CAMERAS, crew and film star Jonny Lee Miller descended on Rochester this week to film a modern version of The Canterbury Tales.

The cathedral, castle and Kaizen Jewellers in the High Street, became makeshift film sets for five days as the BBC shot The Pardoner's Tale.

One of the six Chaucer short stories being filmed in towns and cities between London and Canterbury, The Pardoner's Tale features Miller, Ben Bennett and William Beck as three vagabonds who find a pot of gold, or a gold bar in a jeweller's in this case. Greed takes over and they end up killing each other for it.

Visitors were held to one side as Trainspotting and Hackers star Miller performed an emotion-fuelled patriotic speech outside the main entrance.

Extras, dressed as tourists, mingled in front while real visitors and pupils from neighbouring schools looked on in amazement as the area was transformed into a film set.

Chaucer's 14th century tales were set on the pilgrims' route from London to Canterbury, but no actual towns or cities were mentioned. So it was down to BBC producer Kate Bartlett to select locations for the six adaptations.