Writer: Lynn Renee Maxcy Director: Paul Raschid Starring: Michelle Mylett, Kate Dickie, Al Weaver, Kim Adis Production Company: Little Jade Productions, Red & Black Films Kent Locations Used: Discovery Park Ltd, Sandwich Bay Estate, Upton Farm
The Complex: Lockdown (2020) is a Sci-Fi Thriller based on a computer game of the same name and set in a locked-down London laboratory after a bio-weapon attack on the city. With time and air running out, two scientists are tasked with saving the life of a bioweapon’s terrorist.
Sandwich Bay Estate, is another Kent filming location used for this production. It offers a rural, step shingled beach and at low tide there are large sand flats.
Upton Farm is a Wholesale farm situated in Kent. It offers green fields and pastoral lands. Izo FitzRoy’s 2019 music video for I Want Magic was previously shot here.
The film is being released online via 101 Films on Monday 27th July 2020.
Writer: Harry Williams and Jack Williams Directors: James Strong, Samuel Donovan, Chris Sweeney Starring: Joanne Froggatt, loan Gruffudd, Zoë Tapper, Richie Campbell Production Company: Two Brother Pictures, Sundance TV Kent Locations Used: Deal, Kingsdown and Hunting Lodge in Tonbridge & Malling
ITV’s psychological thriller, Liar (2017-2020), follows the relationship between teacher Laura Newell (Joanne Froggatt) and the father of one of her pupils, Andrew Ellis (Ioan Gruffudd). Their simple attraction leads to deceit and betrayal, which has wide reaching consequences for both families.
Deal was used as the main setting for Laura Nielsen’s home on The Marina and also features many other locations, such as restaurants, hotels, the beach and Deal Pier Restaurant as the setting for Laura and Andrews fatal date. Filming began for Series One in November 2016. Additional filming for Series Two took place at Kingsdown as the setting for various beach scenes as well as the location of The Zetland Arms Pub and Katy and Liam’s home. A Hunting Lodge in Tonbridge & Malling was also filmed as a remote hideout.
The coastal town of Deal has a long naval history and is one of the major cinque ports along the south coast. Deal is a winner of the Daily Telegraph’s High Street of the Year 2013 award. The Pier is a significant local landmark and public amenity offering excellent views of the town. It is internationally recognised as an angling venue and features a glass-walled café-bar on the pier-head.
Kingsdown, located just up the coast from the White Cliffs of Dover, has a secluded shingle beach, with plenty of benches suitable for picnics.
East Kent is home to spectacular coastal landscapes and historic towns and boasts excellent transport links to London and Western Europe. East Kent has been used for filming several recent hit TV productions such as Baptiste (2019), Next of Kin (2018) and The Tunnel: Vengeance (2017).
Writers: James Abbott, Peter Blach Director: Peter Blach Starring: Gabrielle Sheppard, Adam Radcliffe and Jessica Hynes Production Company: Seagull The Movie Ltd Kent Locations Used: Folkestone
Seagull (2019) is a British thriller about a young woman, Rose (Gabrielle Sheppard), who has been missing for eight years. She returns to her hometown having some unfinished business to take care of. The mystery of her disappearance haunt her disabled and alcoholic mother, Janet (Jessica Hynes) and partner Jeff (Adam Radcliffe), as well as eight year old Lily.
This psychological thriller is set in the Kentish town of Folkestone.
Writer: Ben Chanan Director: Ben Chanan Starring: Holliday Grainger, Callum Turner, Ralph Ineson, Famke Janssen, Ron Perlman. Production Companies: BBC One, Heyday Television, NBCUniversal International Studios Kent Locations Used: Canterbury Prison
Sean Emery (Callum Turner) returns to take care of his daughter after being wrongly imprisoned in Afghanistan on murder charges. However, his life is once again turned upside down when new CCTV footage emerges which seems to suggest incriminating evidence. DI Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger) is determined to get to the bottom of the story and soon discovers the truth may not be all that it seems.
Writers: Jesse V. Johnson, Stu Small Director: Jesse V. Johnson Starring: Scott Adkins, Craig Fairbrass, Thomas Turgoose Production Company: Samuel Goldwyn Films Kent Locations Used: Canterbury Prison
This British crime thriller tells the story of gang member Cain Burgess (Scott Adkins) who evades his prison sentences to take revenge on those who have wronged him. Believing other people are the reason for his misfortunes, he fights his way back to confront his enemies.
A large portion of this film was set in Canterbury Prison, where several of the fight scenes were filmed.
Canterbury Prison has been closed since 2013 and was bought by Canterbury Christ Church University and is due to be extended as part of their campus. The authenticity of the Victorian prison is maintained, making it an ideal location for the crime and thriller genre. Other productions that have previously visited Canterbury Prison for filming include Wayfaring Stranger (2008) and Windmill Boy (2006).
The film was released on DVD on Monday 17th June 2019 and is now available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Google Movies.
Writer: Nick Moorcroft Director: Ron Scalpello Starring: Sam Claflin, Charlie Murphy, Naomi Ackie Production Company: Eclipse Films, Riverstone Pictures Kent Locations Used: Dartford Marshes
The Corrupted (2019) is a crime thriller set in East London ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Ex-con Liam (Sam Claflin) has lost everything at the hands of a local crime syndicate run by Clifford Cullen (Timothy Spall) who have forcibly acquired land to sell at a high profit to the developers. In an attempt to reconnect with his family, he is caught up in a web of conspiracy, crime, and corruption.
