Pandemonium (2020)

Posted on January 8, 2021 by Kent Film Office

The Jessop family stand in front of the Towers at Reculver country park on their family holiday

Alison Steadman pictured centre
© BBC Studios / Andrew Hayes Watkins

Writer: Tom Basden
Director: Ella Jones
Starring: Alison Steadman
Production Company: BBC Studios
Kent Locations Used: Reculver Country Park; Walpole Bay

Pandemonium (2020) is a one-off TV drama in which the Jessops family, having had a terrible year due to the Pandemic, decided to take a holiday to boost morale, but it is October in Margate.

Produced by BBC Studios the show was written by Tom Basden (Plebs, After Life), directed by Ella Jones and stars Alison Steadman (Gavin & Stacey)

Production visited Reculver Country Park and Walpole Bay as the Jessop’s holiday destinations.

Reculver is a popular destination, comprising the atmospheric Reculver Towers and Roman Fort ruins and the surrounding country park and has previously featured in The Tunnel: Vengeance (2017-2020) and The Medusa Touch (1978).

Walpole Bay is 400 meters long with a sandy beach, promenade and tidal swimming pool. Facilities include a cafe, jet ski hire, parking, golf, tennis and indoor bowls. It features in the production where a car drives off the seawall onto the beach below and has also featured in Liar Series 1 & 2 (2017)

Pandemonium will air on Wednesday 30th December 2020 on BBC.

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

Two Weeks to Live (2020)

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Kent Film Office

Maisie Williams as character Kim Noakes stands to the right of the programme title against a blue background holding candy floss. She is wearing scruffy clothes featuring a green and black jumper, blue hooded jacket and ripped burgundy trousers. A penguin toy splattered in blood is suspended in front of the programme title featured in pink with the strapline Sweet. Innocent. Badass. Underneath.

Two Weeks To Live (2020) with Maisie Williams © Sky UK Ltd

Writer: Gaby Hull
Director: Al Campbell
Starring: Maisie Williams, Sian Clifford, Mawaan Rizwan
Production Company: Kudos Film and Television for SKY UK TV
Kent Locations Used: Herne Bay, Dreamland, Harbour Arm and Margate Beach

Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Mary Shelley) stars in the new six-part comedy drama Two Weeks to Live (2020) for Sky TV. The series will focus on the adventures of Kim Noakes, a young woman raised on the margins of society by her mother. Fifteen years after the death of her father, Kim decides to leave everything behind and find his killer.

Directed by Al Campbell (Code 404, Man Down) and written by Gaby Hull (We Hunt Together, Cheat) the series was produced by Kudos Film and Television for Sky TV and also stars Sian Clifford (Fleabag, A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life) and Mawaan Rizwan (Next of Kin, Vera).

During filming, production visited Herne Bay to film a scene on Hampton Pier as well as a house on Grand Drive. The cast and crew also filmed in Margate at amusement park Dreamland, the Lighthouse Bar on the Harbour Arm and Margate Beach.

Actors Sian Clifford, Maisie Williams and Mawaan Rizwan stand in front of a merry-go-round.

Two Weeks To Live (2020) with Sian Clifford, Maisie Williams and Mawaan Rizwan filming at Dreamland, Kent © Sky UK Ltd

Herne Bay is a seaside town which has a pier and shingle beach and is set just outside of the historic City of Canterbury. Recent productions to film in the area include Kate & Koji (2020), The 1900 Island – Series 1 (2019) and Blue Planet UK – Series 1 (2019).

Margate is a seaside town complete with sandy beach, harbour, amusement park, period housing and the modern art gallery Turner Contemporary. Margate seafront in the district of Thanet is a popular film location and has been used as in various productions such as Above The Clouds (2020), Top Boy – Series 3 (2019) and King of Thieves (2018).

Two Weeks to Live will be available to stream on Sky TV from Wednesday 2nd September 2020.

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

Sulphur and White (2020)

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Kent Film Office

Mark Stanley (David Tait) wearing a brown jacket and Emily Beecham (Vanessa Tait) wearing a blue floral dress, looking at each other with greenery and sky behind them.

Mark Stanley (David Tait) and Emily Beecham (Vanessa Tait) in Sulphur and White (2020) Copyright: IMDb Photo: Nick Wall

Writer: Susie Farrell
Director: Julian Jarrold
Starring: Mark Stanley, Emily Beecham, Anna Friel, Dougray Scott, Aftab Shivdasani
Production Companies: AMG International, EMU Films
Kent Locations Used: Thanet (Joss Bay, Kingsgate Bay, Botany Bay)

Feature film Sulphur and White (2020) is inspired by the true story of David Tait (Mark Stanley), a city trader and mountaineer, who tries to forget his traumatic childhood as he climbs the corporate ladder in the City Of London. When he meets Vanessa (Emily Beecham), David’s life begins to change.

