Judwaa 2 (2017)

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Kent Film Office

Film poster with actor and actress on bicycle with large close of actors face in background tilting sunglasses forward. Judwaa 2 is written in the middle.

Judwaa 2 – © Fox Star Studios

Writer: Yunus Sajawal, Farhad Samji, Sajid

Director: David Dhawan

Starring: Salman Khan, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Anupam Kher, Tapsee Pannu

Production Company: Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment

Kent Locations used: Sevenoaks

Twin brothers Raja and Prem are separated at birth and live very different lives until a series of coincidences brings them back together and they find themselves working together to infiltrate and take down an underground smuggling ring.

David Dhawan (Do not disturb, Rascals) directed the production along with writers Yunus Sajawal (Jaggu Dada, Singham Returns), Farhad Samji (Housefull 3, Diwale) and Sajid (Chennai Express, Ready). Indian superstars Salman Khan (Sultan, C.I.D ) and Varun Dhawan (Badlapur, Student of the year) star, along with Jacqueline Fernandez (Kick, Roy) , Anupam Kher (A Family Man, Sense8), and Tapsee Pannu (The Ghazi Attack, Pink)

The production visited the town of Sevenoaks to film in a private residence that features in the film.

Sevenoaks is a historic market town and the home of Knole Park, a stately home with a thousand acre medieval deer park. Previous productions to have filmed in Sevenoaks include Strike – The Cuckoo’s Calling/The Silkworm (2017), Rush (2013) and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (2011)

Judwaa 2 will be released in cinemas across the UK on 29^th September 2017

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

The Big Family Cooking Showdown (2017)

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Kent Film Office

Presenters standing behind cooking bench with cooking utensils, kitchen behind them

The Big Family Cooking Showdown – (C) Voltage TV Productions

Starring: Zoe Ball, Nadiya Hussain, Giorgio Locatelli and Rosemary Shrager

Production Company: Voltage TV

Kent Locations Used: The Quadrangle Trust

The Big Family Cooking Showdown is a brand new BBC cooking competition series where families compete to be the best home cooks. In

Group shot of presenters standing looking towards camera with kitchen bhind them

The Big Family Cooking Showdown – (C) Voltage TV Productions

each episode, two teams consisting of three family members, who compete in three cooking challenges. At the end of the three rounds, the judges select a winner for the quarter finals where they will face winners from other episodes.

The presenters of the series are Zoe Ball (Strictly Come Dancing) and Nadiya Hussain (winner of The Great British Bake Off in 2015). The judges of the series are Giorgio Locatelli (Italy Unpacked) and Rosemary Shrager (The Real Marigold Hotel).

The Quadrangle Trust in Shoreham, Sevenoaks, the building was transformed into a competition kitchen for the show and featured prominently in the series.

Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast (2016) was also filmed at The Quadrangle Trust in Shoreham. Other productions filmed in the Sevenoaks area include Good Enough to Eat and Rip Off Britain (2009).

The Big Family Cooking Showdown premiered on 15 August 2017, and the next episode will be released on Thursday 21 September 2017 on BBC Two.

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

Strike – The Cuckoo’s Calling/The Silkworm (2017)

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Kent Film Office

Cormoran Strike (TOM BURKE) walking down street with hands in pockets

Strike – Cormoran Strike (TOM BURKE) – (C) Bronte Films – Photographer: Steffan Hill

Writer: Ben Richards (The Cuckoo’s Calling)

Director: Michael Keillor, Kieron Hawkes, Charles Sturridge

Starring: Tom Burke, Holliday Grainger, Kerr Logan

Cormoran Strike (TOM BURKE), Robin Ellacott (HOLLIDAY GRAINGER) standing on bridge looking at camera

Strike – The Cuckoo’s Calling – Cormoran Strike (TOM BURKE), Robin Ellacott (HOLLIDAY GRAINGER) – (C) Bronte Film & TV Ltd – Photographer: Steffan Hill

Production Company: BBC, Bronte Film and TV in association with HBO

Kent Locations Used: Penshurst Place, Sevenoaks

Strike – The Cuckoo’s Calling is a brand new seven part BBC drama based on the best-selling detective series written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. There are the first of three adaptations of the respective novels The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm and Career of Evil.

Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke), a war veteran turned private detective works and lives in his tiny office in London’s Denmark Street. In The Cuckoo’s calling, business is not great for Cormoran when Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger) is mistakenly sent to assist him with his paperwork just as super model Lula Landry (Elarica Johnson ) supposedly takes her own life by jumping from a Mayfair balcony.

Following his investigation of the Lula Landry case, The Silkworm takes up the story when Strike is tasked by Leonora Quine (Monica Dolan) to locate her husband, the notorious writer Owen Quine, who has disappeared without a trace.

