Ropery - Kent Film Office

Close up of actress from Summer of Rockets pictured inside a building, looking deep in thought off camera, wearing a blue coat and green scarf.

Summer of Rockets ©BBC Pictures

Writer: Stephen Poliakoff
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Starring: Toby Woolf, Suanne Braun, Keeley Hawes, Linus Roache, Timothy Spall, Toby Stephens
Production Company: Little Island Productions
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyards, Chatham

Set in London during the height of the Cold War, Summer of Rockets (2019) is a drama based on true events amid with growing tensions across Europe. At the time, the UK tested its first hydrogen bomb, the Soviets launched their first ballistic missile, and the space race between America and the Soviet Union had begun.

Written and directed by multi-award winning writer Stephen Poliakoff (Dancing on the Edge, Close to the Enemy), the series stars Toby Woolf (The Last Post), Suanne Braun (No Signal, Starhyke), Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty, Bodyguard) Linus Roache (Non-Stop, Vikings), Timothy Spall (Finding Your Feet, Hatton Gardens), Toby Stephens (And Then There Were None, Lost in Space).

The streets outside the Ropery in The Historic Dockyard Chatham were used to film the 1950s civil defence exercise in the series and the upper floors of the Ropery itself featured as civil defence training rooms.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham, with its Victorian and Georgian architecture continues to be a popular filming location. Previous productions which featured this location have been The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) and Foyle’s War – A War of Nerves (2004).

Summer of Rockets can be seen on BBC Two on Wednesday 22^nd May 2019 at 9pm. After this, episodes will then be shown every Wednesday for the next six weeks.

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

Writer: Etan Cohen
Director: Etan Cohen
Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Ralph Fiennes
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Gary Sanchez Productions, Mosaic Media Group, Mimran Schur Pictures
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Holmes & Watson (2018) is a comedic revision of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mysteries and his famed literary characters, detective Sherlock Holmes (Will Ferrell) and his sidekick, Dr John Watson (John C. Reilly). The pair join forces to investigate a murder at Buckingham Palace and learn that they have just four days to stop their arch enemy, Professor Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes), or the queen will become his next victim.

The film was written and directed by Etan Cohen (Men in Black 3, Tropic Thunder), and stars Will Ferrell (Anchorman, Zoolander), John C. Reilly (Step Brothers, Guardians of the Galaxy) and Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Schindler’s List).

Holmes & Watson features several locations around The Historic Dockyard Chatham. The interior of the Tarred Yarn Store was transformed into a bar tavern, the interior of the Ropery played the role of a Boxing Club, while the streets around the Ropery and Anchor Wharf stood in as London streets and docks. Some external scenes were also filmed around Officers Terrace.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham has been used in an array of productions such as Mr. Holmes (2015), Partners in Crime (2015), and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (2014).

Holmes & Watson will be released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 26^th December 2018.

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

Kent's Premier Film Commission