Romola Garai

Churchill’s Secret (2016)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Churchill's Secret - Michael Gambon as Winston Churchill holding a cigar

Churchill’s Secret – Michael Gambon as Winston Churchill © ITV

Director: Charles Sturridge

Writer: Jonathan Smith (Novel), Stewart Harcourt (Adaption)

Starring: Michael Gambon, Lindsay Duncan, Romola Garai, Matthew Macfadyen, Daisy Lewis, Daisy Lewis, Rachael Stirling, Tara Fitzgerald

Production Company: Daybreak Pictures, Masterpiece

Kent Locations: Chartwell, Westerham

Set in 1953, ITV’s Churchill’s Secret is a feature length drama which tells the little known story of Winston Churchill’s (Michael Gambon) second time as Prime Minister when he suffered a life-threatening stroke, which is kept from the public.

Based on Jonathan Smith’s book, The Churchill Secret: KBO, the drama is told from the perspective of Churchill’s family, his doctor and young Nurse, Millie Appleyard (Romola Garai). Whilst his political peers plot his succession, family tensions surface when his long suffering wife, Clemmie (Lindsay Duncan) calls his children to visit him at his  Chartwell home in Kent, unsure if he will survive.

Michael Gambon (Harry Potter series, Gosford Park) plays Sir Winston Churchill with a supporting cast including Lindsay Duncan (Birdman, Alice in Wonderland), Romola Garai (The Hour, Emma), Matthew Macfadyen (Ripper Street, Anna Karenina), Daisy Lewis (Downton Abbey, Pusher), Rachael Stirling (Snow White and the Huntsman, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) and Tara Fitzgerald (Game of Thrones, Legend).

The film is adapted by Stewart Harcourt (Treasure Island, Dracula) and directed by Charles Sturridge (Gulliver’s Travels, Lassie).

Chartwell was the real life Churchill family home from 1924 until Winston Churchill’s death in 1965 and was naturally chosen by the production to feature as the Churchill home. Exteriors of the house and garden were filmed on location at Chartwell, whilst the interiors were recreated at West London Film Studios.

Set in delightful gardens, Chartwell is a National Trust property in Westerham and the rooms remain much as they were when Churchill lived there. Chartwell has previously been used as a film location by productions such as Flog It! (2014) and The Gathering Storm (2002).

Churchill’s Secret will be shown on ITV1 on Sunday 28th February 2016 at 20:00.

 

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

 

Legacy (2013)

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Three cast members all staring at the camera.

Legacy © Slim Productions and BBC

Director: Pete Travis

Writers: Alan Judd (Novel), Paula Milne (Screenplay)

Starring: Andrew Scott, Romola Garai, Charlie Cox, Geraldine James, Olivia Grant

Production company: Slim Film + Television

Kent Locations: Deal

Legacy is a BBC TV film based on Alan Judd’s novel of the same name which is set in 1970’s London during the height of the Cold War where a trainee MI6 spy is tasked to seek out a former friend, now a Russian diplomat with the hope of “turning” him. As both men have their own agendas, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins around a secret plan for a lethal attack within the UK.

The film is part of BBC Two’s Cold War Season and stars many familiar faces including Andrew Scott (Sherlock, Saving Private Ryan), Romola Garai (The Last Days on Mars, Amazing Grace), Charlie Cox (Boardwalk Empire, Stardust), Geraldine James (Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland) and Olivia Grant (Mr.Nice, Lark Rise to Candleford). 

Legacy © Slim Productions and BBC

Legacy © Slim Productions and BBC

The screenplay is adapted by award-winning writer Paula Milne (The Politician’s Husband, Endgame) and directed by BAFTA-winning Pete Travis (Dredd, Omagh) and is the second time the pair has collaborated since the 2009 film Endgame.

The Legacy production team visited Deal in July 2013 where they filmed the two main characters meeting at the pier as well as scenes on the seafront where a car pulls up and a man gets out and make a call from a public phone box.

Deal is a town in East Kent situated between Dover and Ramsgate and has a wealth of independent shops, eateries and delightful seafront with a pier and maritime clock. Previous productions that have taken advantage of the area including The Tunnel (2013), Little Dorrit (2008) and Ruby Blue (2008).

Don’t miss Legacy will be shown on BBC Two at 21:00 on Thursday 28th November 2013.

