Writer: Lindsay Shapero Director: Trevor Nunn Starring: Sophie Cookson, Tom Hughes, Judi Dench Production Company: Trademark Films Kent Locations Used: Historic Dockyard Chatham
Feature film Red Joan (2019) follows the life of the KGB’s longest-serving British spy, Joan Stanley (Judi Dench). Sophie Cookson plays Joan in her younger years, when, as a Soviet and communist party sympathizer, she is recruited by the KGB while employed as a British government civil servant. She successfully hands over information about the manufacture of nuclear arms which allows the Soviet Union to keep up with NATO in the arms race, managing to remain undetected for over half a century.
Writer: Deborah Moggach (Novel), Sir Tom Stoppard Director: Justin Chadwick Starring: Alicia Vikander, Cara Delevingne, Jack O’Connell, Christoph Waltz, Dane DeHaan, Zach Galifianakis, Judi Dench, Holliday Grainger, Matthew Morrison Kent Locations Used: Cobham Hall
Tulip Fever (2018) is a film adaptation of Deborah Moggach’s romantic novel of the same name, set during tulip mania in early 17th century Amsterdam. The story focuses on artist Jan Van Loos (Dane DeHaan) who falls in love with Sophia (Alicia Vikander), a married young woman when he is commissioned to paint her portrait.
The production filmed in Kent at Cobham Hall between April and July of 2014 where they transformed a wing at the school into a 17th century Amsterdam Gracht. The production constructed the waterway from scratch, complete with barges and donkeys crossing humpback bridges. The school’s courtyard was also used as the brewery yard in the story.
Cobham Hall is a private boarding school near to Gravesend located in 150 acres of Grade II listed parkland. Inside is a stunning ball room, library, cobbled courtyards, formal gardens, classrooms as well as sports facilities, including a swimming pool. Cobham Hall is a popular filming location with productions such as Hetty Feather (2015-2020), The Great Fire (2014) and Wild Child (2008) having previously filmed here.
Tulip Fever also features in the Kent Film Office Tudor(ish) Trail which celebrates Kent’s Tudor history and film connections.
Tulip Fever is released in cinemas on Friday 7th December 2018 and is available on DVD.
Dame Judi Dench stars as Queen Victoria and Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim (Fast and Furious 7 and 3 Idiots). The supporting cast include Olivia Williams
(The Sixth Sense and An Education), Michael Gambon(The Harry Potter Series and Sleepy Hollow), Eddie Izzard(Valkyrie and Ocean’s Thirteen) and Adeel Akhtar(The Dictator and Pan).
The Hollow Crown returns to BBC Two with a second series, The Wars of the Roses that include adaptations of three more historic plays by Shakespeare – Henry VI Part 1 & 2 and Richard III. The series is part of the BBC’s Shakespeare Season commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death.
Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock Holmes, The Imitation Game) stars as Richard III and Tom Sturridge (The Boat That Rocked, Far from the Madding Crowd) plays Henry VI.
The supporting cast includes a wealth of talented actors, including Judi Dench (Philomena, Skyfall), Jeremy Irons (Eragon, The Lion King), Keeley Hawes (Doctor Who, Upstairs Downstairs), Sophie Okonedo (Doctor Who, Criminal Justice), John Mackay (Doc Martin, Casualty), Stanley Townsend (Cars, Ripper Street) and Ben Daniels (Locke, Madaline).
The first series aired in 2012 and featured Richard II, Henry IV, Part I and 2 and Henry V. The latter of which was also partly filmed in Kent; at Penshurst Place and Squerryes Court.
The second series of The Hollow Crown filmed in Kent where Leeds Castle‘s Barbican and moat to depict scenes at the Tower of London, Penshurst Placedoubled as the exterior of the Palace of Westminster’s Great Gates and Dover Castle features as The Tower of London as well as Anjou’s Palace and Joan’s Chambers in Rouen in Part 1 and a French Prison and St Alban’s Chapel and Market Place in Part 2.
Rich in history, Leeds Castle is set in 500 acres of beautiful parkland and formal gardens. The castle has opened its doors to a number of film productions over the years including Gadget Man(2014), Henry VIII(2003) and Lady Jane(1987).
Dover Castle is one of the most iconic of all the English fortresses, guarding the gateway to the realm for nine centuries. With its beautiful medieval interior, secret wartime tunnels and set overlooking the English Channel, Dover Castle is a popular film location having previously welcomed productions such as Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Into the Woods(2015) and To Kill a King(2003).
Penshurst Place is a 14th Century Manor House with preserved interiors, including the unique medieval Baron’s Hall as well as 11 acres of Elizabethan walled gardens. Wolf Hall (2015), Merlin(2008) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) have previously filmed at Penshurst Place.