The Cuckoo’s calling was adapted by Ben Richards (Outcasts, Spooks) and Tom Edge (Lovesick, The Crown) and directed by Michael Keillor. The cast is led by Tom Burke (Only God Forgives, Third Star) and Holliday Grainger (Cinderella, The Finest Hours) with support from Kerr Logan (Game of Thrones, London Irish) as Matthew Cunliffe.

The production filmed at Penshurst Place as well as in a private residence in Sevenoaks.

Lady Bristow (SIAN PHILLIPS) lying on sofa talking to John Bristow (LEO BILL),

Strike – The Cuckoo’s Calling – John Bristow (LEO BILL), Lady Bristow (SIAN PHILLIPS) – (C) Bronte Film & TV Ltd

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. The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016), Wolf Hall (2015) and Merlin have previously filmed at Penshurst Place.

Sevenoaks is a historic town in West Kent just outside the gates to Knole Park. It is the home of Sevenoaks School which supported the production and has one of the oldest lying foundations in England, laid down by William Sevenokes in 1432. The town has previously featured in Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells (2016).

Strike – The Cuckoo’s Calling will screen on BBC One on Sunday August 27th & Monday 28th August at 9pm, concluding the following Sunday 3rd September.

The Silkworm will follow with two episodes on 10th and 17th September.

Career of Evil, the final, two-part instalment is due to be release in the New Year.

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

Antiques Roadshow – Ightham Mote (2017)

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Kent Film Office

Antiques Roadshow - Fiona Bruce standing in front of a painting and antiques

Antiques Roadshow – Fiona Bruce © BBC/Jeff Overs

Production Company: BBC

Kent Locations Used: Ightham Mote

The Antiques Roadshow is a popular BBC One show, presented by Fiona Bruce. The show travels across the UK and invites members of the public to bring their antiques and collectables to be examined and evaluated by experts.

Antiques Roadshow has returned to Kent for its 39^th Series, visiting Ightham Mote in Sevenoaks, Kent.

Raised view of Ightham House and gardens with people walking around stalls

Antiques Road Show Ightham High (c) Ightham Mote

Ightham Mote is a 14th century moated manor house located in Sevenoaks. The property has a long and varied history, having been owned by

medieval knights, courtiers to Henry VIII as well as high-society Victorians.

Sevenoaks is a town in West Kent with vibrant shopping streets, architectural treats and historic buildings including Knole Park which is nestled in a medieval deer-park and full of hidden treasures. The area has welcomed filming from productions such as Rush (2013), Great British Railway Journeys (2016) and Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells (2016)

The episodes will air on BBC One Sunday 7^th May 2017 and Sunday 28th May 2017 at 8pm.

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

Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells (2016)

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Kent Film Office

Time machine at The Historic Dockyard Chatham © BBC South East

Production Company: BBC South East

Kent Locations Used: Sandgate, Folkestone, The Historic Dockyard Chatham, St Clere Estate, Sevenoaks

To mark H.G. Wells’ 150^th birthday, Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells, presented by Dominic Sandbrook, discovers how a sleepy corner of the country inspired some of the most fantastic ideas in science fiction.

The BBC South East production team filmed at Sandgate beach and Wells House in Folkestone, The Historic Dockyard Chatham which is doubles as The Time Machine Workshop and St Clere Estate in Sevenoaks. They also filmed in East Sussex, Surrey and London.

Folkestone is a seaside town with an elegant clifftop promenade, a lower coastal park, a fishing harbour and Victorian cliff-top lifts. The area has featured in a wide range of productions including The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016), Lifeline (2012) and Is Anybody There? (2009).

The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a 17^th century dockyard set over 80 acres, containing over 100 buildings dating from the Georgian and Victorian Periods. It has been used extensively for filming, appearing in productions such as Rustom (2016), Partners in Crime (2015) and The World is Not Enough (1999).

Set across 2,800 acres of the rolling Kent countryside, St Clere Estate offers stunning views of the North Downs. The house itself was built in 1630 and has some fine architectural examples of the Caroline era. St Clere Estate has been previously featured on screen in Road Games (2016) and The Mirror Crack’d (1980).

Future Tense: The Story of H.G. Wells will air on Friday 16^th September 2016 at 19.30 on BBC One South East can be found wherever you are in the country: Sky Channel 963, FreeSat 959, Freeview 858.

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

Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast (2016)

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Kent Film Office

Jamie standing next to Jimmy in their cafe with his arm around him, looking at the camera

Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast © Channel 4

Production Company: Fresh One Productions

Kent locations used: The Quadrangle Trust, Sevenoaks

Chefs Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty are back on Channel 4 with their third series of Friday Night Feast packed to the brim with show stopping recipes, serving dishes with the help of celebrities and the relaunch of their fight against food waste.

