Sittingbourne

Celebrity Antiques Road Show – Series 8 (2018)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Cast of Celebrity Antiques Road Show - Series 8- Four celebritites standing in a row holding up various antiques.

Cast of Celebrity Antiques Road Show – Series 8 ©BBC Two

Starring: Kelly Brook, Denise Van Outen and Peter Andre
Production Company: STV productions
Kent Locations Used: Ramsgate, Margate, Whitstable, Faversham, Sittingbourne, Maidstone, and Ashford

A brand-new series of Celebrity Antiques Road Show (2011-) returns to BBC two.  In the programme each antique expert is paired up with a celebrity and they travel across the UK in vintage cars, in a quest to find worthy antiques to sell at auction.

The series producer for the upcoming show is John Redshaw, and the chosen stars for Series 8 include reality-star Peter Andre, actress Denise Van Outen and model Kelly Brook.

One of the episodes visited Kent where the celebrities played mini-golf in Margate, went antiques hunting in  the sea-side town of Ramsgate and paid a visit to Leeds Castle and Pleasant View Garden Centre in Maidstone, and Whitstable Harbour in Canterbury.

Filming also took place in Faversham and Sittingbourne, which are towns in the district of Swale, as well as further filming in villages Appledore and Chilham in Ashford.

Ramsgate, Margate and Whitstable are seaside towns in East-Kent.  Ramsgate has been a significant filming location for popular television shows such as Juliet, Naked(2018), EastEnders (2015) and The Apprentice (2015).

Faversham and Sittingbourne are both towns within the Swale borough of Kent. Previous productions which filmed there include Celebs on the Farm (2018) and Walks With My Dog (2017).

Ashford is a market town with many shops, eateries, and a designer outlet shopping centre with London and Europe are just a train ride away through Ashford International train station. Previous productions which filmed include The Apprentice (2015).

Maidstone has been a popular site for TV programmes, productions include Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace (2020). Tunbridge Wells has also been an attractive location for TV programmes like Question Time (2016) and Series Two of Hunted (2016).

The series will start on Monday 5th November on BBC Two at 7pm with the Kent episode.

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

Queen of Spain (2018)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Two young boys stand in an english garden with a manor house behind. They are stood with bicycles and a butterfly net

Queen of Spain © Theo Lowenstein

Writer: Stephen Lowenstein and Greer Ellison
Director: Stephen Lowenstein
Starring: Miles Richardson, Jordan Long, Karen Lewis
Production Company: Blue Shadows Films, I Spy Films
Kent Locations Used: Hartlip Place in Sittingbourne, Barrows Antiques in Faversham, Queendown Warren in Sittingbourne

Queen of Spain is a coming of age story set in the world of butterfly collectors on the eve of the First World War. A thirteen-year-old boy spots one of the rarest butterfly species ever to be seen on the British Isles.

Queen of Spain is a short drama starring Miles Richardson (Peterloo (2018), The Crown (2016-2020)), Jordan Long (The Nevers (2021), Temple (2021)) and Karen Lewis-Attenborough (Grange Hill, The Bill). The story is by Stephen Lowenstein and was developed by Greer Ellison.

Various scenes for Queen of Spain were filmed around Kent; Georgian house Hartlip Place in Sittingbourne was used to shoot its mature garden as well as a private residence in the area for some interior scenes. Barrows Antiques in Faversham features in a small yet poignant scene where a confrontation takes place between the protagonist and the local butcher boy, who has “abducted” his butterfly. Queen Down Warren in Sittingbourne was chosen for its beautiful woods and wild flower meadow paths, which feature with the protagonist hunting butterflies.

Faversham is a beautiful historic market town in the Swale Borough of Kent. The historic town boasts over 500 listed buildings and there are many beautiful walks the picturesque countryside has to offer. Previous productions in the town include Hetty Feather Series 3 (2017) and Walks With My Dog (2017).

Sittingbourne, also in the Swale district, offers town areas, flat open landscapes and beautiful beach areas. Southcliffe (2013), Great Expectations (2012) and The Sweeney (2012) have previously been filmed in Swale.

Queen of Spain is due to be released in the UK on 25 February 2018.

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

Coast v Country (2017)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
two presenters standing outside beach hut looking towards camera

Coast v Country © Freeform Productions

Production Company: Freeform Productions

Kent Locations used: Hythe Seabrook, Folkestone, Dover, St Margarets at Cliffe, Deal, Reinden Woods, Pedlinge, Elham,  Chillenden , Canterbury, Densole, Great Chart, Ashford, Sittingbourne.

