Film & TV Productions Shot In The South-Central Region, 1910-

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The South-Central Region On Screen Film & TV Productions Shot On Location In The South-Central Region, 1910- This table covers, in chronological order, drama productions which had significant location filming in the region. (You can just use Control-F to search for a particular title or other keyword - each entry begins with the relevant county or town to facilitate this.)
Below is a listing of feature films and TV dramas shot in the south-central region, by year, with an identifying production credit, together with its main locations. Short films, of which there have been dozens due to the presence of local film schools, documentaries, and adverts are not normally included. Only productions with noteworthy local filming are covered, and stories merely set here, with no local filming (as with the 1955 Moonfleet and the 1958 Separate Tables) are not listed. And only the local-interest locations are given - note that a film may have many other scenes shot elsewhere. Where a location doubles as another country (e.g. Studland as Dunkirk beach), this is indicated if possible. This listing is an ongoing work - click here if you have information regarding errors or omissions. You can find a narrative outline history covering the main developments and trends which the 'shoots' listed below represent, on our 'Production History' page. There are also some feature-article pages on particular films, filmmakers, or genres, and these can be accessed from the Film-TV section home page. Most recent listings update: 28-09-12.
TITLE/YR/DIR., PRODN CO. or DISTRIB	LOCATION & NOTES
[various titles] 1910?- Cecil Hepworth, Hepworth Manufacturing Co./ Hepworth Picture Plays	Dorset A few years ater he first achieved success with his 1905 "Rescued By Rover", film pioneer Cecil Hepworth reportedly began filming at Lulworth Cove every summer, as his favoured "repertory" location. Most of his work is now lost but most of these seem to have been shorts, which we don't list on this page to keep the enterprise to manageable limits. However as the Hepworth productions were a first for the area, they are discussed on a dedicated page, here.
Hamlet 1913 Cecil Hepworth, Hepworth Manufacturing Co.	Dorset Hepworth built a plaster castle replica of Elsinore on the Lulworth clifftop at Dungy Head for his £10,000 feature-length 'super-production' of the Shakespeare play. (See our Hepworth feature page "Came The Dawn" for details.)
Hearts Of The World 1918 DW Griffith, War Office	Wiltshire The project was commissioned by Lord Beaverbrook to help the war effort, the War Office arranging for thousands of troops to be deployed for the cameras on Salisbury Plain, this footage being integrated with scenes Griffith shot at the Front in France, where the story is set.
The Mayor Of Casterbridge 1921 Sidney Morgan, Progress Film Co.	Dorset Hardy watched, and assisted with, some filming at Dorchester and nearby Maiden Castle.
The Gipsy Cavalier 1922 J. Stuart Blackton	New Forest For this costumer by film pioneer Blackton, a dangerous stunt scene of the heroine trapped inside a post-chaise caught in a flood was shot using a weir-pond on the Beaulieu River.
The Virgin Queen 1923 J. Stuart Blackton	New Forest This historical drama starring Lady Diana Cooper, an early atttempt at colour filming via the Prizmacolor process, was shot almost back-to-back with The Gipsy Cavalier, above, on the Beaulieu estate. It included scenes shot in Beaulieu Abbey, but used Palace House as the central location, with the fire in the queen's bedchamber staged by dressing the interior of the estate's wine-press outbuilding.
Tess Of The D’Urbervilles 1924 Marshall Neilan, Goldwyn Pictures	Dorset, Wiltshire This was an 'updated' Hollywood-style version, with scenes in modern Mayfair, but some scenes were shot in the Puddletown area, at Bindon Abbey ruin, and at Stonehenge where Tess is rounded up by a 'posse.'
The Somme 1927 M.A. Wetherell New Era Films	Wiltshire Another use of troops doing battle drills and other training manoeuvres on Salisbury Plain to depict WWI action, in this case a costly double battle in 1916. (Note: not to be confused with the 1916 documentary The Battle Of The Somme, from which this production may reuse some footage for authenticity.)
A Cuckoo In The Nest 1933 Tom Walls, Gaumont	Wiltshire Actor-director Tom Walls’s production of this typical 1925 Ben Travers Aldwych theatre farce (about a couple stranded at a remote inn having to pretend to be married to share the last room) used the Red Lion Inn at Avebury for exteriors.