Sulphur and White is directed by the award winning Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane) and the screenplay was written by Susie Farrell (Dirty God). It stars Mark Stanley (Game of Thrones, Run) as David Tait and Emily Beechman (Daphne, Hail, Caesar!) as Vanessa. Co-stars also include Anna Friel (Marcella, Deep Water), Dougray Scott (EverAfter, Hitman) and Aftab Shivdasani (Mast, Kasoor).

Filming took place in Thanet, a district of Kent containing resort towns Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs with beautiful beaches.

The production visited Joss Bay in Broadstairs, a proclaimed surfer’s paradise, boasting a 200 metre-long stretch of sandy beach. Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay afford incredible views of white cliffs and highly photographed white chalk stacks.

These coastal locations have attracted various film and TV productions over the years from French coming-of-age film À nous les petites Anglaises (1976), Mr Selfridge Series 4 (2016), Bhikari (2017) to most recently Dracula (2020).

Sulphur and White will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 6^th March 2020.

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

Above the Clouds (2020)

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Kent Film Office

Above the Clouds movie poster- Two characters sat and leant up against a yellow car with clouds in the background. Animated style image.

Above the Clouds (2020) © Leon Chambers – Third Light Films

Director: Leon Chambers
Writers: Simon Lord (screenplay), Leon Chambers, Simon Lord, James Godden
Starring: Naomi Morris, Andrew Murton, Philip Jackson
Production Company: Third Light Films
Kent Locations Used: Margate – Turner Contemporary, Seafront and The Harbour Arm, Marine Drive and The Parade, Thanet Way

Above the Clouds (2020) is an offbeat coming-of-age comedy of one girl’s marathon quest to find her real father. When headstrong Charlie (Naomi Morris) discovers her parents have been keeping her biological father secret from her, she recruits a rough sleeper (Andrew Murton) to be her ‘responsible adult’ and sets off for Scotland on her provisional driving licence to go and find him.

Above the Clouds is a feature film directed by Kent filmmaker Leon Chambers who has directed a number of film shorts including Stolen Youth, Lonely Hearts and The Long Lonely Walk, which won five Film Festival awards. Above The Clouds was written by Simon Lord from a story by Leon Chambers, Simon Lord and James Godden.

Above the Clouds, starring Naomi Morris (Pennyworth, Back), Andrew Murton (Let Me Go), Philip Jackson (Peterloo, The Good Karma Hospital), has screened at major international festivals including Austin Film Festival 2018, Naples International Film Festival 2019 and Margate Film Festival 2019 and has won seven awards including Austin Film Festival 2018 Best Narrative Feature – Audience Award, Oxford Film Festival 2019 Best Actress Award & Best Director Award and Naples International Film Festival 2019 Indie Spirit Award. For the full list of festival screenings and awards see here.

Leon Chambers and Simon Lord are currently in development with their next collaboration, sci-fi satire A Certain Tomorrow.

The film makes use of multiple filming locations in Margate including the Turner Contemporary gallery, Margate Seafront and The Harbour Arm, Marine Drive and The Parade and Thanet Way.

Two characters sitting on a white bench in front of a white wall and window at the Turner Contemporary Gallery. Sea can be seen through the window.

Above the Line (2020) production still – Turner Contemporary © Leon Chambers – Third Light Films

Margate is a seaside town complete with sandy beach, harbour, amusement park, period housing and the ultra-modern art gallery Turner Contemporary which offers exhibitions, events and various educational opportunities.

Margate seafront in the district of Thanet is a popular film location and has been used as in various productions such as in feature films King of Thieves (2018) and King Lear (2018). Ramsgate is also a popular location in Thanet and has featured in several productions such as Baptise (2019), Hurricane (2018) and The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016).

Two characters wearing casual clothes standing and talking in front of Margate beach leant against the railing.

Above the Line (2020) – Margate Seafront © Leon Chambers – Third Light Films

The film was released on Tuesday 28^th January 2020 and is available to view via iTunes, Amazon Prime and various other on demand channels.

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

This Is Our Family (2020)

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Kent Film Office

This Is Our Family 2017 cast standing in a row on the front patio of a house, smiling into the camera. The lady in the middle is sat on a pink chair.

This Is Our Family 2017 ©Sky UK ltd

Director: Ellena Wood
Production Company: Little Gem
Kent Locations Used: Margate

This Is Our Family (2020) follows four families from across the UK, to tell the stories of their lives over a three year period. This ambitious docu-series began filming four years ago and is split into four 60-minute episodes.

The episode directed by Ellena Wood (Louis Theroux: Talking to Anorexia) and co-directed by Holly Moy, follows three generations of strong women living under one roof in Margate. Maree Miles lives with her three daughters, Ellie, Lily and Dolce in her mum Irene’s house. 86 year-old Irene has dementia and her condition seems to be getting worse.

