3 Body Problem (2024)

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Kent Film Office

Writer: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo
Starring: Eiza González, Liam Cunningham, Benedict Wong, Jovan Adepo, Jess Hong
Production Company: Bighead Littlehead, Plan B Entertainment, Primitive Streak, T-Street, The Three-Body Universe, YooZoo Pictures
Kent Locations Used: Discovery Park

Based on the novel of the same name by Liu Cixin, 3 Body Problem (2024) is an 8-part Netflix series which follows humanity’s first contact with aliens from the planet Trisolaris, and a secret organisation who aid them in their invasion of Earth.

Adapted for the screen by David Benioff (Game of Thrones, The Kite Runner), D.B. Weiss (Game of Thrones, Metal Lords) and Alexander Woo (True Blood, The Terror), 3 Body Problem stars Eiza González (Baby Driver, Godzilla vs. Kong) as Auggie, Liam Cunningham (Jude (1996), Hunger) as Thomas Wade, Benedict Wong (Doctor Strange (2016), Hummingbird (2013)) as Da Shi, Jovan Adepo (Fences, Babylon) as Saul Durand and Jess Hong (The Brokenwood Mysteries) as Jin Cheng.

Production visited Kent to film at Discovery Park in Sandwich, which doubles for the Nanotechnology Research Centre where Auggie develops her Nanofiber technology.

Formerly a Pfizer research and manufacturing facility, Discovery Park is a large office complex with science labs and offices available for filming. Previous productions to have filmed there include The Old Guard (2020), The Complex: Lockdown (2020), and Baptiste (2019).

The Three-Body Problem was released on Netflix Thursday 21^st March 2024.

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

Zoe and the Astronaut (2018)

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Kent Film Office

Zoe and the Astronaut official film poster © Sahara Road

Writer / Director: Eke Chukwu
Starring: Kirsten Foster, Ian Reddington, Lisa Moorish, Max Scully
Production Company: Independent Film
Kent Locations Used: Tankerton Beach, Whitstable

A gripping combination of romance and sci-fi, Zoe and the Astronaut (2018) tells the heart-warming story of a Leukaemia patient, who sees a space pod crash in a field near her home and inside is a young astronaut. She uses her last days showing him the beauty of life on Earth.

Eke Chukwu (Hood, London Virgin) wrote, directed and produced the film. Kirsten Foster (Lewis, Jekyll & Hyde (2015)), Max Scully (Blood on Canvas, Ginger & Rosa (2012)), Lisa Moorish (Murder in Mind, Vote Debra Gray) and Ian Reddington (Highlander, The Sisters Brothers) star in this independent film.

Filming took place on Tankerton Beach for the final sequence of the film. Tankerton Beach is a shingle beach with wooden beach huts along the coastline, as well as the grassy slopes that run alongside the shingles. There is a sailing club, and a skate park facing the beach, as well as phenomenal views. At a low tide, a walkway known as ‘The Street’ is revealed going out towards the sea.

Zoe and the Astronaut (2018) was released on Friday 4^th May 2018.

For more information about Kent’s filming history, please visit out Movie Map.

Black Mirror: Season 4 – Metalhead (2017)

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Kent Film Office

Poster for Black Mirror MetalHead episode in black and white showing stylised image of main character running across the horizon. metal Head written in white

Black Mirror MetalHead © Netflix

Writer: Charlie Brooker
Director: David Slade
Starring: Maxine Peake, Jake Davies, Clint Dyer
Production Company: Zeppotron
Kent Locations Used: Harrietsham, Maidstone

Black Mirror (2011-) is a Netflix drama series that focuses on unsettling visions of reality and tends to be satirical with its social commentary and dystopian storylines, each episode featuring a unique story.

The series, now in its fourth season, was created and written by Charlie Brooker (10 O’ Clock Live) and has a number of high profile directors, such as Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs), each directing their own episode. Segments of Episode 5 MetalHead, directed by David Slade (Hannibal), were filmed at a private property in Harrietsham village near Maidstone in April 2017.

The episode, filmed entirely in black and white, stars Maxine Peake (The Theory of Everything) and follows a woman whose companions are mauled by a mysterious dog at a warehouse. MetalHead is a chase story set against the empty post‑apocalyptic landscape of the Scottish moors.