Coast v Country is a brand new property format for Channel 4, which showcases the most striking properties for sale in some of Kent’s most beautiful coast & countryside locations. The series is presented by property experts Sara Damergi, Kerr Drummond and property developers Kirsty Duffy and David Bull.

Dover is the site of the famous white cliffs of Dover and has been used in films such as Sherlock Holmes, a game of shadows (2011) and those magnificent men and their flying machines (1965)

Another well-known location, Canterbury Cathedral, is the oldest and most renowned cathedral in England; currently a world heritage site it has been previously used to film Last Orders (2002) and a Canterbury Tale (1944)

The new series of Coast v Country starts on Monday 30th October at 4pm on Channel 4.

Episodes which feature Kent are due to air on 2nd, 22nd and 24th November 2017.

 

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

 

Hunted Series 2 (2016)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Hunted HQ team standing at a map of the UK

Hunted HQ © Channel 4

 

Production Company: Shine TV

Kent locations used: Tunbridge Wells, Sittingbourne, Isle of Sheppey

Channel 4’s Hunted returns for a second series where 10 ordinary people take the challenge to remain hidden for 28 days with the chance of winning a share of £100,000. With a team of professional hunters trying to trace their every move and members of the public looking to trade information for cash, will they be able to stay hidden?

The final episode was partly filmed in Kent where the remaining two fugitives hid out in Tunbridge Wells and Isle of Sheppey the night before the final day. The fugitives must race to the finish line which is a boat moored on the Isle of Sheppey – will they make it in time or will the Hunters catch them?

Tunbridge Wells is an historic spa town with a picturesque High Street that has many independent shops and restaurants. Projects which have previously filmed in the area include Terry and Mason’s Great Food Trip (2015).

Sittingbourne and the Isle of Sheppey is in the Swale district of Kent and offers town areas, flat open landscapes and beautiful beach areas. Southcliffe (2103), Great Expectations (2012) and The Sweeney (2012) have previously been filmed in Swale.

The final episode of Hunted series two was shown on Channel 4 on Thursday 27th October 2016 at 21:00 and is available still here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hunted

 

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

The Riddle (2007)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The Riddle Movieposter- Three cast members standing in a row with buildings faintly shown in the background. The Riddle is written in white on a black strip underneath.

The Riddle Movieposter ©  Image Entertainment

Director and writer: Brendan Foley

Starring: Vinnie Jones, Julie Cox, Jason Flemyng, Derek Jacobi, P.H. Moriarty, Vanessa Redgrave

Production Company: Grosvenor Park Productions, Manuscript Productions, Riddle Productions

Kent Filming Locations: Sittingbourne Greyhounds Racing Track

Journalist Mike Sullivan (Vinnie Jones) investigates a series of murders that occur after the discovery of an unpublished Charles Dickens’ manuscript. As Sullivan grows obsessive over the novel and its connection to his investigation, he seeks the help of police officer Kate (Julie Cox) and a beach-combing tramp  (Derek Jocobi) who together unravel a century-old crime hidden within the manuscript which enables them to solve the modern-day crime.

Brendan Foley’s latest project stars Vinnie Jones (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Derek Jacobi (Gladiator), Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement) Julie Cox (David Copperfield) and Jason Flemyng (Snatch)

The Riddle production team visited Sittingbourne Greyhounds Racing Track to shoot the opening sequence of the film where sports tabloid journalist Mike Sullivan (Vinnie Jones) is reporting on a dog race. What fans may not know is that Jones has been known to race his own greyhound, Smoking Bullet, at the stadium!

Sittingbourne falls under the district of Swale and The Riddle isn’t the only filming project to visit the district. Brogdale Farm in Faversham saw The Hairy Bikers visit in 2009 and the Shepherd Neame Brewery featured in The Darling Buds of May series.

Another location to feature was the Chislehurst Caves in Bromley as they were the perfect location to act as the home to Derek Jacobi’s beach combing tramp.  Chislehurst Caves has over 200 miles of caverns dug over a period of 8000 years and three distinct sections, Druid, Roman and Saxon and has also been used in filming for Doctor Who in 1976 and more recently for BBC’s Merlin.

The film was released in cinemas in September 2007 and is now available on DVD.

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