Sitcom

Things You Should Have Done (2024)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Jamie Bisping as Lucas, Selin Hizli as Aunt Karen, Lucia Keskin as Chi and Daniel Fearn as Dan are standing in front of a 1970’s built house with partial white cladding.. Chi is resting her head on Aunt Karen’s shoulder, who is looking down at her, displeased. Lucas is wearing a red zip-up tracksuit jacket, Karen a black faux leather jacket with fur trim and a leopard print blouse, Chi a multi-coloured windbreaker and Dan is wearing a blue and green striped-polo shirt with a black faux leather jacket.

Things You Should Have Done © BBC

Writer: Lucia Keskin
Starring: Lucia Keskin, Selin Hizli, Daniel Fearn, Jamie Bisping, Martha Cope, Darren Strange  
Production Company: Roughcut Television, BBC3
Kent Locations Used: Ramsgate, Margate, Bugsy’s Ten Pin Bowling Centre, Nayland Rock Hotel, Broadstairs

Things You Should Have Done (2024) follows Chi, a self-titled stay-at-home daughter, who finds her laidback lifestyle thrown into turmoil when both of her parents die and  she discovers she will only inherit their house once she completes a list of things she should have done.

Written by and starring Margate-born Lucia Keskin (Big Boys, Sneakerhead), the series also features Selin Hizli (Am I Being Unreasonable?, Grantchester (2014)) as Aunt Karen, Daniel Fearn (Man vs. Bee, Peaky Blinders) as Dan, Jamie Bisping (Dreamland (2023)) as Lucas, Martha Cope (Alfie, Mile High) as Chi’s deceased Mum and Darren Strange (Ted Lasso, Parents) as Chi’s deceased Dad.

The series was filmed entirely across East Kent. In Ramsgate, locations featured include several private houses which double for Chi’s and Karen’s houses, Newlands Primary School, Ramsgate Main Sands, Geoff Oliver & Associates offices, La Magnolia Italian Restaurant as well as various roads. In Margate, filming took place in the Costcutter on Canterbury Road, the Lido car park, Baxter’s Pharmacy, Bradgate Holiday Park, the Nayland Rock Hotel, Scavolini Kitchens and Bathrooms and Bugsy’s Ten Pin Bowling Centre. The Denture Clinic in Broadstairs also features in the series, doubling for a waiting room in a fertility clinic and hospital waiting room.

Ramsgate is a thriving seaside town with beautiful Victorian and Regency terraces , a Marina, Port and promenade. Often doubling for period London, the town is a popular filming location, having recently featured in Liaison (2023), The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (2022) and True Things (2022).

Margate is a seaside town complete with sandy beach, harbour, Dreamland retro amusement park, period housing and ultra-modern art gallery Turner Contemporary. Other productions that have filmed in Margate include Dreamland (2023), Empire of Light (2023) and Two Weeks to Live (2020).

Built in 1885, the Nayland Rock Hotel is situated on Margate beach, with stunning panoramic views of the English Channel and only a walking distance away from Margate’s top attractions. King of Thieves (2018), Whitstable Pearl (2021-2022) and Killing Eve (2018-2022) all feature the Hotel.

Located on the seafront between Margate and Cliftonville, Bugsy’s Ten Pin Bowling Centre offers  12-lanes as well as a diner, bar area and amusement arcade. It is also the only ten-pin bowling shop in Thanet.

Home to Charles Dickens’ Bleak House, Broadstairs is a seaside town with a sandy beach lined with beach huts, a band stand and large Victorian terraces. Eastenders (2007-2022), The Larkins (2021-2022) and Breeders Series 2 (2021) filmed in Broadstairs.

Things You Should Have Done (2024) will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer from Thursday 29th February 2024.

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

The Cleaner (2021)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Greg Davies as Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead is stood in a kitchen wearing white overalls and blue gloves and has a face mask around his neck. He has grey hair and a moustache and beard. Behind him is a fridge covered in blood.

The Cleaner (2021) © BBC / Studio Hamburg UK / Jonathan Browning

Director: Alex Winckler
Writer: Greg Davies
Starring: Greg Davies, Helena Bonham Carter, David Mitchell, Stephanie Cole, Layton Williams, Jo Hartley
Production Company: Studio Hamburg UK
Kent Locations Used: Private residences in Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone, Showfields Hall Community Centre

The Cleaner (2021) is a BBC sitcom that tells the story of Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead, a state-certified cleaning technician, who is responsible for the removal of any signs of death from crime scenes. When carrying out his duties, he stumbles across the strangest of people: from the victim’s relatives, employers, neighbours, and acquaintances, to occasionally even the murderers themselves. And because he’s a sociable type, he sometimes gossips more than he cleans.