Fairbourne Reservoir East in Maidstone features as the empty house Bella (Maxine Peake) seeks refuge in towards the end of the episode.

The Maidstone area has been seen on screen in productions such as Eastenders (2007-2022) which filmed in Wormshill and Harrietsham.

Black Mirror: Season 4 was released on Friday 29th December 2017 on streaming service Netflix.

Image of Maxine Peake sat in a remote rural location on the phone with a look of panic on her face

Maxine Peake in Black Mirror S4 MetalHead © Jonathan Prime Netflix

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

Electric Dreams: Crazy Diamond (2017)

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Kent Film Office

Jill (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Ed (Steve Buscemi) sitting at a table., Jill is smiking

Jill (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Ed (Steve Buscemi). Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams: Crazy Diamond © Channel 4

Writer: Philip K. Dick (the series is an adaptation of his work).

Director: Each episode has a different director, some of the directors include: Michael Dinner, David Farr, Francesca Gregorini and Tom Harper.

Starring: Gumuliauskas Vaclovas, Juke Hardy, Alona Leoine, Russ Panzarella, Steve Buscemi, Richard Madden, Bryan Cranston and many more.

Production Company: Channel 4 and Sony Pictures Television

Ed (Steve Buscemi) and Sally (Julia Davis) walking up drive with suitcases in hands and sea behind them

Ed (Steve Buscemi) and Sally (Julia Davis)
Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams : “Crazy Diamond” © Channel 4

Kent Locations Used: Dungeness and Pilot Pub

Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams is a sci-fi anthology series with stand-alone episodes that focus on dark themes and ideas with a twist. The first season will contain 10 episodes of adapted material from Philip K. Dick’s body of literary work.

Source material from Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner) stories, directed by, among others, Michael Dinner (The Crew), David Farr (The Ones Below), Francesca Gregorini (The Truth About Emanuel) and Tom Harper (Peaky Blinders). The first season stars Timothy Spall (Mr Turner, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Gumuliauskas Vaclovas (The Death of Stalin), Juke Hardy (Alien: Covenant), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) and Steve Buscemi (Fargo, Boardwalk Empire) as well as many others.

Some scenes from the upcoming series were filmed in Dungeness on the south coast of Kent. The area has been used in the past for many different films and TV series. Previous productions filmed in Dungeness include: Una (2017) and Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos (1971). The Pilot Inn in Dungeness previously featured in the The Poison Tree (2012)

Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams premieres on Sunday 17 September 2017 on Channel 4 at 9PM.

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

Anti Matter (2017)

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Kent Film Office

Writer: Keir Burrows
Director: Keir Burrows
Starring: Yaiza Figueroa, Philippa Carson, Tom Barber-Duffy, Julia Savill, Noah Maxwell Clarke, Holly Joyce
Production Company: The Cast Iron Picture Co
Kent Locations Used: Bradbourne House

Anti Matter is a science fiction noir that follows scientist Liv (Philippa Carson) as she desperately tries to discover what happened to her after an experiment to generate and travel through a wormhole. She must find out who, or what, is behind the struggles in her life alongside her friends Ana (Yaiza Figueroa) and Nate(Tom Barber-Duffy).

Anti Matter stars Philippa Carson (Femme Killer, Virtual Witness) as Liv, Tom Barber-Duffy (The Befuddled Box of Betty Buttifint) as Nate and Yaiza Figueroa (The Showreel, A Beautiful Death) as Ana. Fellow cast members include Julia Savill, Noah Maxwell Clarke (Holby City, Top Boy) and Holly Joyce (Look What You Have Become, Grace). The film was written and directed by Keir Burrows (Hen party, Air).

Production used Bradbourne House in Kent as a double for Liv’s grandmother Brenda’s (Julia Savill) house. Beautiful exterior and interior shots are used as Liv, Anna and Nate visit Tinkles the cat.

Bradbourne House is a mansion set in a twenty acres of parkland located in West Malling. Features include extensive woodlands, a lake, a ballroom, conference rooms, small panelled library, glass greenhouse, walled orchard, converted stables and cellars.

Anti Matter was released in the UK on 10th July 2017.

