Stangate Creek

Mr Turner (2014)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Mr Turner (Timothy Spall) standing in front of a painting

Mr Turner © Entertainment One

Director/Writer: Mike Leigh

Starring: Timothy Spall, Paul Jesson, Dorothy Atkinson, Marion Bailey, Karl Johnson, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Manville

Production companies: Film4, Focus Features International, Lipsync ProductionsT, hin Man Films, Xofa Productions

Kent locations: The Historic Dockyard Chatham, Stangate Creek

Mr Turner was written and directed by the acclaimed Mike Leigh and chronicles the last twenty-five years of one of the most celebrated artists in British history – J.M.W. Turner.

The biographical drama takes us back to the nineteenth century when Turner travelled and painted some of his renowned works, even though he was struggling with the death of his esteemed father. The film also highlights Turner’s eccentric behaviour which resulted in his being both celebrated and reviled by the public and royalty alike.

Mr Turner looking at a painting in his study. Paintings are also on the walls behind

Mr Turner © Entertainment One

Turner is played by BAFTA winner Timothy Spall (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The King’s Speech) and also stars Paul Jesson (Vera Drake, Rome), Dorothy Atkinson (Call the Midwife, All or Nothing), Marion Bailey (Persuasion, Meantime), Karl Johnson (The Illusionist, Hot Fuzz), Ruth Sheen (Run Fatboy Run, Vanity Fair) and Lesley Manville (Maleficent, Another Year).

The Mr Turner production visited The Historic Dockyard in Chatham where they used HMS Gannet which doubled for a pleasure vessel on the Thames as well as the scenes where Turner is tied to the mast of a ship in a storm to make some sketches for his painting Snow Storm- Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth.  Stangate Creek was also used to film a rowing scene.

Turner had a rich history with Kent and drew inspiration for his works from a variety of locations including Stangate Creek, Margate and Whitstable. Now, the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate celebrates Turner’s association with the area.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham  lies on the River Medway which boasts a dry dock, cobbled streets, industrial buildings and extraordinary Georgian and Victorian architecture. The location has previously featured on screen in productions such as Muppets Most Wanted (2014), Call The Midwife (2012-2014) and Sherlock Holmes (2009).

Stangate Creek is on the River Medway and has been used by feature film adaption Great Expectations (2012) as well as the BBC’s Great Expectations (1999).

Mr Turner is released in cinemas on Friday 31st October 2014.

 

 

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

Great Expectations (2012)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The Great Expectations Movie Poster featuring Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch, Jeremy Irvine as Pip, Holliday Grainger as Estella and Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham- Great Expectations written in blue

Great Expectations Movie Poster © Lionsgate

Directed By: Mike Newell

Written By: Charles Dickens (Novel) & David Nicholls (Adaptation)

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Jeremy Irvine, Holliday Grainger, David Walliams, Jason Flemyng

Production company: BBC Films

Kent Locations Used: St Thomas A Beckett Church in Fairfield, Swale Nature Reserve Shellness, Oare and Elmley Marshes, Stangate Creek, The Historic Dockyard Chatham and Thames and Medway Canal

At the end of the celebratory Charles Dickens bicentenary year, a new feature film adaptation of Great Expectations hits the silver screen. The classic story charts the progress of orphan Pip whose life is changed forever when local spinster Miss Havisham invites him into her home to become a companion to her adopted daughter Estella and a mysterious patron then pays for him to travel to London and become a gentleman. Directed by BAFTA award winning Mike Newell and featuring a stellar cast this is one of the must see films of 2012!

The host of familiar faces include Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) who plays Pip, Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter series) as convict Abel Magwitch and Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech, Alice in Wonderland) plays the tragic Miss Havisham. They star alongside Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter series) Jason Flemyng (X-Men) and comedian David Walliams (Little Britain). 

Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham in a brides outfit sitting against a table

Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham © Lionsgate

Since Charles Dickens has many strong connections with Kent, the county’s varied landscapes inspiring the settings of many of his novels, the production chose to shoot at a variety of Kent locations.

The picturesque St Thomas A Beckett Church in Fairfield was a perfect location for the first meeting between Pip and escaped convict Abel Magwitch as it stands isolated on the Romney Marsh and epitomises the bleak and mysterious setting described in the novel. This is not the first time the church has been used for filming as it has previously featured in Parades End (2012) and the BBC’s 2011/2012 adaption of Great Expectations.

Swale Nature Reserve, Shellness is a small coastal region on the Isle of Sheppey which is home to several private properties, a secluded beach and a WWII lookout on a remote part of the island and was used to film a childhood montage featuring young Pip playing along the beach. Shellness has been previously used as a filming location by Strawberry Fields (2012).

The Oare Marshes in Faversham were used as the setting for the blacksmith’s forge. Managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust they are part of an 81 hectare stretch of marshland, freshwater dykes, sea wall and salt marsh and were previously used by independent film The Hide (2009).

Oare Marshes- Cast walking through gates to the field, fields are in the background.