The six-part series was directed by Alex Winckler (My Mad Fat Diary, Traitors). Greg Davies (Cuckoo, Man Down) wrote the series and plays the lead role. Each episode features a different co-star; Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown Series 1 – 6 (2016-2023), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance) in Episode 1, David Mitchell (Peep Show, That Mitchell & Webb Look) in Episode 2, Stephanie Cole (Gentleman Jack, Doc Martin) in Episode 4, Layton Williams (Bad Education, Beautiful People) in Episode 5, and Jo Hartley (After Life, Eddie the Eagle) in Episode 6.

During filming, production visited several private residences in the Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone districts, and built a green screen set at Showfields Hall Community Centre in Tunbridge Wells. Each episode of the series focuses on a different crime scene, and Kent residences are the main locations for all but Episode 3.

The town of Sevenoaks boasts a varied landscape with acres of beautiful countryside, stately homes and castles as well as a thriving town centre. It is most known for being home to one of the oldest cricket grounds in the country – The Vine Cricket Ground. Previous productions to have filmed in the town of Sevenoaks include The Larkins (2021-2022), Making Noise Quietly (2019) and Parade’s End (2012).

Royal Tunbridge Wells is known for its Georgian and Victorian architecture, a shopping centre, bars, restaurants, and live music scene. Previous productions to visit the area include Catastrophe Series 4 (2019) and Queens of Mystery (2020-2021).

As the county town of Kent, Maidstone plays an important part in Kent’s history. The River Medway runs though the town centre linking it with other towns such as Rochester and Chatham. The Borough of Maidstone is a popular town for filming, previous productions include This Time With Alan Partridge – Season 2 (2021) and Hetty Feather Series 1 – 6 (2015 – 2020).

Episode 1 of The Cleaner aired on BBC One on Friday 10th September at 9.30pm. The full series was made available on BBC iPlayer on the same date.

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

The First Team (2020)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Actors Theo Barklem-Biggs, Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, Jake Short, Jack McMullen, Will Arnett sitting on a bench in front of a set of lockers wearing red football shirts

Theo Barklem-Biggs, Shaquille Ali-Yebuah, Jake Short, Jack McMullen and Will Arnett in The First Team (2020) © Fudgepark

Writers: Damon Beesley and Iain Morris
Director: Iain Morris, Damon Beesley
Starring: Jack McMullen, Jake Short, and Shaquille Ali-Yebuah
Production Company: BBC Studios, Fudge Park Productions
Kent Locations Used: Sevenoaks

The First Team (2020) is a six-part British sitcom following the friendship of three young footballers at a fictional Premier League Club. The series follows the mostly off-pitch antics of the boys played by Shaquille Ali-Yebuah (The Feed, Save Me), Jack McMullen (Little Boy Blue, Brotherhood) and Jake Short (All Night, Man of the House) who are far less talented where money and women are concerned than scoring goals. The series also stars Paolo Sassanelli as the mercurial Italian manager Cesare, Will Arnett (The Lego Movie, Arrested Development) as the team’s eccentric American Chairman, Theo Barklem-Biggs (Sliced, White Gold) as resident hard-man Petey Brooks and Chris Geere (Single Parents, Modern Family) as their ineffectual coach Chris Booth.

This sitcom was written and directed by The Inbetweeners creators Iain Morris (Ill Behaviour, Drifters) and Damon Beesley (The Festival, Siblings). Both writers received the British Comedy Award for Best Sitcom in 2008 for The Inbetweeners, and have also won awards for their comedy series White Gold.

Production visited a private residence in Sevenoaks to double as Petey’s (Theo Barklem-Biggs) house and gardens. Sevenoaks is a Kentish town which is home to landmarks such as Knole Park and Riverhill Gardens, both of which have stunning natural and historic significance. Previous productions to film at Knole Park include The Favourite (2019) and Judwaa 2 (2017).

The First Team will air on BBC Two on Thursday 28th May 2020 at 9:30pm.

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