Operation Mincemeat (2022)

The three actors pictured left to right are Matthew Macfadyen, Colin Firth and Johnny Flynn are dressed in Naval uniform and pose in front of a large Naval building. They carry brown leather satchels

Operation Mincemeat (2022) © Warner Bros / Netflix

Director: John Madden
Writers: Michelle Ashford, Ben Macintyre
Starring: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfadyen, Johnny Flynn, Kelly Macdonald
Production Company: See-Saw Films
Kent Locations Used: The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Operation Mincemeat (2022) is a drama set during World War Two. The film is based on the true story on how British intelligence officers pulled off one of the most successful wartime deceptions of Nazi Germany.

The film was written by Michelle Ashford (The Pacific, Boomtown) and is based on the book by Ben Macintyre. Stars of the film include Colin Firth (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Pride and Prejudice) as Ewen Montagu, Matthew Macfadyen (The Current War (2019), Churchills Secret) as Charles Cholmondeley, Johnny Flynn (Vanity Fair (2018), Stardust, The Dig) as James Bond author Ian Fleming and Kelly Macdonald (Line of Duty, The Victim) as Jean Leslie. Supporting cast includes Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey (2010-2013), Summerland (2020)) and Alex Jennings (The Crown Series 1 – 4 (2016-2023), The Halcyon (2017)).

Production visited The Historic Dockyard Chatham to film on HMS Cavalier and at Anchor Wharf. HMS Cavalier is hard to spot, but it features at the beginning and end of the film in a sequence where the Allied forces are approaching the coast of Sicily.  Anchor Wharf doubles as the R.N. Submarine Base at Holy Loch, where Charles (Matthew Macfadyen) tells Ewen (Colin Firth) that he is going to travel with the dead body to Spain.

Set on the River Medway The Historic Dockyard Chatham was once an active Royal Navy shipyard and is a popular Kent filming location, especially for period dramas looking for London street doubles. Previous WWII-based productions to film at the Dockyard include Summerland (2020), World On Fire (2019) and Red Joan (2019).

Operation Mincemeat was released in UK cinemas on Tuesday 15th April 2022.

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


The Unfamiliar (2020)

The Unfamiliar Film Poster – Actress Jemima West as Elizabeth (Izzy) Cormack hides under a car looking frightened. She wears brown overalls. The film title at the bottom is in red with the strapline ‘some fears haunt you from within’.

The Unfamiliar Film Poster © Dark Matter Studios

Writers: Henk Pretorius, Jennifer Nicole Stang
Director: Henk Pretorius
Starring: Jemima West, Christopher Dane, Rebecca Hanssen, Harry McMillan-Hunt, Rachel Lin, Tori Butler-Hart
Production Company: Dark Matter Studios
Kent Locations Used: Home Farm, Swale.

The Unfamiliar (2020) is a horror film that features an army doctor returning from war. Initially believing she is suffering from PTSD, Izzy (Jemima West) begins to wonder if  there are supernatural forces toying with her as all she once knew becomes unfamiliar.

The Unfamiliar is written and directed by Henk Pretorius (Transference, Leading Lady). The Film was also written by Jennifer Nicole Stang (The Whistler, Hello). Made up of a cast of only six people, the Horror stars Jemima West (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), Christopher Dane (Once One, Vikings), Rebecca Hanssen (A Christmas Carol, Two), Harry McMillan-Hunt (Space Sailor), Rachel Lin (Casualty, EastEnders) and Tori Butler-Hart (Real, Edie)

The psychological horror is set at Home Farm in Swale. Home Farm is a Colonial style, weather boarded villa with a veranda’s overlooking the countryside bordered by woods.  Inside, high rooms are decorated in a vintage chic style, with reclaimed wood floors, radiators and chateau doors. Previous productions to have filmed here include The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2017) and Juliet, Naked (2018).

The Unfamiliar is due for release on Friday 11th September 2020 on Amazon, Sky Store, Google Play, Apple TV and other digital channels.

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


Making Noise Quietly (2019)

Two young men walking through a field talking to each other. Both wearing period clothing and the one on the left is walking with his bike.