Executive Producers are Ben Gale and Helen Littleboy for Little Gem, with Natasha Bondy as Creative Director. Marvyn Benoit is Executive Producer for Sky.

Production visited Margate to film at the participants’ home as well as the seafront, including wide aerial drone shots that show the true scale of the town. Scenes were also filmed at The Rodney Pub, Margate Hospital, Margate Crematorium, Margate High street and a local hairdresser.

Other productions to visit Margate include Interior Design Masters (2019), The Empty Housing Scandal (2019) and George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces – Series 8 (2018).

The ‘The Miles Family’ episode will debut on Sky Atlantic at 10PM on Tuesday 14^th January 2020.

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

Interior Design Masters (2019)

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Kent Film Office

Picture Shows: Backrow (L) to (R) Cassie Nicholas, Jim Biddulph, Verity Coleman, Frank Newbold, Nicki Bamford-Bowes all standing at the back of a bricked room with blue pictures on the wall. Front row (L) to (R) Trish Coggans, Terian Tilston, Jerome Gardner, Kyle Broughton-Frew and Ju De Paula sitting on sofas looking into the camera.

©BBC / DSP / Tom Scott

Presenter: Fearne Cotton
Starring: Michelle Ogundehin, Mary Portas, Jade Jagger, Matthew Williamson
Production Company: Darlow Smithson Productions / Endemol Shine
Kent Locations Used: Whitstable

On Interior Design Masters (2019-), ten designers take on different design projects and compete with each other to gain a commission with a client for a job.

Among the contestants is Jim Biddulph, 32, from Margate. He left a previous job as a design writer to pursue his new career which was 10 years in the making and seized the opportunity to be involved in the programme. Fellow contestant Frank Newbold also boasts Kent connections as he previously lived in Rochester.

The guest judges on Interior Design Masters are Michelle Ogundehin (The Great Interior Design Challenge), Mary Portas (Hotel GB, Mary Portas: Secret Shopper), Jade Jagger (Gomorron, Divendres) and Matthew Williamson. Presenting is Fearne Cotton (Celebrity Juice, Lemon La Vida Loca).

In Episode 7 , the semi final, the three remaining candidates are asked to each remodel a hairdressers in Whitstable High Street. Guest judge Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen will help to decide whether the classic look of Len’s Barber Shop, the futuristic theme of Jelly Beanz or the industrial remodel of Edge is good enough to get the designer to the final.

Whitstable is on the north coast of Kent. The town is famous for its oysters, celebrated during the famous Oyster Festival during the summer.

The series was created by BBC 2 and Netflix, consisting of eight episodes.

Episode One of Interior Design Masters will be shown on BBC Two on Wednesday 14^th August 2019 at 8pm on BBC2.

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

Teen Mom UK – Series 6 (2019)

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Kent Film Office

Five young mothers group photo with blue background each holding one of their children and smiling at the camera - The child furthest left is being held upside-down and one on the furthest right is crying.

The Mums of Teen Mom UK Reality TV Series ©MTV UK

Starring: Megan Salmon Ferrari, Amber Butler, Chloe Patton, Sassi Simmonds and Shannon Wise
Production Company: True North Productions
Kent Locations Used: Margate

Teen Mom UK (2016-) is back for its sixth series. The UK’s spin off from the hit American TV show Teen Mom, is a reality show which focuses on young mothers and how they deal with pregnancy, children, family and their day to day lives. The new series continues to be full of drama as it follows Amber Butler and Steven Rankine as they take the next steps in their relationship, as well as Shannon Wise’s exciting gender reveal party.

Filming for one of the upcoming episodes took place in Margate, where one of the teen moms takes a trip to the beach with her partner before the birth of her second child. The show journals their holiday in Margate.

Margate is a seaside town located in the district of Thanet. It has a sandy beach, harbour, amusement park, vintage shops and the modern art gallery the Turner Contemporary. Previous filming here includes Long Lost Family: What Happened Next (2018) and Who Do You Think You Are? (2018).

The series started on MTV UK on Wednesday 24^th July 2019 at 8pm. Margate will feature in a later episode airing sometime in September 2019. The first episode can still be viewed on MTV player and on NowTV.

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

Jellyfish (2019)

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Kent Film Office

Jellyfish Poster- A woman riding a bike in a coat along the seafront at night is at the bottom of the poster with the jellyfish text at the top.

Writers: James Gardner, Simon Lord
Director: James Gardner
Starring: Liv Hill, Sinead Matthews, Cyril Nri
Production Company: Nik Holttum Productions
Kent Locations Used: Margate, Thanet

Jellyfish (2019) is a drama about a teenage carer discovering an unlikely talent for stand-up comedy. Fifteen-year-old Sarah Taylor (Liv Hill) struggles to care for twin siblings and a bed-ridden, manic depressive mother (Sinead Matthews) as well as bullying from her school peers. Jellyfish tells the story of how stand-up comedy becomes an unlikely outlet for Sarah’s frustration and quick-tempered wit.

