Spy Drama

A Spy Among Friends (2022)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Damian Lewis as Nicholas Elliott and Guy Pearce as Kim Philby dressed in black suits and ties sit on a beige sofa. Both look at the camera. Lewis on the left wears wire-rimmed glasses and Pearce on the right sits with his legs firmly crossed.

Damian Lewis and Guy Pearce in A Spy Among Friends (2022) © ITV

Director: Nick Murphy
Writer: Alexander Cary
Starring: Damian Lewis, Guy Pearce, Adrian Edmondson, Anna Maxwell Martin
Production Companies: BritBox, ITV Studios, Sony Pictures Television, Spectrum, Veritas Entertainment Group
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Based on the best-selling book by Ben Macintyre, A Spy Among Friends (2022) details the defection of notorious Soviet double agent Kim Philby and his complex relationship with MI6 colleague Nicholas Elliott.

Adapted for the screen by Alexander Cary (Homeland, Taken), the mini-series stars Guy Pearce (Genius (2016), Mare of Easttown) as Kim Philby, Damian Lewis (Wolf Hall (2015), The Sweeney (2012)) as Nicholas Elliott, Adrian Edmondson (Back to Life (2019-2021), The Rizen (2017)) and Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House (2005), Line of Duty).

Anchor Wharf and HMS Cavalier at The Historic Dockyard Chatham feature in Episodes 1 & 2 of the series, doubling as a Russian ship and dock.

Chatham Dockyard is a historic 17th Century Dockyard which spans over 80 acres and contains over 100 buildings dating from the Georgian and Victorian periods. It is one of Kent’s most popular filming locations, with high-profile productions such as Sherlock Holmes (2009), Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019), and Operation Mincemeat (2022) making use of the site.

A Spy Among Friends will be available to stream on the brand new ITVX on Thursday 8th December 2022.

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

Killing Eve Series 1 & 4 (2018-2022)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri and Jodie Comer as Villanelle. The two stand among bushes, framed by lit white candles. Eve wears an off-the-shoulder navy blue dress and Villanelle wears a long-sleeve white flowy dress.

Killing Eve (2022) © BBC America

Writer: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Emerald Fennell, Laura Neal
Starring: Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw, Kim Bodnia
Production Company: Sid Gentle Films for (BBC America)
Kent Locations Used: Nells Café in Gravesend, Margate Beach, Margate Harbour Arm, Dreamland, Nayland Rock Hotel, the Lido Complex, Sands Café and various streets in Margate.

Killing Eve (2018 – 2022) is an intense spy thriller, based on the Codename Villanelle novellas by Luke Jennings, in which MI6 intelligence investigator Eve (Sandra Oh) and psychopathic assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer) go head to head in a game of cat and mouse.

Killing Eve is back again for its fourth and final series with screenwriter Laura Neal (Sex Education (2021)) joining the team. Series 4 picks up with titular character Eve Polastri on the run from shadowy crime organisation The Twelve.

Written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, No Time to Die), Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman, Saltburn), and Laura Neal (Sex Education (2021), My Mad Fat Diary), stars Jodie Comer (Doctor Foster, Free Guy) as Villanelle, the fearsome female assassin, Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy, Sideways) as Eve Polastri, the MI6 agent hunting her down, Fiona Shaw (The Avengers, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) as Carolyn Martens, head of MI6’s Russia division and Kim Bodnia (Pusher, The Bridge) as Konstantin, Villanelle’s handler.

For the opening scene of Series 1, Episode 5, production visited the M2 motorway in Medway and Nell’s Café, a popular roadside truck stop off the A2 near Gravesend. In the scene, Eve (Sandra Oh) and Elena (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) question Frank (Darren Boyd) about his connections to Villanelle and the criminal organisation she works for.

Gravesend is situated on the southern bank of the River Thames and boasts a cast iron pier, promenade and high street as well as international rail links at the nearby Ebbsfleet International station. The Gravesend area has previously welcomed film productions such as The Escape (2018), Bull (2021), and the popular Netflix anthology series Black Mirror (2019), which used several locations across Gravesend for the hostage sequences in Series 5, Smithereens. BBC’s crime drama The Interceptor (2015) also filmed at Nell’s Café.

In 2021, production visited various locations across Margate for Episodes 4 to 7 of Series 4, including local attractions and businesses Dreamland, the Lido Complex, The Nayland Rock Hotel and Market Square. Filming also took place on the sea defence steps of Margate Beach, Margate Harbour Arm, the Nayland Rock Shelter, Sands Café and Newgate Lower Promenade.

Street filming featured some of the many different aspects of Margate, maximising the town’s rich architectural history from the Edwardian Nayland Rock Shelter, the Georgian Royal Crescent Promenade to the quirky, modern vibe of Market Street, Duke Street and Broad Street with their narrow streets and boutique shops. In contrast, All Saints Avenue gives a city feel, running alongside Arlington House with its brutalist architecture. Recent productions to film in Margate include Whitstable Pearl (2021-2022), Pandemonium (2020) and Netflix’s crime drama Top Boy (2019-2022).

Considered to be the oldest surviving amusement park in Great Britain, Dreamland dates back to the early 1870s and was revamped in 2017. The Park has a Retro Roller Room, vintage arcades, a fully restored Grade II listed Art Deco Ballroom and beautiful rides dating from 1920 to present day. Dreamland has previously welcomed productions including Two Weeks to Live (2020), Jellyfish (2018), and the Only Fools and Horses 1989 Christmas Special The Jolly Boys’ Outing.

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. Joe Penhall’s King of Thieves (2018) starring Michael Cain and Michael Gambon features the Hotel in a scene where the aforementioned actors have lunch together.

Killing Eve first aired on BBC One on Saturday 15th September 2018, and Series 1-4 are available to stream on iPlayer.

Series 4 of Killing Eve was made available on BBC iPlayer on Monday 28th February 2022.

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

Red Joan (2019)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Sophie Cookson wearing a green jumper talking to one of the other characters in the film who has his back to the camera, outside in what looks like a field.

Sophie Cookson in Red Joan ©YouTube

Writer: Lindsay Shapero
Director: Trevor Nunn
Starring: Sophie Cookson, Tom Hughes, Judi Dench
Production Company: Trademark Films
Kent Locations Used: Historic Dockyard Chatham

Feature film Red Joan (2019) follows the life of the KGB’s longest-serving British spy, Joan Stanley (Judi Dench). Sophie Cookson plays Joan in her younger years, when, as a Soviet and communist party sympathizer, she is recruited by the KGB while employed as a British government civil servant. She successfully hands over information about the manufacture of nuclear arms which allows the Soviet Union to keep up with NATO in the arms race, managing to remain undetected for over half a century.

The film is directed by Trevor Nunn (Les Misérables, School of Rock) and stars Oscar winning actress Judi Dench (Murder on the Orient Express, Victoria & Abdul), Sophie Cookson (Kingsman: The Golden Circle, The Huntsman: Winter’s War), and Tom Hughes (Victoria, About Time).

Some scenes were filmed at The Historic Dockyard Chatham using the HMS Cavalier as well as Anchor Wharf.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham, with its Victorian and Georgian architecture has featured in films such as Victoria & Abdul (2017) and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015).

Red Joan is due to be released in UK cinemas on Friday 19th April 2019.

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