Making Noise Quietly ©Open Palm Films

Director: Dominic Dromgoole
Writers: Nick Drake, Mark Rosenblatt and based on the play by Robert Holman
Starring: Luke Thompson, Matthew Tennyson, Trystan Gravelle, Barbra Martin, Deborah Findlay
Production Company: Open Palm Films
Kent Locations Used: Hadlow College Farm Shop in Tonbridge & Malling and Ightham Mote, Sevenoaks

Making Noise Quietly (2019) is a trilogy showing the effects of war on the lives of ordinary people. The drama follows three main stories with the themes of friendship, grief and peace amid the ravages of war.

The first story is that of conscientious objector Oliver and painter Eric, meeting for a picnic in Kent in the summer of 1945. Over the course of the segment, the two begin to understand each other’s very different perspectives regarding the war.

Part two jumps forward in time to the Falklands war in 1982, when a naval officer visits a mother to tell her that her son has died in the conflict.

The third segment is centred on former soldier, Alan and his young son, Sam, as they meet concentration camp survivor Helene in the Black Forest of Germany in 1986.

This first-time feature film directed by Dominic Dromgoole (Shakespeare’s Globe: A Midsummer Night’s Dream). The Objector, Oliver, is played by Luke Thompson (Dunkirk, Kiss Me First (2018)) and his fried Eric is played by Matthew Tennyson (Pride, Shakespeare’s Globe: A Midsummer Night’s Dream). The naval officer played by Greggory Streatfield, (The Other Boleyn Girl, Kinky Boots) and the grieving mother May is played by Barbra Martin (Causality, Between Two Women). Helene, the concentration camp survivor is played by Deborah Findlay (Vanity Fair, Jane Eyre). The father is played by Trystan Gravelle (AnonymousMr Selfridge) and the film also introduces Orton O’Brien (Christopher Robin, MotherFatherSon) as his young son.

The production filmed in Kent for the first segment of the film and transformed Hadlow College Farm Shop into a 1940’s shop, where Oliver and Eric visit in the film. It is situated in the district of Tonbridge & Malling and was home to the UK’s leading land-based agricultural college. Past productions which filmed here include Horizon: My Amazing Brain – Richard’s War (2018) and Harry Potter: A History of Magic (2017).

Production also filmed at Ightham Mote which is a 14th century moated manor house located in Sevenoaks and was owned by medieval knights, courtiers to Henry VIII as well as high-society Victorians. Sevenoaks with its many stately homes is a popular filming location and hosted productions like Mary Queen of Scots (2019) and Vanity Fair (2018).

Making Noise Quietly first screened at the Lake’s Main House theatre on Sunday 1st July 2018 to raise money for the theatre’s work with young people. It was released in UK cinemas on Friday 19th July 2019.

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


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.


Danny Boyle: Pages of the Sea this Remembrance Sunday (2018)

Director Danny Boyle's programme poster for Pages of the Sea- image of soldier in the sand with the sea washing up against it.

Danny Boyle: Pages of the Sea ©14-18 NOW

On 11 November 2018, communities will gather on beaches across the UK to say thank you and goodbye to the millions of men and women who left our shores during WWI. In Pages of the Sea, film-maker Danny Boyle invites you to join him in marking the 100 years anniversary of Armistice and the end of the war.

Director of the London Olympics Opening Ceremony, Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire 2008, Shallow Grave 1994) announced his new project from the Sunny Sands in Folkestone, where approximately 10 million men and women departed during the First World War, many never to return. The event will take place between dawn and 10.45am on November 11th 2018 and the public are invited to gather on beaches across the UK for an informal nationwide gesture of remembrance.

Speaking to Kent Online, Danny Boyle said, “You can stand here on the beach in Folkestone and imagine what they were all feeling and imagining as they were getting ready to leave and thinking about what they were facing.”

