The Netflix series that feature parts of Kent including The Crown, Top Boy and Black Mirror
06:00, 14 October 2020
With the beautiful cliffs in Dover and the peaceful rolling beaches, it's no wonder Kent is such a popular place for film crews.
In recent years, Netflix has also brought several of its productions to the county too.
And with plans for a studio in Ashford well under way, there could be many more to come.
Here are the top series already filmed in Kent:
The Crown
The Historic Dockyard has been centre stage in several films and TV series over the years as it continues to be a thriving success.
Over the past few years it has been used in the popular show The Crown, which returns this November.
In the first series, which starred Claire Foy as The Queen and Matt Smith as The Duke of Edinburgh, Anchor Wharf was used for a dockside scene and part of a ship was built for the filming.
The crew returned to Medway for series four, using Brompton Barracks to film scenes set in London.
Top Boy
The gritty drama returned to our screens in September last year and the crew took a tour of Kent to film some scenes.
In Thanet, Nazsa Biedronka, a Polish supermarket in Northdown Road was used, as well as the Lido. They visited Walpole Bay and Fulsam Rock Beach and used surrounding streets including Athelstan Road.
Ramsgate station and the Rose of England pub in the High Street were also used.
To the north of the county, Gordon Place in Gravesend was used at the fictional 'Summerhouse Estate' in Hackney.
Black Mirror
The always popular and often confusing series written by Charlie Brooker has used parts of Kent for two episodes.
Episode five of the fourth series, 'MetalHead', was directed by David Slade and part of it was filmed at a private property in Harrietsham, near Maidstone, in April 2017.
Although viewers are led to believe the characters are in an empty post-apocalyptic world in the Scottish Moors, on occasion they were in the Kentish village.
Fairbourne Reservoir East features as the empty house Bella, played by Maxine Peake, seeks refuge in. In 2018, crews were also spotted shooting scenes for their fifth series in Jeskyns, Henhurst Road, Cobham.
The Old Guard
Charlize Theron and Chiwetell Eijofor were the stars of this Netflix film released in July.
The former Pfizer research facility, now Discovery Park, which is just outside Sandwich was used as Merrick Pharmaceuticals throughout the film.
Baptiste and World War Z have both used also used the centre in the past.
The eagle eyed among you may have also noticed that the French town called Goussainville was actually Sandwich.
The Big Flower Fight
This series has a double dose of Kentish connections.
Comedian and local man Vic Reeves hosted the show which followed 10 teams of experts who competed for the chance to create a display at The Royal Botanic Gardens.
It appeared on Netflix on May 18 and was filmed on a private estate just outside of Maidstone.
Speaking about the series, Vic said: "It's not Gardeners' World, it's punk rock gardening. I was looking around and thinking 'A lot of the people here could be in bands'."
Avengement
Canterbury prison was closed in 2013 but has since been bought by Canterbury Christ Church University.
But while it waits to be transformed into part of the campus it has been used as the backdrop for several films including Wayfaring Stranger in 2008 and two years earlier in Windmill Boy.
Avengement is the latest to use the Victorian prison. The film was released on DVD in June 2019 but can also be found on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Google Movies.
For more information on films in Kent visit Kent Film Office.