The Ghost Camera 1933 Bernard Vorhaus, Real Art Prod'ns	Dorset In this early talkie edited by David Lean, co-starring Henry Kendall, Ida Lupino, and John Mills, a London photographer on an outing to a ruined Norman castle [Corfe Castle] picks up a camera with evidence of a murder.
Brown On Resolution (US title: Born For Glory) (reissued as Forever England) 1935 Walter Forde, Gaumont	Dorset, Devon As well as using Portland Naval Base, the film's star John Mills said in his memoirs the Admiralty also bought a rocky islet off the Devon coast to portray the Galapagos islet where the finale is set.
[Mr] Midshipman Easy (US: Men Of The Sea) 1935 Carol Reed, All Talking Pictures	Dorset For this adaptation of the Captain Marryat boys adventure, Carol Reed used Portland Bill, plus Chesil Bank, and Weymouth.
Keep Smiling (US: Smiling Along) 1938 Monty Banks, TCF	Bournemouth Bournemouth portrays 'Brightbourne' in this vehicle for Gracie Fields, who then owned a house in Sandbanks. Holidaymakers became unwitting extras when they gathered outside the Pavilion Theatre to attend a local variety show or watch the fountain, and were filmed by hidden cameras.
The Lady Vanishes 1938 Alfred Hitchcock, Gaumont-British	Hampshire The few location exteriors for this pre-war thriller set in Fascist-Ruritanian 'Bandrika' were shot in Woolmer Forest, using Longmoor Military Railway.
Victory 1942 Ministry Of Information	Dorset Another official propaganda film, with scenes re-enacting WWI action, using the Bovington Tank Range and collection of vintage tanks (now the basis of the Tank Museum) to demonstrate the use of the tank going back to WWI.
The First Of The Few (US title Spitfire - shorter version) 1943 Leslie Howard, British Aviation Pictures	Hampshire Howard got official cooperation to shoot on a front-line airfield and use RAF fighter pilots as extras, RAF Ibsley near Fordingbridge north of Christchurch portraying the fictional Battle-of-Britain airfield RAF 'Seafield' in Sussex as well as Eastleigh Airfield, Southampton in the test-flight scene. (For details, see our feature on the film's production here.)
The Way Ahead (US: The Immortal Battalion) 1943 Carol Reed, Two Cities	Wiltshire In this tale of the training of an Army platoon, Salisbury Plain portrays itself in a scene of large-scale battle manoeuvres.
School For Secrets (US title Secret Flight) 1946 Peter Ustinov, Two Cities/Rank	Poole Writer-director Peter Ustinov's caricature of the backroom scientific boffins who developed WW2 radar initially has an unidentified setting by the sea which may represent (via a few soundstage sets and some shots of radar arrays) the actual, then still hush-hush one at Worth Matravers on the Purbeck coast. Most of the story is set in an inland suburban town Ustinov facetiously named 'Kippenhampton,' which would be based on Malvern where the real-life boffins moved for fear of enemy reprisals. There is a final scene showing a VE-parade on Poole Quay and a flying boat departing Poole Harbour.
The Guinea Pig (US: The Outsider) 1948 Boulting Brothers, Pathé	Dorset Sherborne was used as the source play's author Warren Chetham-Strode was an Old Shirburnian. The exteriors show the actual Abbey and famous boys school, while the interiors are studio mockups.
The Small Back Room (US: Hour of Glory) 1949 Michael Powell, The Archers	Wiltshire, Dorset Powell grew up in the area, and says he made the film specifically to use Chesil Bank as both a location and a story setting (Nigel Balchin's source novel uses a fictional locale). Stonehenge also appears [in an anti-tank gun trial scene], as does later on [@75 mins in] Dorset's now-vanished Abbotsbury Station, and St Catherine's Chapel overlooking Portland and Chesil, where the 20-minute bomb-defusing finale takes place.
All Over The Town 1949 Derek Twist, Wessex Films/GFD	Dorset According to biographical memoirs, this comedy-drama from an R.F. Delderfield novel, about a newspaperman facing postwar readjusments and local politics in the seaside town of 'Tormouth', and co-starring Churchill's daughter Sarah, was exterior-filmed in Lyme Regis, possibly with additional scenes shot in Weymouth.