Image of Danny Boyle smiling at the camera in a white shirt on Sunny Sands beach in Folkestone, sea and path can be seen in background

Filmmaker Danny Boyle © 14-18 NOW

Various events will be taking place on the beach. A portrait of Wilfred Owen will emerge from the sands, and as the tide rises, it will be washed away, and a moment will be taken to say a collective goodbye.  Carol Ann Duffy has written a poem especially for the moment – The Wound in Time.  The public is also invited to explore an online gallery of portraits of some of the men and women who served in the First World War.

The event will be filmed live on Sunday 11th November at 10.45am.

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


Horizon: My Amazing Brain – Richard’s War (2018)

Richard Gray lies in a hospital bed at Darent Valley Hospital. The front right side of his head is dented from removal of part of the brain

Richard Gray at Darent Valley Hospital, September 2013 © BBC F. Lloyd-Davies


Director
:  Fiona Lloyd-Davies

Production Company:  Studio 9 Films / BBC

Kent Locations Used:  Trosley Country Park, Darent Valley Hospital.

Horizon follows the story of Richard Gray and his remarkable recovery from a catastrophic stroke.  Recorded over four years by his documentary film-maker wife, Fiona, this film chronicles the hard work of recovery.

Bed bound and unable to do anything, including speak, the initial outlook was bleak until the occasional, small glimmers of hope emerged.  Always armed with her camera, Fiona captures the moment Richard moves his fingers for the first time, and then documents his months long struggle to relearn how to walk again.

The story also features poignant footage delivered in a series of flashbacks, in which we see and hear Richard at his professional best. He was a peacekeeper with the United Nations, immersed in the brutal war in Sarajevo, Bosnia. We also hear from the surgeons and clinicians who were integral to Richard’s remarkable recovery, from describing life-saving, high-risk reconstructive surgery to intensive rehabilitation programmes that pushed the former soldier to his limits. As the film starts, Fiona asks ‘will Richard, my Richard still be there?’ By the end the answer is clear.

Kent-based film maker Fiona Lloyd-Davies filmed the trees from Trosley Country Park throughout the seasons. In winter without leaves they resemble the brain’s neural pathways, and later in the year as they come into leaf they serve as a useful metaphor for regrowth and recovery. Part of the documentary also shows Richard’s stay in Darent Valley Hospital.

Richard Gray in his New Zealand Army uniform going to Anzac Day commemorations with his wife Fiona, April 2017

Richard Gray in his New Zealand Army uniform going to Anzac Day commemorations with his wife Fiona, April 2017 © BBC F. Lloyd-Davies

Trosley Country Park is situated on the top of the North Downs, and covers 170 acres.  There are fine views of the Weald of Kent.  The steep grassland slopes are home to a whole variety of wildlife especially butterflies and flowers.

The Tonbridge and Malling District is a popular area of Kent for filming. Cape Wrath (2007) a 7-part thriller was filmed at Leybourne Lakes and Kings Hill. The areas have great transport links, local amenities, a network of cycle paths and a number of sports facilities.

My Amazing Brain: Richard’s War will be broadcast on BBC Two at 9pm on Monday 5th February 2018.  

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

 

 


Les Misérables (2013)

 

Les on horses going through the streets through a tunnel

Les Misérables © Universal Pictures

Director: Tom Hooper

Screenplay: William Nicholson

Composer: Claude-Michel Schönberg

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Amanda Seyfried

Production company: Relativity Media, StudioCanal, Working Title Films, Cameron Mackintosh Ltd.

Kent locations used:  The Historic Dockyard Chatham

Les Misérables is based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel and Cameron Mackintosh’s popular musical. It is directed by Oscar award winning director, Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, The Damned United) and features an ensemble cast of A-List actors, faces including: Anne Hathaway (Dark Knight Rises, One Day), Oscar-winner Russell Crowe (Gladiator, Beautiful Mind), Hugh Jackman (X-Men Series, The Prestige), Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech, Alice in Wonderland) Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat, Hugo) and Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia, In Time).  The actors sung live during filming, instead of using pre-recorded tracks, making it more like a musical than any other film.

