disabled and alcoholic mother, Janet (Jessica Hynes) and partner Jeff (Adam Radcliffe), as well as eight year old Lily.

This psychological thriller is set in the Kentish town of Folkestone.

Seagull was directed and written by Peter Blach, whose co-writer, James Abbott, made his professional writing and acting debut in Seagull. Blach has directed several short films including Squash and The Preacher. The thriller stars Adam Radcliffe (The Blacklist, Right Before Your Eyes) Gabrielle Sheppard (Dawn) and Jessica Hynes (Shaun of the Dead, Spaced)

A production still showing Gabrielle Sheppard dressed in a black checkered shirt stood against a beach cliffs background holding a metal rod.

Gabrielle Sheppard in Seagull © IMDb

The film was shot entirely in and around Folkestone, a seaside town with an elegant clifftop promenade, a coastal park, fishing harbour and Victorian cliff-top lifts. Previous projects that used this location include The Fight (2019), The Empty Housing Scandal (2019) and Great British Railway Journeys – Series 10 (2019).

Production of Seagull was completed on Tuesday 25th September 2018 and was screened at various film festivals from January 2020.

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


The Fight (2019)

Main actor and director/writer of The Fight movie, Jessica Hynes, pictured on the front cover looking into the distance. Green background with white text saying the fight

Movie Poster for The Fight ©IMDb

Writer: Jessica Hynes
Director: Jessica Hynes
Starring: Jessica Hynes, Shaun Parkes, Christopher Fairbanks, Anita Dobson, and Russel Brand.
Production Company: Dignity Film Finance and Unstoppable Entertainment
Kent Locations Used: Folkestone

BAFTA-winning actress Jessica Hynes has wrapped her new feature film The Fight. Best known for her talent as both writer (Up the Women) and performer (W1A, The Royle Family), her directorial debut  first screened at the London Film Festival on 17th October 2018.

The Fight tells the story of mother of three, care worker and amateur boxer, Tina (Jessica Hynes), whose life in a quiet seaside town is anything but –Tina and husband Mick (Shaun Parkes) are juggling full time jobs and childcare, her daughter Emma is being bullied and Tina’s mother Gene (Anita Dobson) is threatening to leave her father Frank (Christopher Fairbank). Determined to come to terms with her pent-up anger, Tina puts on her fighting gloves by quite literally stepping into the boxing ring.

The film stars Jessica Hynes, Shaun Parkes (The Mummy Returns), Christopher Fairbank (Taboo), Anita Dobson (EastEnders), and Russell Brand (Get Him to the Greek).

Production filmed in and around Folkestone, shooting almost entirely in the county. Locations included Cornwallis Avenue, Folkestone Harbour Arm, Folkestone Coastal Park, The Warren, and Lower Radnor Park.

Folkestone is a seaside town with an elegant clifftop promenade, a coastal park, fishing harbour and Victorian cliff-top lifts. Previous productions which were based here include Everyone’s Going to Die (2013) and Is Anybody There (2009).

The Fight is due to be released in UK cinemas on Friday 15th March 2019.

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


Miss Marple – The Moving Finger (2006)

Geraldine McEwan and James D'Arcy staring into the camera in front of a period style house

Geraldine McEwan and James D’Arcy as Miss Marple and Jerry Burton © ITV

Director: Tom Shankland

Writer: Kevin Elyot

Starring:  Geraldine McEwan, James D’Arcy, Emilia Fox, Jessica Hynes, Kelly Brook, Sean Pertwee, Ken Russell , Harry Enfield .

Production Company: Granada, WGBH Boston, Agatha Christie

Kent Filming Locations: Chilham village, Chilham Castle, St Mary’s Church

Miss Marple is the popular ITV series adapted from Agatha Christie’s murder mystery novels. The Moving Finger is a feature length episode about a delightful countryside village named “Lymstock” where Jerry Burton (James D’Arcy) comes to recuperate after an accident, accompanied by his sister Joanna (Emilia Fox). Beneath the beautiful exterior of Lymstock lies an ugly web of deceit and evil unleashed by a poison pen writer and gruesome murders. Along with Miss Marple (Geraldine McEwan), Jerry Burton (James D’Arcy) look for clues to try and stop the killer in their tracks.

Kelly Brook and Harry Enfield along with other cast members looking down to the floor at a funeral, film crew are to the left filming them

Filming of Miss Marple with Kelly Brook and Harry Enfield © ITV

Emilia Fox sat on a chair in costume signing autographs

Emilia Fox signing autographs © Ashford Borough Council

Directed by Tom Shankland (Ripper Street, The Children)  and starring many familiar faces including Geraldine McEwan (Vanity Fair, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves), James D’Arcy (Cloud Atlas, Age of Heroes), Emilia Fox (Merlin, Randall & Hopkirk), Jessica Hynes (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Shaun of the Dead), Kelly Brook (The Italian Job, Piranha 3D), Sean Pertwee (Equilibrium, Event Horizon), Ken Russell  (Waking the Dead, Zero) and Harry Enfield (Bad Education, Kevin & Perry Go Large).

The beautiful village of Chilham was chosen to represent the fictitious hamlet of Lymstock and the production also made use of other locations in the area including Chilham Castle which was used as Mr. Pye’s House and St Mary’s Church which doubled as Lymstock church and graveyard.

Chilham has a remarkable fifteenth century square of black and white timbered buildings and is no stranger to filming, having been used for other projects such as for a variety of filming projects including Channel 4 comedy Chickens (2011), BBC’s Emma (2009), and Hercule Poirots Christmas (1995).

The programme was shown on ITV in 2005 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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