 

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

The Crimson Petal and The White (2011)

Posted on by Kent Film Office

 

Romola Garai smiling away from the camera in a dark dress, two candles sit in front of her.

Romola Garai The Crimson Petal and The White @ BBC

 

A four-part adaptation of Michel Faber’s international best-selling novel about Victorian Life.

Starring: Romola Garai, Chris O’Dowd, Gillian Anderson, Richard E Grant, Shirley Henderson, Amanda Hale and Mark Gatiss.

Production Company: Origin Pictures, Cité-Amérique

Kent Filming Locations: Eastgate House, The Historic Dockyard Chatham

In this four-part tale of love, lust, desire and rage, Victorian life is revealed in a way never seen before on screen.

The tale takes viewers into a hidden world in which a young prostitute and a prominent businessman embark on a dangerous relationship with epic consequences.

This version of Michel Faber’s novel, The Crimson Petal and The White, has been adapted by acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Lucinda Coxon (Wild Target, The Danish Girl) and directed by Marc Munden (Touching Evil, Utopia).

The four part series stars; Romola Garai (Atonement, Suffragette), Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, This Is 40), Gillian Anderson (The X-Files, The Fall), Richard E Grant (Withnail & I Downton Abbey), Shirley Henderson (Trainspotting, Bridget Jones’s Diary), Amanda Hale (Bright Star, Persuasion) and Mark Gatiss (Match Point, Sherlock).

The production visited Kent where they filmed on location at The Historic Dockyard Chatham and Eastgate House in Rochester.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a popular filming location in Kent due to its authentic period backdrops, including cobbled streets and Georgian as well as Victorian architecture. Victor Frankenstein (2015), Grantchester (2014), and The Golden Compass (2007) have previously filmed at The Historic Dockyard Chatham.

Eastgate House, situated on Rochester High Street, was formerly a large private town house. Built by Sir Peter Buck; it has now been restored and is owned by Medway Council. Productions such as Jekyll and Hyde (2015),  BBC’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) and Great Expectations (1989) have previously filmed in Rochester.

The Crimson Petal and The White will be shown on BBC Two on Wednesday 6th April at 21.00 

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

Emma (2009)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Romola Garai in a pink dress and bonnet staring towards the ground with a smile in front of bushes with flowers on

Romola Garai © BBC

Director: Jim O’ Hanlon

Writer: Sandy Welch

Starring:Romola Garai, Jonny Lee Miller, Michael Gambon, Tamsin Greig, Rupert Evans, Robert Bathurst

Production Company: BBC

Kent Filming Locations: Chilham, Squerryes Court, Westerham.

This Autumn Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ will once again grace our screens with a four part adaptation from the BBC. The new series sees Romola Garai (Atonement) starring as the incomparable Emma Woodhouse, with Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince) as her father.

Jane Austen describes Emma as ‘handsome, clever and rich’ and confessed that Emma is a heroine which no-one but her will like. Emma is determined not to marry. However, she cannot help but play matchmaker to all her friends, often with disastrous consequences. Will she ever learn to let love run its true course?

film light equipment pointed at a white wall with paintings on. Gold furniture is on the floor underneath.

Behind the Scenes at Squerryes © Squerryes

Behind the Scenes at Squerryes- formal gardens with grass and hedges- a film crew are in the centre on the grass and pathway

Behind the Scenes at Squerryes © Squerryes

Market in front of Chilham Castle with actors walking around the stalls.

Market in front of Chilham Castle © Kent Film Office

Wooden Meat Market Stall in front of a brick house with beams.

Meat Market Stall © Kent Film Office

Squerryes Court in Westerham with its grand Georgian rooms was the perfect location to double as the Woodhouse family home. The country house is located in 20 acres of beautiful grounds which include a spectacular garden and an 18th Century Dovecote.    Squerryes Court has been used for productions such as The Hollow Crown: Henry V (2012) and The Boat That Rocked (2009).

The production also chose the beautiful village of Chilham near Ashford to feature as Highbury. Chilham village retains much of its original features, which makes it perfect for period dramas. During filming the square was closed off and all signs of modern life, from the double yellow lines to the burglar alarms, were gently erased. In its place a vibrant market was installed to capture the essence of village life in Jane Austen’s time.

Chilham village has been used for a variety of filming projects including BBC’s Emma (2009), Channel 4 comedy Chickens (2011) and Miss Marple – The Moving Finger (2005).

The series was shown on BBC One on October 2009 and is now available to buy on DVD.

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