The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses also features in the Kent Film Office Tudor(ish) Trail which celebrates Kent’s Tudor history and film connections.
Don’t miss The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses:
Henry VI part 1 will air on Saturday 7th May 2016 on BBC Two at 21:00.
Henry VI part 2 will air on Saturday 14th May 2016 on BBC Two at 21:00.
Richard III will air on Saturday 14th May 2016 on BBC Two at 21:00.
Writers: Ian Fleming (Novel), Neal Purvis and Robert Wade (Screenplay)
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike, Judi Dench, John Cleese, Michael Madsen
Production Company: Eon Productions, Danjaq, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), United Artists
Kent Locations Used:Manston International Airport, now Stone Hill Park
Die Another Day is the twentieth film in the James Bond series, based on the original character created by Ian Fleming and marked the franchise’s 40th anniversary.
With Pierce Brosnan(Mamma Mia!, Dante’s Peak) taking the James Bond starring role for the fourth and final time, Halle Berry(Cloud Atlas Cloud Atlas, Monster’s Ball), Rosamund Pike(Gone Girl, Jack Reacher), Judi Dench(Notes on a Scandal, Iris), John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda, Trolls) and Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, The Hateful Eight).
The film sees Bond captured on a mission in North Korea after his true identity was leaked. A year later, he is released in exchange for a terrorist but MI6 relieve him of his “00” because they suspect he gave away secrets during his capture. Trying to prove his innocence, Bond sets off to find his betrayer as well as the terrorist he was exchanged for who has an evil plan – will Bond be able to stop him?
With an A-list cast including Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, Halle Berry as sidekick Giacinta ‘Jinx’ Johnson as well as Rosamund Pike, Judi Dench, John Cleese, Michael Madsen and even an appearance from Madonna!
The Die Another Day team visited the now closedManston International Airport (now Stone Hill Park) in Ramsgate to film the Antonov cargo plane scenes towards the end of the film. The Thanet area has been previously used for filming Coast Vs Country (2016), True Love (2012) and Gypo (2006).
The World is Not Enough is the nineteenth film in the James Bond series and sees Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, return to protect the world from a nuclear bomb threat whilst protecting the heiress and daughter of an oil tycoon murdered at MI6.
Directed by Michael Apted(The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and starring screen favourites as Pierce Brosnan(Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day), Robert Carlyle(The Full Monty, Trainspotting), Sophie Marceau(Braveheart, Beyond The Clouds), John Cleese (Fawlty Towers, A Fish Called Wanda) and Judi Dench(Die Another Day, Ladies in Lavender).
The World is Not Enough was a smash hit at the box office and became the highest earning James Bond film until Die Another Day was released in 2002. The film also won several awards for best film of its genre and best actor, Pierce Brosnan.
The Historic Dockyard in Chatham was used as the location for a section of the action packed boat chase at the start of the film where the boat goes across a road, through a boat house and down an arched alleyway. If you look closely you can see Chatham High Street just before Bond sails past the O2.
Starring: Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham Carter, Judi Dench, Julian Sands, Daniel Day Lewis
Production Company: Goldcrest Films International, National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC), Curzon Film Distributors, Film Four International, Merchant Ivory Productions
Kent Filming Locations Used:Emmett’s Garden in Sevenoaks, Chiddingstone, Brasted.
Set in the early 1900’s, Lucy Honeychurch (Bonham Carter) embarks on her first trip to Florence chaperoned by her elderly spinster cousin Charlotte Bartlett (Maggie Smith). When Lucy meets eccentric George Emerson (Julian Sands), Charlotte fears that the two young people are becoming a little too familiar and beats a hasty return to England.
Once home, Lucy begins a courtship with the stoic Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day Lewis), a far cry from the free spirited George. However Lucy soon finds herself torn between duty to her fiancé and her love for George, who miraculously appears in her life once more.
A beautiful and romantic social comedy, this Merchant Ivory film showed audiences the beauty of the Kent Countryside, as they filmed at a private residence in Brasted to double as the Honeychurch’s family home.
Owned by the National Trust, Emmett’s Garden in Sevenoaks became the venue for Lucy and Cecil’s engagement party in the film. A beautiful location, Emmett’s Garden was created in the late 19th Century and contains many exotic and rare trees and shrubs from around the world.
Also in Sevenoaks, the village of Chiddingstone featured in the film as the setting for Lucy and Cecil’s post engagement-party walk. Owned entirely by the National Trust, it is the perfect example of a Tudor one-street village where approximately over 70% of the buildings are at least 200 years old. In the scene you can also see St Mary’s Church in Chiddingstone which was built in the 13th Century.