Morning Departure (US: Operation Disaster) 1950 Roy Ward Baker	Dorset This realist submarine-in-distress story, based on a stiff-upper-lip stage play, has a few early scenes set and shot on Portland as the sub's home port. Portland Harbour is shown behind the main titles and in the scene where the captain drives away from his clifftop cottage. The rest of the action is set in the waters of the Channel.
The Elusive Pimpernel (US: The Fighting Pimpernel) 1950 Michael Powell, London Film Studios	Wiltshire The Technicolour production of The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring David Niven, was set and shot mainly in France but used Wiltshire countryside in a few scenes (Savernake Forest and the Marlborough Downs).
The Happiest Days Of Your Life 1950 Frank Launder	Hampshire This forerunner of the St Trinians films, based on a John Dighton play and starring Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford, used a stately home that had been turned into a local primary school - Langley Court school at Liss near Peterfield - as 'Nutbourne College' boys school, where in the plot a girls school is inadvertently billeted. A railway station nearby was also used, details unconfirmed.
The African Queen 1951 John Huston, Romulus Films	?? Listed here due to persistent but unsubstantiated claims some shots of the boat in the reeds were 2nd-unit efforts shot in the Wareham marshes just off Poole Harbour. However the production has be?en extensively written about, with no mention of this. (The identified lake-finale location is in Turkey). At best these would have been inserts, which may have not even been used in the final cut.
The Browning Version 1951 Anthony Asquith, GFD	Dorset For this filming of the Rattigan play about a stuffy schoolmaster losing his place in postwar society, a few exteriors of Sherborne School were used (e.g. the film's final shot), as well as used in the film's promotion stills as a backdrop, the rest being soundstage scenes.
Brandy For The Parson 1951 John Eldridge, Group 3	Dorset, Devon The Cerne Abbas area was used for most of the non-coastal location scenes, it being the closest point to London where rolling West Country landscape complete with chalk tracks appears, the hills above Cerne being on the London-Exeter pack road now the A30 [both mentioned in the script]. Cerne Abbas village appears in various scenes set around the rendezvous at 'the New Inn', filmed at an old coaching courtyard inn which still exists, while the courthouse finale was shot at the Old Crown Court in Dorchester. (For the production background on this attempt by Grierson's Group 3 to emulate the Ealing comedies, see our page here.)
Rough Shoot (US title: Shoot First) 1952 Robert Parrish, UA	Dorset This production of Geoffrey Household's postwar thriller was largely filmed in the central Dorset heathland locales where the first two-thirds of the story is set, in and around East Lulworth village and on the nearby Bovington Ranges heath.
The Sound Barrier 1952 David Lean, London Films/ British Lion Films	Hampshire Airfield sequences were shot at Chilbolton Aerodrome, between Andover and Winchester.
The Cruel Sea 1953 Charles Frend, Ealing Studios	Dorset The scenes of the corvette pitching in rough seas were reportedly shot in Portland's tide Race, and the later scenes of the crew's new frigate in harbour appear to be shot at Portland, including the final scene of the return to port.
Four-Sided Triangle (The Monster And the Woman) 1953 Terence Fisher, Hammer Films	Dorset This early b&w Hammer SF about a cloning experiment at a remote estate used Lulworth Cove to supplement the standard Bray Studios locations.
You Know What Sailors Are! 1953 Ken Annakin, GFD	Dorset Portland town and harbour were used in this Cold War service comedy, and the adjacent Dorset Coast Downs make an appearance in the final air test scene.
The Sword And The Rose (When Knighthood Was In Flower) 1953 Ken Annakin, Disney Studio	Dorset Co-star Richard Todd [who lived locally as a boy] says in his memoirs Chapman's Pool [bay] and the Purbeck Hills appear in the chase finale of Disney's historical drama of Tudor intrigue, about Henry VIII's sister. (The Chapman's Pool bayshore location is unidentifiable per se as it is a mix of day-for-night shots, and soundstage and process work.)
The Dam Busters 1954 Michael Anderson, ABPC	Dorset Despite local tourism-website claims, none of the film's dramatic scenes were shot in Dorset. However Barnes-Wallis's own 16mm actuality footage of test-drops of the bouncing bomb shot at the Fleet Lagoon was used throughout, including in the final raid scenes.
Star Of India 1954 Arthur Lubin, Raymond Stross Prodns	Dorset This costume adventure drama starring Cornell Wilde was shot mainly in Italy, but the finale was reportedly exterior shot on the Weld family estate at East Lulworth.
