Filming brings millions into Dickens' Kent
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Miss Havisham
(Gillian Anderson), in Great Expectations
by Jess Banham
Dickens is still raking
in cash for our county... exactly 200 years after his
birth!
It's been revealed the TV and
film adaptations of his work shot in Kent have added almost £2m to
the economy.
All week we’ve been taking a
look at the wordsmith's life and his many connections to our
county.
Dickens lived in several Kent
towns and was inspired by much of the landscape, making it the
perfect place for film crews looking for shooting
locations.
Gabrielle
Rosa Bud (Tamzin
Merchant) in The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Lindemann, head of Kent County
Council’s film office, said: "Most of the versions of Great
Expectations are made in Kent as so much of the story is set on the
Kent marshes and it’s such a unique landscape.
"There are very few areas in
Britain where you have a lot of salt marsh expanse with creeks and
things, just like you have at the opening of the novel."
Often crews use local caterers
and stay in the area for several months which provides a much
needed boost to local businesses.
It all started with the 1946
film of Great Expectations, starring John Mills, which shot both on
St Mary’s marshes and made use of buildings such as Restoration
House, which was the actual inspiration behind the dilapidated
Satis House where Miss Havisham lives.
Several other adaptations for
both the small and silver screen have also filmed here over the
years.
Arthur in Little
Dorrit played by Matthew Macfadyen
In 2007, the crew behind the
television adaptation of Oliver used Tarred Yarn Store at Chatham
Dockyard as the children’s workhouse.
A year later, Deal Castle was
also used for scenes in Little Dorrit.
Most recently, both the latest
version of Great Expectations and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which
were shown on television over Christmas and the New Year, shot
scenes around the county, including at Rochester Cathedral and St
Thomas a Becket Church.
The feature-film adaptation of
Great Expectations, starring Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham
Carter, which is out later this year, was also shot in Kent on the
marshes surrounding the Swale Estuary.
Now, the council is hoping
to make the most of the current buzz surrounding Dickens by
creating a movie trail for interested tourists coming to the
area.
Ms Lindeman said the map should
bring in even more money to the county: "We have one for The Other
Boleyn Girl, Ian Fleming and the Darling Buds of May which have all
been very successful. The Other Boleyn Girl brought in more than a
million pounds just in one season."
For more on Dickens' connections
to Kent, see our special
report.
Thursday, February 09 2012
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