St Mary’s Bay

The Fitzroy (2017)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Cerith Flinn as Bernard sits at a rickety wooden shack on a sandy beach. The shack’s sign reads ‘The Fitzroy’ and Bernard is wearing a red bellboy uniform.

Cerith Flinn in The Fitzroy (2017) © Angus Young / Dresden Pictures

Writer / Director: Andrew Harmer
Starring: Cerith Flinn, Jan Anderson, Kenneth Collard, David Gant
Production Company: Dresden Pictures
Kent Locations Used: Black Widow submarine, St Mary’s Bay

Set in an alternative post-apocalyptic 1950s, The Fitzroy (2017) centres on Bernard, the bellboy and general dogsbody of the Fitzroy Hotel, a decaying submarine just off the coast of Margate – the last place left for a traditional British summer holiday. Bernard faces a constant battle to keep the hotel, and its guests, afloat.

Written and directed by Andrew Harmer (Biopunk), the film stars Cerith Flinn (Eastenders (2007-2023), Wolfblood) as Bernard, Jan Anderson (Casualty, Human Traffic) as Sonya, Kenneth Collard (Cuckoo, The Regime) as The Inspector and David Gant (Braveheart, Brazil) as Mr Thompson.

Kenneth Collard as The Inspector and David Schaal as Cecil standing inside a submarine. Collard is wearing a black suit and Schaal is wearing a blue striped shirt over a white T-shirt. He is also holding a teacup and saucer.

Kenneth Collard and David Schaal in The Fitzroy (2017) © Angus Young / Dresden Pictures

Some scenes of The Fitzroy hotel were filmed onboard the Black Widow submarine, which is docked in Strood. Production also filmed scenes on the beach at St Mary’s Bay, which doubled for the post-apocalyptic Margate beach where the hotel’s check-in desk is located.

The Black Widow is a Russian submarine originally built in the 1960s and decommissioned in 1994. It is complete and internally has all its equipment, tools, and even personal belongings from when it was in service. It is 92m long and 7.5m wide and moored in Strood. Previously, the submarine was used for Black Sea (2014).

Situated on the Romney Marsh, St Mary’s Bay is a coastal village with a long sandy beach stretching from Littlestone to Dymchurch.

The Fitzroy (2017) was first shown at the London Sci-Fi and Fantasy Festival on Saturday 29th April 2017 and is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.

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

Parade’s End (2012)

Posted on 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.

Christopher Tietjens with wife Syliva © BBC/Mammoth Screen

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

Christopher Tietjens with lover Valentine Wannop © BBC/Mammoth Screen

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 24th 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.