Anne Hathaway as Fantine working in a factory

Anne Hathaway as Fantine © Universal Pictures

Set in 19th century France, it tells the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) an ex-prisoner who has broken his parole. Hunted by ruthless policeman Javert (Russell Crowe), he is forced to make decisions that will transform his life forever. It is a dramatic tale of broken dreams, unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption.

Les Misérables is the world’s longest-running musical and has been performed on Broadway and the West End, visiting 42 countries in total. It received 70 major theatre awards including an Olivier, a Tony and a Grammy and features classic songs by ClaudeMichel Schönberg like “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Bring Him Home,” “One Day More” and “On My Own”. For the first time in movie history, the actors sang live during the filming, instead of using pre-recorded tracks.

The Historic Dockyard in Chatham was used to double as a factory, a court room and various streets. It is a popular and unique filming location, having previously welcomed Sherlock Holmes (2011), The Golden Compass (2007) and the BBC adaptation of Oliver Twist (2007).

Les Misérables was released in cinemas on 11th January 2013 and is now available to buy on DVD.

 

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


Ginger and Rosa (2012)

 

Ginger (right, Elle Fanning) and Rosa (left, Alice Englert) walking with their arms around each other in front of some pylons

Ginger (right, Elle Fanning) and Rosa (left, Alice Englert) © Artificial Eye Publicity

Director: Sally Potter

Starring: Elle Fanning, Alice Englert, Christina Hendricks, Timothy Spall, Oliver Platt, Annette Bening

Production Company: BBC Films, British Film Institute, Det Danske Filminstitut

Kent locations used: Dengemarsh Sound Mirrors, Lydd on Sea, Lade Beach, Greatstone, Lydd Ranges, Lydd, Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey

Ginger and Rosa is directed by Sally Potter and tells the story of two teenage girls living in 1960’s London under the threat of nuclear war due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. This coming of age story is a tale of friendship, desire, determination and the struggles of growing up.

The inseparable friends take different paths in life. Ginger, played by Elle Fanning (Super 8, We Bought A Zoo) becomes involved in anti-nuclear demonstrations while Rosa, played by emerging talent Alice Englert, is more interested in boys.

L-R Elle Fanning, Timothy Spall, Annette Bening and Oliver Platt all staring at the camera in front of some trees

L-R Elle Fanning, Timothy Spall, Annette Bening and Oliver Platt © Artificial Eye Publicity

Supporting Fanning and Englert is an A-list cast, including Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Timothy Spall (Harry Potter), Oliver Platt (X Men: First Class)  and Annette Bening (American Beauty).

The Ginger and Rosa crew filmed at many locations in Kent, including the unique and striking sound mirrors on Dengemarsh, which look out over the shingle desert and were built in the late 1930’s for the early detection of enemy aircraft before the discovery of radar.

The production also used Lade Beach and boardwalk which is near the Romney Sands and changes from shingle at low tide to sand and mudflats as the water recedes. Also featured in the film are nearby Lydd Ranges, a military training facility.

Locations on and around the Isle of Sheppey were also used for various boating scenes, including a floating jetty at Queenborough jetty and the Swale estuary for the open water shots.

Ginger and Rosa was released in cinemas on 19th October 2012 and is now available to buy on DVD.

 

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


Age of Heroes (2011)

Age of Heroes cast members standing in a row in uniform with guns. Snowy mountains can be seen behind.

Age of Heroes cast L-R John Dagleish as Rollright, Danny Dyer as Rains, William Houston as Mac, Guy Burnet as Riley, Sean Bean as Jones, Askel Hennie as Steinar © Age of Heroes Ltd.

Director: Adrian Vitoria

Writers: Ed Scates, Adrian Vitoria

Starring: Sean Bean, Danny Dyer, Aksel Hennie,  James D’Arcy

Production Company: Atlantic Swiss Productions/Cinedome/Cinema Five/Giant Films

Kent Filming Locations: Connaught Barracks, Dover, Gravesend Civil Defence Bunker, Pluckley

 Sean Bean laying on the dirt staring into a gun looking at the camera

Age of Heroes Sean Bean as Jones © Age of Heroes Ltd.