The series is based in Jamie and Jimmy’s Café in Southend and in the last episode of the series, the team visit The Quadrangle Trust in Sevenoaks for a mini food festival.

Also in the episode, actress Anna Friel learns how to cook Balinese stew, Jamie makes mega-meatball subs, and Jimmy Doherty shows how to prepare mozzarella using a few simple ingredients and a cafetiere. The duo also tries to save “ugly” fruit and vegetables from the bin and get them into the nation’s fridges.

The Quadrangle Trust is a large Victorian model farmstead built in 1870 near Shoreham. The location boasts barns, workshops, stables and a stunning vegetable garden. The Sevenoaks area has been featured in a variety of productions including Wolf Hall (2015), Rush (2013) and Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides (2011).

Don’t miss the Kent episode of Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast on Friday 5^th February 2016 at 20:00 on Channel 4.

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

Great British Railway Journeys – Series 7 (2016)

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Kent Film Office

Michael Portillo standing on a steam train in front of the control panel

Michael Portillo, Great British Railway Journeys © BBC/Boundless, part of FremantleMedia UK

Production company: Talkback Thames

Kent Locations used: Dover, Romney Marsh, Dungeness , Ashford, Sevenoaks, Knole Park

Series seven of Great British Railway returns to BBC Two, as presenter Michael Portillo travels on the great train routes of Europe and retraces the journeys featured in George Bradshaw’s 1913 Continental Railway Guide.

In episode six of the new series, Portillo embarks on a new railway journey along the south coast of England which starts at the port of Dover where he is inspired by a brave Victorian sea captain to plunge into the English Channel. Next he takes the spectacular Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch miniature steam railway through the Romney Marsh to Dungeness before heading to Eastbourne.

Episode 16 sees Michael Portillo journey from Ashford to Sevenoaks starting by lending a hand at a state-of-the-art train maintenance plant which is home to the High Speed 1 trains. Next he tracks east to Marden and is moved by music played on Queen Victoria’s personal piano before ending his journey in Sevenoaks where he ends the journey at Knole Park, seat of the Sackville-West family.

Dover is home to Europe’s busiest ferry port as well as the iconic White Cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle. Productions which have previously filmed in the Dover area include Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Mr Selfridge Series 3 (2015) and Poirot – The Clocks (2009).

Romney Marsh is renowned for its unique natural beauty, diverse wild life and extensive coastline. The Romney Marshes have been used as a film location for The Honourable Woman (2014), Parade’s End (2012) and Dr Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (1964).

The desolate landscape of Dungeness is largely made up of shingle with wooden houses, power station, lighthouses and extensive gravel pits. The Dungeness area has previously been seen on screen on Homes By The Sea (2014) and Eastenders (2007).

The market town of Ashford has shops, eateries, a designer outlet shopping centre and has great links with London and Europe which are just a train ride away through Ashford International train station. Ashford and surrounding areas has been used as a film location from visiting productions including The Apprentice (2015), The Monuments Men (2014) and Emma (2009).

Sevenoaks is a town in West Kent with vibrant shopping streets, architectural treats and historic buildings including Knole Park which is nestled in a medieval deer-park and full of hidden treasures. The area has welcomed filming from productions such as Rush (2013) and Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides (2011)

The Dover to Lewes episode of Great British Railway aired on Monday 11^th January 2016 at 18.30 on BBC Two and the Ashford to Sevenoaks episode is on Monday 25^th January 2016 at 18.30 on BBC Two .

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

Who Do You Think You Are? (2014)

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Kent Film Office

Twiggy standing with her arms crossed in a run down empty room

Production company: Wall to Wall

Kent Locations: Farningham in Sevenoaks and Darenth in Dartford

Who Do You Think You Are? is the hit BBC series where celebrities trace their ancestry and discover secrets and surprises from their past.

The eleventh series has featured actresses Julie Walters and Sheridan Smith, comedian Billy Connolly and Bake Off star Mary Berry, with the final episode of the series focusing on model and actress, Twiggy.

Twiggy, whose real name is Lesley Lawson, takes a journey into discovering her family’s descent and visits Farningham and Darenth in Kent along the way.

Farningham is a quaint village located on the River Darent in the Sevenoaks district of Kent. The village is said to have been visited by Charles Dickens where he fished trout.

In neighbouring Dartford is Darenth which has a church, public halls as well as acres of woodland such as Darenth Woods and Darenth Country Park.

The Sevenoaks area has welcomed filming from productions such as Rush (2013) and Strawberry Fields (2012).

Dartford has hosted Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010).

Don’t miss Twiggy’s Who Do You Think You Are? episode which will be shown on Thursday 9^th October 2014 at 21:00 on BBC One.