The atmospheric Dartford Marshes by the QEII Crossing featured as the setting of a crime scene.
Dartford became a market town in medieval times and has a long history of industrial and cultural importance, and to its north, across the Thames estuary, lies Thurrock in Essex, which can be reached via the Dartford Crossing. The town centre lies in a valley, through which the River Darent flows. Previous productions which filmed here were The Escape (2017) and London Spy (2015).
The Corrupted will be released in UK cinemas on Friday 10th May 2019.
Welcome to Curiosity (2018) follows four interconnected stories as a group of people in the small town of Curiosity find themselves linked to a notorious serial killer. It was the world’s first film to raise its entire production budget through crowdfunding.
Various scenes were shot on the streets of Gravesend and Rochester. Fort Borstal also features, doubling as an abandoned warehouse where the criminals return after their heist and Fordy (Richard Blackwood) tries to double-cross them.
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent on the south bank of the Thames. Gravesend’s pier is the oldest remaining cast-iron pier in the world, and the town also boasts an unspoilt promenade, high street and two shopping centres. Previous productions to have filmed here include The Escape (2018), The Interceptor (2015) and The Long Memory (1953).
Rochester City has the feel of a medieval market town, with cathedral, castle ruin and unspoilt high street by the River Medway. Built in 1895, Fort Borstal was designed to hold the high ground southwest of Rochester. Used as an anti-aircraft battery in WWII, then later a pig farm and Young Offenders Institute storage space, the site has now been sold and converted into living accommodation. Previous productions to have filmed in Rochester include Jekyll and Hyde (2015), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012) and Last Orders (2002).
Welcome to Curiosity (2018) was released on Friday 8th June 2018 and is available to purchase on Amazon Prime.
Starring: Jessica Arterton, Jack Brett Anderson, Liam Kelly, Robert Lowe, Leslie Mills
Production Company: Last British Dragon
Kent Locations Used: Evegate Manor, Dryhill Local Nature Reserve, Sole Street House
The House Of Salem is a horror film in which a child, Josh (Liam Kelly) finds unlikely protectors in the form of a group of kidnappers who discover they have been tricked and are now trapped in a house. Realising that they are to become the next sacrifice in a line of murders spanning centuries, they get ready to battle demonic forces for their freedom.
Several Kent locations were used for filming, including private houses Evegate Manor as Josh’s home and Sole Street House as The House of Salem, alongside KCC Dryhill Nature Reserve.
Evegate Manor is a grade II star listed Manor House in Ashford and until recently was used as a farmhouse. Mostly dating from 14th to 16th century the house is constructed of Kentish ragstone rubble with red brick dressing; and is part timber framed with numerous exposed beams. Previous productions to film in the Ashford district include Dead and Awake (2016).
Sole Street House in Ashford is a 10-bedroom Georgian manor house with a Victorian wing, less than 50 miles from central London and standing in 30 acres of grounds including gardens, woodland, stables accommodating some 16 horses and paddocks.
Dryhill Local Nature Reserve in Sevenoaks is on a former quarry site of Special Scientific Interest. The exceptional structure of its rocks and fossils led to it becoming the first geological Local Nature Reserve in Kent. It also has a small stretch of private road for small set-ups. Sevenoaks has previously been used by productions such as Judwaa 2 (2017) and The First Team (2020).
House of Salem was released on 23rd January 2018.
For more information about Kent’s Filming History please visit our Movie Map:
Kent Locations Used: Oakdene Cafe, London Road, Wrotham
ITV’s new drama series Next Of Kin follows whip-smart GP Mona Shirani who lives in London with political lobbyist husband Guy Harcourt. Family life is shattered when Mona’s brother is brutally murdered whilst working for a medical charity abroad. In the wake of the murder, Mona’s family comes under suspicion and is drawn deep into a tangle of betrayal and conspiracy as they try to protect their loved ones and careers.
The six-part series was written and created by husband and wife team Paul Rutman (Indian Summers, Vera) and Natasha Narayan. Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee, Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife, The Fall), and renowned actor, Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean, Smash), star in Mammoth Screen’s fast-paced family thriller, Next Of Kin.
Oakdene Cafe, London Road in Wrotham Kent features in Episode 4 where filming took place in June 2017. Wrotham is a village on the Pilgrims’ Way in Kent, at the foot of the North Downs. It is one mile north of Borough Green and approximately five miles east Sevenoaks, a historic market town which has attracted several large productions in 2017 including Judwaa 2 (2017) and The Big Family Cooking Showdown (2017).
Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams is a sci-fi anthology series with stand-alone episodes that focus on dark themes and ideas with a twist. The first season will contain 10 episodes of adapted material from Philip K. Dick’s body of literary work.
Source material from Philip K. Dick (Blade Runner) stories, directed by, among others, Michael Dinner (The Crew), David Farr (The Ones Below), Francesca Gregorini (The Truth About Emanuel) and Tom Harper (Peaky Blinders). The first season stars Timothy Spall (Mr Turner, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Gumuliauskas Vaclovas (The Death of Stalin), Juke Hardy (Alien: Covenant), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) and Steve Buscemi (Fargo, Boardwalk Empire) as well as many others.
Some scenes from the upcoming series were filmed in Dungeness on the south coast of Kent. The area has been used in the past for many different films and TV series. Previous productions filmed in Dungeness include: Una (2017) and Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos (1971). The Pilot Inn in Dungeness previously featured in the The Poison Tree (2012)
Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams premieres on Sunday 17 September 2017 on Channel 4 at 9PM.