Age of Heroes is a film based on the real-life events of Ian Fleming’s 30 Commando during the Second World War; a team that was one of the most secretive and exclusive Special Forces regiments and created the mould for the modern day SAS.

The film captures the mentally and physically gruelling training endured by the men before they are assigned to a highly dangerous mission behind enemy lines in occupied Norway.  The mission doesn’t go to plan and they find themselves in a deadly situation, outnumbered by enemy soldiers.  It’s then that they rise above being normal soldiers and become heroes.

Adrian Vitoria (The Crew Hollyoaks: Crossing the Line) directs as well as co-wrote the screenplay alongside Ed Scates. Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings, The Martian), Danny Dyer (Doghouse, Eastenders), Aksel Hennie (Headhunters, Hercules) and James D’Arcy (Master and Commander, Cloud Atlas) star.

In 2010 film crews arrived in Kent to shoot the action packed thriller – local village Pluckley, famous as the setting for the popular TV programme The Darling Buds of May, were used in several driving shots with actor Sean Bean.

James D'Arcy as Ian Fleming sitting at a wooden desk with a map of the united kingdom pinned to the wall behind him

James D’Arcy as Ian Fleming © Age of Heroes Ltd.

The Gravesend Civil Defence Bunker, built in 1954 as an underground command post to be used in the event of nuclear attack during the Cold War, features in the film. It was used to represent the Cabinet War Rooms in London’s Whitehall.  Nearby Cobham Hall, currently a boarding school for girls is a firm favourite for filming in the district of Gravesham. The site was the perfect location to feature as a boarding school in the 2008 film Wild Child (2008).

Another Ministry of Defence location, the Connaught Barracks were also used for filming as a WWII training base. Situated in the district of Dover, the Connaught Barracks are not the only location to have been used for filming in recent years. The historic Dover Castle is a Kent film location favourite as it has been the star location in a number of productions from Lady Jane (1987) to The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).

Age of Heroes was released in 2011 and is now available on DVD.

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


Foyle’s War – A War of Nerves (2004)

Series 3 Foyle's War DVD Cover- Three cast member staring at the camera with an old vehicle behind. Foyle's War the complete third series written in white on top

Series 3 Foyle’s War DVD Cover © ITV

Directed by: Gavin Millar

Starring: Michael Kitchen, Honeysuckle Weeks, Julien Ovenden, Anthony Howell, Peter Capaldi, Sam Oatley Eamon Geoghegan, Corin Redgrave, Valerie Edmond

Production Company: Greenlit Productions ,Paddock Productions

Kent locations used: The Historic Chatham Dockyard

Foyle’s War is a World War Two detective drama set in the 1940sand follows Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle (Michael Kitchen) and Sergeant Paul Milner (Anthony Howell) on various criminal investigations, assisted by his driver Samantha Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks).

Episode 4 of series 3, A War of Nerves, focuses on the issue of missing supplies, leading Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle to question the owners of a local shipping yard.  However, when a bomb disposal unit descends on the yard to deal with an unexploded bomb, three officers make a surprising discovery. When an officer is murdered, Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle realises that there is more to the case than missing supplies.

This series stars regulars Michael Kitchen (Goldeneye, The World Is Not Enough), Honeysuckle Weeks (My Brother Tom, The Wicker Tree), Julien Ovenden (The Allies, The Royal) and Anthony Howell (Wives and Daughters) alongside guest appearances in A War of Nerves from Sam Oatley (War Hero, Honeymoon), Peter Capaldi (Dr Who, World War Z), Eamon Geoghegan (V for Vendetta, The Box), Corin Redgrave (The Calling, Four Weddings and a Funeral) and Valerie Edmond (Made of Honour, Kavanagh QC)

The Historic Chatham Dockyard provided the perfect location for the shipyard in ‘A War of Nerves’, featuring both HMS Ocelot and HMS Cavalier. The Historic Chatham Dockyard has been used in other television productions such as Dom Hemingway (2013), Call the Midwife (2012-2013) and Oliver Twist (2007).

The third series was aired on ITV in October 2004, and all seven series are now available to buy on DVD.

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