Behind the scenes of Great Expectations filming at Oare Marshes © Kent Film Office

 

Behind the scenes filming at Oare Marshes- filming crew filming at a house

Behind the scenes of Great Expectations filming at Oare Marshes © Kent Film Office

The Great Expectations team also used the Historic Dockyard in Chatham to shoot a warehouse scene with Pip and Herbert at the end of the film. A popular filming location, the Historic Dockyard in Chatham has also welcomed productions such as the 2013 feature film adaption of Les Miserables ,Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) and BBC’S Oliver Twist (2007).

Elmley Marshes, Stangate Creek and the Thames and Medway Canal were also featured as various marshland locations, including the final dramatic escape sequence featuring Magwitch in a chase scene.

Don’t miss Great Expectations which is set for cinema release on 30th November 2012.

 

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

Canterbury Tales (2003)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
Canterbury Tales DVD cover- montage of images from the film, with canterbury tales written in black above

Canterbury Tales DVD cover © BBC

Starring: Julie Walters, James Nesbitt, Billie Piper, John Simm, Keeley Hawes, Dennis Waterman

Production Company: Ziji Productions, BBC

Kent Locations: Rochester – Castle, Cathedral, Chertsey Gate, the High Street and Esplanade, River Medway, Stangate Creek, Gravesend

Canterbury Tales is a BBC adaptation of a handful of Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th century stories of the same name which are still set along the traditional Pilgrims’ route to Canterbury, but in the 21st century.

The stories include themes such as love, adultery, jealousy and revenge.

The six single dramas feature an all-star cast including Julie Walters (Mamma Mia!, Calendar Girls Billy Elliot), James Nesbitt (The Missing, Murphy’s Law, Cold Feet), Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Penny Dreadful), John Simm (Human Traffic, Life on Mars, The Village), Keeley Hawes (Death at a Funeral, The Bank Job, The Avengers) and Dennis Waterman (New Tricks, The Sweeney, Back in Business).

Rochester is the principal setting for The Pardoner’s Tale with the castle, Cathedral, Chertsey Gate, the High Street, Esplanade and various streets, pubs and restaurants featuring.

The river scenes in The Man of Laws’ Tale were filmed on the River Medway and The Medway Estuary.

Gravesend is the setting in The Seacaptain’s Tale where old waterfront warehouses, the pier and Town Pier Square feature.

Rochester is a historic city set on the River Medway offering a Medieval Cathedral and castle and cobbled streets with shops, pubs and restaurants. Rochester has previously featured in productions such as Jekyll and Hyde (2015), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) and Great Expectations (1989).

The River Medway starts in Sussex and runs through Tonbridge, Maidstone and Medway before flowing into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness. Stangate Creek is part of the River Medway and has been used as a film location by productions such as Mr Turner (2014), Great Expectations (2012) and The Long Memory (1953).

On the south bank of the River Thames, Gravesend has a cast iron pier, promenade and high street as well as international links at the nearby Ebbsfleet International station. The area has previously been used as a film location in productions such as The Interceptor (2015) and Age of Heroes (2011).

The Canterbury Tales aired in 2003 and is now available for DVD purchase.

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

 

The Long Memory (1953)

Posted on by Kent Film Office
The Long Memory film poster- a man and women hugging, the man is faced away from the camera. The Long Memory written in yellow

The Long Memory film poster © General Film Distributors (GFD)

Director: Robert Hamer
Starring: John Mills, John McCallum, Elizabeth Sellars
Production Company: J. Arthur Rank Organisation, Europa, British Film-Makers
Kent Locations Used: Gravesend, Stangate Creek

The Long Memory (1953) is a black and white 1953 film based on the 1951 novel of the same name by Howard Clewes. The crime thriller is about Philip Davidson (John Mills) who is wrongfully convicted for murder and given parole after 12 years. Will Philip choose revenge upon the witnesses who lied during the trial, or give himself a fresh start?

Directed by Robert Hamer (Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947)), the film stars John Mills (The Big Sleep (1978), Dunkirk (1958)), John McCallum (Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951), The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947)) and Elizabeth Sellars (The Barefoot Contessa, Forbidden Cargo).

Queen Street and Granby Road in Gravesend feature in the film as the locations for the two Tim Pewsey residences.

black and white image of Stangate Creek, with a wooden fence in front

The Long Memory screenshot at Stangate Creek © General Film Distributors (GFD)

Gravesend street at night with a man in a trench coat walking away from the camera down the middle

The Long Memory screenshot at Gravesend © General Film Distributors (GFD)

The marshes of the Medway Estuary around Stangate Creek and Iwade were used as the location where Phillip Davidson’s (John Mills) barge is moored.

The historic market town of Gravesend is on the south bank of the River Thames and boasts a cast iron pier, promenade and high street. The area is easily accessible with train links at the nearby Ebbsfleet International station and is close to the M25. The Gravesend area has previously welcomed film productions such as The Interceptor (2015), Babylon (2014) and Age of Heroes (2011).

Stangate Creek is part of the River Medway and has been used as a film location by productions such as Mr Turner (2014), feature film adaption Great Expectations (2012) and the BBC’s Great Expectations (1999).

The Long Memory (1953) was released on Friday 23rd January 1953 and is now available on DVD.

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