Summer of Rockets (2019)

Close up of actress from Summer of Rockets pictured inside a building, looking deep in thought off camera, wearing a blue coat and green scarf.

Summer of Rockets ©BBC Pictures

Writer: Stephen Poliakoff
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Starring: Toby Woolf, Suanne Braun, Keeley Hawes, Linus Roache, Timothy Spall, Toby Stephens
Production Company: Little Island Productions
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyards, Chatham

Set in London during the height of the Cold War, Summer of Rockets (2019) is a drama based on true events amid with growing tensions across Europe. At the time, the UK tested its first hydrogen bomb, the Soviets launched their first ballistic missile, and the space race between America and the Soviet Union had begun.

Written and directed by multi-award winning writer Stephen Poliakoff (Dancing on the Edge, Close to the Enemy), the series stars Toby Woolf (The Last Post), Suanne Braun (No Signal, Starhyke), Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty, Bodyguard) Linus Roache (Non-Stop, Vikings), Timothy Spall (Finding Your Feet, Hatton Gardens), Toby Stephens (And Then There Were None, Lost in Space).

The streets outside the Ropery in The Historic Dockyard Chatham were used to film the 1950s civil defence exercise in the series and the upper floors of the Ropery itself featured as civil defence training rooms.

The Historic Dockyard Chatham, with its Victorian and Georgian architecture continues to be a popular filming location. Previous productions which featured this location have been The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Our World War (2014) and Foyle’s War – A War of Nerves (2004).

Summer of Rockets can be seen on BBC Two on Wednesday 22nd May 2019 at 9pm. After this, episodes will then be shown every Wednesday for the next six weeks.

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


My Week with Marilyn (2011)

My Week with Marilyn Movie poster with Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, & Kenneth Brannagh. A london skyline can be seen in the background, My week with Marilyn is written in blue

My Week with Marilyn Movie poster © The Weinstein Company

The Silver Screen Icon comes to life in this blockbuster biopic.

Directed by: Simon Curtis

Writers: Adrian Hodges (Screenplay) & Colin Clark (Books)

Starring: Michelle Williams, Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Brannah

Production company: The Weinstein Company, BBC Films, LipSync Productions, Trademark Films

Kent Filming Locations: Gibraltar Lane, Hawkinge & Saltwood Castle

Released in cinemas from 18th November, My Week with Marilyn tells the story of the infamous blonde bombshell and her love affair with Colin Clark.

My Week with Marilyn is based on true events that took place when Monroe arrived in the UK to film Sir Laurence Olivier’s The Prince and the Showgirl. At the time the actress was married to Arthur Miller. They had a famously turbulent relationship. A tragic miscarriage lead to increasingly erratic behaviour by the star and the depicted time span in her life was one of the most dramatic. Sadly the actress died five years after the film was made.

The production was adapted by Adrian Hodges (Survivors, Primeval) and directed by Simon Curtis (The Practise, Cranford), and stars Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain, Shutter Island), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl) and Kenneth Brannah (Valkyrie, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit).

In 2010, Kent welcomed the crew and stars of this historic Hollywood tale. Filming took place in Gibraltar Lane in Hawkinge and it was the first film to give the Kent Film Office an opportunity to use their new powers to close a road for filming.

Shooting also took place at the beautiful Saltwood Castle, still privately owned by members of the Clark family. Only rarely open to the public, the castle was also used for the BBC drama series The Alan Clark Diaries, starring John Hurt. Its earliest mention is in the year 488.

The Shepway area has previously featured in productions including The Tunnel: Sabotage (2016),  The Only Way is Essexmas (2014) and The Harry Hill Movie (2013).

My Week With Marilyn is out on DVD.

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


Pierrepoint (2006)

The Last Hangman movieposter- Close up of a mans face looking scared, a rope noose to the right. Pierrepoint The Last Hang Man is written in yellow against a black background

The Last Hangman movie poster © IFC First Take

Writer: Bob Mills, Jeff Pope

Director: Adrian Shergold

CastTimothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson, Eddie Marsan, James Cordon

Production Company: UK Film Council, National Lottery through UK Film Council, Granada Television, Capitol Films, Masterpiece Theatre

Kent Filming Locations: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Pierrepoint is a feature film inspired by true events and is the story of Britain’s most famous hangman, Albert Pierrepoint (Timothy Spall).

The film charts Pierrepoint’s meteoric rise to becoming Britain’s most famous hangman. Pierrepoint was present at the Nuremberg executions and the legendary hanging of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be given the death penalty in England.

Directed by Adrian Shergold (Persuasion, Dirty Filthy Love) and written by Bob Mills (Christmas Lights, Bob Martin) and Jeff Pope (Philomena). Starring Timothy Spall (Harry Potter Series, Sweeney Todd), Juliet Stevenson (Mona Lisa Smile, Bend it like Beckham), Eddie Marsan (Hancock, The Illusionist) and James Corden (The Wrong Mans, One Chance).

The Historic Dockyard Chatham was used to film a hanging scene and towards the end of the film, where Pierrepoint has to face an angry mob  as public opinion towards capital punishment begins to change. One of the most popular filming locations in Kent, The Historic Dockyard Chatham has been used for Sherlock Holmes (2009), The Bank Job (2008) and The Golden Compass (2007).

Pierrepoint was released in cinemas in April 2006 and is now available to buy on DVD.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPHSw2X22Eg

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