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

Humans – Series 2 (2016)

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Kent Film Office

Humans poster with the titles Humans 2.0 written on top of four cast members staring at the camera

Humans © Channel 4

Production Company: Kudos Productions, Matador Films

Starring: Gemma Chan, Emily Berrington, Colin Morgan, Katherine Parkinson, Carrie-Ann Moss, Tom Goodman-Hill

Kent Locations Used: Westgate-on-Sea – West Bay Café, Piggy Bank nursery, Station Road Birchington, Botany Bay, Norfolk Road, Cliftonville

Set in a parallel present, Humans returns for a second series and explores how the latest family gadgets, highly-developed robotic servants called “Synths”, affect and transform human lives, not always for the better.

Series two picks up several months after the end of the first series – Niska (Emily Berrington) is still missing and her fellow synths – Mia (Gemma Chan), Leo (Colin Morgan) and Max (Ivanno Jeremiah) are still trying to find their place in the world amidst unconfirmed reports of synths behaving erratically.

Humans Ed (Sam Palladio) standing in front of beach huts at Westgate-on-Sea

The award winning first series of Humans attracted an average of 4.8million viewers, becoming Channel 4’s highest rated drama in 20 years.

The series stars Gemma Chan (Secret Diary of a Call Girl Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), Emily Berrington (The Inbetweeners 2 24: Live Another Day), Colin Morgan (Merlin The Fall), Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd, The Boat That Rocked), Carrie-Ann Moss (Jessica Jones, The Matrix) and Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr Selfridge, Everest).

The production team filmed in Thanet between April and June 2016 using locations including Westgate-on-Sea – West Bay Café, Piggy Bank nursery, Station Road in Birchington and Botany Bay and Norfolk Road in Cliftonville.

Westgate-on-Sea is a coastal town near Margate which offers a sandy beach, arcades, Dreamland amusement park, shops and restaurant plus the renowned Turner Contemporary gallery. Botany Bay is in Thanet and is a popular film location due to its blue flag beach almost 200m long with stunning chalk cliffs and rock pools. The Thanet area has previously featured on screen in productions such as The Lady in the Van (2015), True Love (2012) and Ruby Blue (2007).

Humans series 2 starts on Sunday 30^th October at 21:00 on Channel 4.

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

Blakes 7 – Bounty (1978)

Posted on October 20, 1978 by Kent Film Office

Director: Pennant Roberts
Creator: Terry Nation
Starring: Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette, Paul Darrow, T.P. McKenna
Production Company: BBC
Kent Locations Used: Quex Park – Waterloo Tower in Birchington

Blake’s 7 (1978-1981) is a BBC One science fiction show which ran for four series between 1978 –1981. Set in the future, the show is about a group of outcasts who fight a guerrilla war against the totalitarian Terran Federation from an alien spaceship.

The series was created by Terry Nation (Doctor Who, The Avengers), who also created the Daleks in Doctor Who.

Episode 11 of Series 1, “Bounty”, sees Blake (Gareth Thomas) and Jenna (Sally Knyvette) try to convince Sarkoff (T.P. McKenna), the exiled former president of the planet Lindor to return to lead his people, before the Federation assumes control of the planet. However, the Liberator is taken over by a group of bounty hunters known as The Amagons.

“Bounty” is directed by Pennant Roberts (The Sherman Plays) and stars Gareth Thomas (Parkin’s Patch), Sally Knyvette (Emmerdale, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow), Paul Darrow (Die Another Day) and T.P. McKenna (Straw Dogs, Ulysses).

Blakes 7 Screenshot at Quex Park- Waterloo Tower with trees around it

Blakes 7 Screenshot Quex Park – Waterloo Tower- two characters leabing against the stone wall

Waterloo Tower at Quex Park features in the episode as the ex-president Sarkoff’s residence in exile.

Quex Park is a unique country park of 250 acres set within an estate of 1800 acres in Birchington which offers parkland, gardens and a Regency-style country house with unique museum containing dioramas of African landscapes. Projects which have previously filmed in the Birchington area include BBC Three drama The Things I Haven’t Told You (2008).

Blakes 7 aired between 1978 –1981 and is now available for DVD purchase.

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

Kent's Premier Film Commission