The Black Rider 1954 Wolf Rilla, Balblair Prodns	Dorset This Saturday-morning style 'kidult' adventure ( shown on BBC4's 2008 retrospective evening on British B pictures) has communist agents exploiting a local ghost legend to smuggle in nuclear parts to a thinly-disguised Purbeck peninsula. Swanage and a Purbeck cove (Arish Mell?) appear in 2^nd unit scenes. 'Brockham Castle' is a studio mockup of Corfe.
Voice In The Wilderness 1954 (ITV 1957) Royal Gornold, Lady Lees	Dorset Poole Heath and Purbeck quarry areas double as the Holy Land in this amateur religious drama produced, in 16mm colour, by Lady Madelaine Lees and her helpers at South Lychett Manor's Christian commune.
The Ship That Died Of Shame (US: Sea Raiders) 1955 Basil Dearden, Ealing Studios	Dorset Set during WW2 and the decade after, this adaptation of a Nicholas Montsarrat story starring George Baker and Richard Attenborough uses Weymouth Quay, Poole Quay [Customs House], plus Poole Harbour to represent various cross-Channel locales.
Above Us The Waves 1955 Ralph Thomas, Rank	Dorset This WW2 drama starring John Mills retelling the grim story of the costly raid by midget submarines on the German battleship "Tirpitz" in its Norwegian fjord shot some scenes in and around Portland Submarine Base.
True As A Turtle 1956 Wendy Toye, Rank	Poole This post-Genevieve comedy about a cross-channel honeymoon trip, with John Gregson suffering mishaps aboard an old yacht instead of an old car, had some footage shot in Poole Harbour, reportedly including the Royal Marines sea-survival training tank at Hamworthy.
Five On A Treasure Island 1957 Gerald Landau, Children’s Film Foundation	Dorset For this 8-part adaptation of the first of Enid Blyton's Famous Five novels, Blyton's fictional 'Kirrin Island' (her conflation of Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour and Corfe Castle) was cinematically rendered by amalgamating coast scenes shot at Lulworth with scenes amidst Corfe's ruins, with the Five sailing through a rock arch (Stair Hole?) and then scrambling up Corfe's steep slopes to the ruins. There are also brief scenes of what appear to be Corfe village, a small Purbeck (Studland?) manor house and Poole docks, where the coastguard cutter is moored. This was the first screen version of the novels, shot in 35mm b&w, with the serial later edited into a feature-length single drama, released on DVD by BFI Video in 2010.
The Moonraker 1958 David Macdonald, ABPC	Wiltshire, Dorset This Technicolor swashbuckler starring George Baker and inspired by the future Charles II's cross-country escape opens at Stonehenge, moves on to Lacock (village and Abbey interior), and finally to Lulworth for a swordfight atop Stair Hole rock-arch.
Night Of The Demon (US: Curse Of The Demon) 1958 Jacques Tourneur, Columbia	Wiltshire In this classic horror film expanded from an M.R. James story, Stonehenge appears in the prologue and in a later scene where Dana Andrews as a sceptical American 'devil-cult' investigator discovers runic carvings there.
Danger Man 1959 ITV	Dorset The Avengerland website reports two episodes of the first [half-hour] series used the bay known as Chapman's Pool in Purbeck for action scenes. In 'The Gallows Tree,' Drake nearly goes over the cliff in his Land Rover, and in 'The Brothers,' the bay doubles as Sicily, where a plane crashes.
The Key 1958 Carol Reed, Columbia Pictures	Dorset This unusual WWII drama, starring William Holden and Sophia Loren, of the unarmed Merchant Navy tugboats sent out to rescue torpedoed ships left behind in "U Boat Alley" by Channel convoys, was filmed largely at Portland Naval base and in the rough waters off Portland, with a few town-billet scenes in adjoining Weymouth.
The Navy Lark 1958 Gordon Parry, Herbert Wilcox Prodns	Dorset This film spinoff of the long-running BBC radio sitcom about a chaotic backwater RN station somewhere on the south coast was shot in and around West Bay, near Bridport.
The Bulldog Breed 1960 Robert Asher, Rank	Dorset, Poole This first half of this Norman Wisdom Naval comedy has him as a romantically-spurned maritime milkman joining the Navy in a depressed state, and getting into scrapes in Poole Harbour, Weymouth, Portland Heights and Harbour. Poole Park boating lake was also used for the 'water-ski' scene.