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

Strawberry Fields (2012)

Posted on July 18, 2013 by Kent Film Office

Strawberry Fields Film Poster

Director: Frances Lea

Writer: Frances Lea and Judith Johnson

Starring: Emun Elliott, Philip Martin Brown and Anna Madeley

Production Companies: BBC Films, Film London, Spring Pictures

Kent Filming Locations: Foxbury Farm, Sevenoaks; Shellness, Leysdown

Strawberry Fields is another offering from the highly successful Film London Microwave Project and set for cinema release this week!

Directed by Frances Lea (Fugee Girl, Everyone’s Happy), Strawberry Fields is a tale of sibling rivalry and playing of mind games set in the strawberry fields of Kent. Starring Anna Madeley (In Bruges) Christine Bottomley (The Arbor, Shameless) and Emun Elliott (Prometheus, Game of Thrones) the film tells of the sexual awakening of Gillian during a long, hot British summer picking strawberries, where she meets and falls in love with fellow picker Kevin. But her idyllic new life is jeopardised by the arrival of her sister Emily.

This ‘terrific British debut’, (Jason Solomons, The Observer) is released across the UK this week. There will be a special preview at BFI Southbank on 4 July. The film will also be shown at the London Film Festival in October this year.

Making the most of what Kent has to offer, Strawberry Fields features locations in the Kent countryside such as Foxbury Farm in Sevenoaks, Groombridge Railway Station and the Isle of Sheppey.

The Isle of Sheppey boasts some unique landscapes, such as salt marshes and shell beaches that have attracted many previous filmmakers, such as The Hide (2009) and Great Expectations (1989).

Foxbury Farm is a large fruit grower in Sevenoaks and was a new find for this project.

Strawberry Fields was screened at selected cinemas in Summer 2012 and will be shown on Saturday 20th July 2013 at 23:00 on BBC 2.

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

Parade’s End (2012)

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Kent Film Office

Parade's End L-R Valentine Wannop (Adelaide Clemens), Christopher Tietjens (Benedict Cumberbatch) Sylvia Tietjens (Rebecca Hall) stood in a row looking into the camera

Parades End L-R Valentine Wannop (Adelaide Clemens), Christopher Tietjens (Benedict Cumberbatch), Sylvia Tietjens (Rebecca Hall) © BBC/Mammoth Screen

Directed By: Susanna White

Written By: Ford Madox Ford (Novel) & Sir Tom Stoppard (Adaptation)

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Rebecca Hall, Adelaide Clemens, Roger Allam, Rupert Everett, Miranda Richardson

Production company: Mammoth Screen in association with HBO miniseries

Kent Locations Used: St Thomas A Beckett Church, Fairfield in Romney Marsh, Dungeness, St Mary’s Bay and Dorton House in Sevenoaks.

Parade’s End is based on Ford Madox Ford’s novels written between 1924 and 1928, with the screenplay adapted by renowned English playwright and screenwriter Sir Tom Stoppard. The costume drama features a stellar cast and is set in the midst of the First World War with a love triangle threatening to question everything lead character Christopher Tietjens stands for.

Christopher Tietjens with wife Syliva leaning against his shoulder. A house can be seen in the background.

Shown in five parts, at the centre is English aristocrat Christopher Tietjens played by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock, Warhorse, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) who enters a turbulent relationship with socialite Sylvia played by Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Town, The Awakening). After Sylvia falls pregnant, Christopher decides to follow his morals and marry her, even though he is uncertain if the child is his.

The couple have a rocky relationship but Christopher vows to stay faithful to his wife, however when he meets strong willed suffragette Valentine Wannop (Adelaide Clemens – X-Men Origins: Wolverine) he finds himself falling in love with her. With his morals questioned, will he follow his heart, or stay with his wife?

The Parade’s End crew came to Kent last year to film scenes for the drama at the isolated and historic St Thomas A Becket Church in Fairfield, Romney Marsh, which also featured in the 2011 BBC adaptation Great Expectations (2011) starring Gillian Anderson and David Suchet.

Christopher Tietjens with lover Valentine Wannop on a hill

Dorton House is a school in Sevenoaks run by The Royal London Institute for the Blind and caters for pupils with visual impairments. The Grade-II listed building saw its dining room transformed into a gentleman’s club, with the library serving as the Cabinet War Office and the Wedgewood Room as the bedroom of Valentine Wannop.

Dungeness and St Mary’s Bay also briefly feature in the programme, in scenes with a girl cycling past. Dungeness is a unique expanse of shingle beach with cottages and lighthouses and is a popular filming location having previously welcomed Doctor Who, Countrywise Kitchen and photo shoots for Vogue and Harrods Magazine. St Mary’s Bay is a delightful coastal village between Dymchurch and south to Littlestone and this is its big screen debut.

Parade’s End was shown from Friday 24^th August 2012 at 21:00 on BBC Two and is now available to buy on DVD.

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

Kent's Premier Film Commission