Jellyfish is a feature film directed by James Gardner, who co-wrote the piece with film producer Simon Lord. Gardner has won six awards for Jellyfish, including three for Best Film, and is known for directing other works such as Barry Glitter and Ferris and the Fancy Pigeon, for which he won the Royal Television Society (RTS) Award for Best Post-Graduate Drama. Simon Lord has worked with Gardner on previous projects including Barry Glitter, and wrote the screenplay for the 2020 film Above The Clouds.

Jellyfish, starring Liv Hill (The Little Stranger, Three Girls), Sinead Matthews (Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Boat That Rocked) and Cyril Nri (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, This Life) premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in April 2018 and had its International premiere shortly after at Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it won the Michael Powell Award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film.

Liv Hill stands on a deserted beach wearing a coat looking out at the pink sunset over the low tide.

Mostly filmed in Margate, a seaside town in Thanet in Kent, production shot on the seafront, Margate train station, Dreamland and Cedar Close as Sarah’s home and the Theatre Royal. The film also features landmarks such as The Lido, Arlington House and the Main Sands as its backdrop. Margate offers amusement, culture and luxury, and is part of the district of Thanet, a popular film location. Recent productions to film in Margate include Above The Clouds (2020) and Top Boy – Series 3 (2019).

Jellyfish was released on Friday 15^th February 2019 in UK cinemas and is available to watch on Amazon Prime.

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

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces – Series 8 (2019)

Posted on February 6, 2019 by Kent Film Office

George Clarke's Amazing Spaces Series 8 poster of acorn tree house hanging in the trees within a forest

Starring: George Clarke
Production Company: Plum Pictures
Kent Locations Used: Ramsgate

Channel 4’s George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (2012-) returns for a new series this year. Architect and presenter George Clarke (Amazing Spaces Shed of the Year, The Restoration Man) explores the fascinating world of small builds, with an emphasis on the creative use of small spaces. The show follows people who turn the smallest of places, such as old boats, a tree house disguised as an acorn, and a mountain-top restaurant resembling a spaceship, into places to live.

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces series 5 previously filmed in Margate, Thanet back in 2015. Here, George met a coma survivor who transformed a family camper van and also visited a woman who turned her narrow boat into a floating bookshop.

The Kent episode of series 8 was filmed in Ramsgate, Thanet. Production filmed at Port of Ramsgate, where George follows a new restoration.

Ramsgate is a thriving seaside town with beautiful Georgian terraced housing, Marina, Port and Promenade. Often doubling for London streets. Other previous TV productions which filmed here include Fantasy Homes by the Sea – Series 7 (2018), The Channel: The World’s Busiest Waterway (2017) and Coast Vs Country (2016).

Series 8 began airing on Sunday 30^th December 2018 on Channel 4. Episode eight, which featured Ramsgate, aired on Sunday 24^th February 2019 at 8pm.

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

Fantasy Homes by the Sea – Series 7 (2018)

Posted on November 15, 2018 by Kent Film Office

Image of presenter Michelle Ackerley in an orange top leaning against colourful sheds

Writer: Jayne Hibbitt-Smith
Starring: Michelle Ackerley
Production company: Hat Trick
Kent locations used: Broadstairs, Margate, Ramsgate, Kingsdown, Dungeness

The series originally ran for six seasons between 2007 and 2013 on UKTV’s Style channel.

Michelle Ackerley presents the reboot of Fantasy Homes by the Sea. Each 60-minute episode follows Michelle as she takes buyers around coastal locations in the UK in the quest to find their dream home by the sea.

Production filmed in Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate , Kent sea-side towns in Thanet that recently featured in shows such as Britain’s Favourite Walks: Top 100 (2018) and Landscape Artist of the Year (2018).

Further filming took place at Kingsdown near 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. Productions such as Coast v Country (2017) and Antiques Roadshow (2015) also chose this as a prime film location.

Production also visited Dungeness. Dungeness is a unique location which includes ramshackle huts as well as two lighthouses, a historic railway station, two pubs and artist galleries along with a nuclear power station. Previous projects that have filmed there include Walks With My Dog (2017) and Great British Railway Journeys – Series 7 (2016).

Fantasy Homes by the Sea airs on 19^th November 2018 on UKTV’s Really Channel (Freeview Channel 17, Sky Channel 142, and Virgin Media Channel 129) at 8pm. The Thanet episodes will air on 22^nd November and 6^th December, and the Kingsdown episode will air on 11^th December 2018 on Really at 8pm.

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

Kent's Premier Film Commission