Tess 1960 ITV	Wiltshire This adaptation for ITV’s Play Of The Week slot had its finale shot on location at Stonehenge.
The Grass Is Greener 1960 Stanley Donen, Universal	Wiltshire This stage adaptation, starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as cash-poor gentry forced to open their stately home to tourists, used Lacock Abbey to portray the tradition and heritage Kerr feels duty-bound to maintain in the face of the temptations represented by Robert Mitchum as a gatecrashing American and Jean Simmons as a visiting London socialite. (The main exteriors are of Osterley Park near London, so the Abbey must have been used for interiors, though the grounds may also have been used.)
Paranoiac 1963 Freddie Francis, Hammer Films	Dorset The Purbeck Film Festival screened this psychological thriller (a reworking of Josephine Tey's novel Brat Farrar, starring Janette Scott and Oliver Reed), set at a remote south-coast mansion, due to its location work, with a sports-car-on-cliffedge suspense scene shot above Lulworth's Mupe Rocks, which form the dramatic background to the main titles.
The Damned (US title: These Are The Damned) 1961 / 1963 Joseph Losey, Hammer Films	Dorset Shot in b&w widescreen, this Cold War SF drama, about a couple on the run from a teddyboy-led biker gang who stumble into a secret gov't experiment, opens on Weymouth Esplanade and ends up in the Portland quarries and caves. Weymouth Esplanade, the cemetery at Portland's St George's Church at Reforne, and the Causeway across the Fleet lagoon are also seen.
Summer Holiday 1962 Peter Yates, ABPC	Poole Though it's hard to see much resemblance with the present Gardens, the musical number where Cliff flirts with French girls was reportedly shot in the ornamental gardens at Compton Acres.
Five Have A Mystery To Solve 1963 Ernest Morris, CFF/ John Durst Prodns/ Rayant	Dorset This Children’s Film Foundation 6-part serial (a followup to Five On A Treasure Island, 1957, qv), was shot on location in Blyton's own longtime holiday area, the Purbecks. The main setting of 'Whispering Island' was based on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour.
To Have And To Hold 1963 Herbert Wise, Merton Park Studios	Bournemouth, Poole Directed by a longtime TV veteran (I Claudius, Brother Cadfael etc), this B-movie adaptation of an Edgar Wallace crime story about a doomed detective reminiscent of the Hollywood classic Double Indemnity opens and closes on Bournemouth Pier, and also has a glimpse of Poole's Sandbanks district.
Tom Jones 1963 Tony Richardson, Woodfall Films/ UA	Dorset This satiric recreation of the old West Country Squirearchy intercut scenes was shot in West Somerset and central Dorset, using new fast film stocks and handheld cameras for an all-location shoot avoiding the usual floodlit period interiors. Cranborne Manor portrayed Squire Allworthy's estate, with the downs above used for the hunting and riding scenes. For the exteriors of Squire Western and Sophie's estate, the remnant of Cerne Abbas manor house was used, plus Minterne Magna Gardens with its ornamental lake. Sophie elopes from Cerne Abbey's former gatehouse, and the stag-hunt meet is in Cerne's Tudor-fronted "Street of Memories".
Doctor Who 1963- BBC	Dorset, Hampshire, Isle Of Wight Fan-sites and guidebooks list a variety of locations in Dorset, Hampshire, and Wight: Winspit, Athelhampton, Lulworth, Weymouth, Tarrant Monkton, and Shapwick in Dorset; Martin village and Martin Down in Hampshire; Whitecliffe Bay and Norris Castle on Wight.
Children Of The New Forest 1964 Brandon Acton-Bond, BBC	New Forest [2^nd unit] This 6-part serial, the 2nd BBC TV version, was reportedly the first version of Captain Marryat's 1847 classic novel shot on location, with scenes filmed on the Braemore Estate.
The Tomb Of Ligeia 1964 Roger Corman, AIP	Wiltshire Roger Corman's final directorial contribution to his Edgar Allan Poe adaptations (here scripted by 'Chinatown' writer Robert Towne) features an appearance by Stonehenge (half-hour in, during the honeymoon sequence).
The Saint 1962-9, misc.episodes ITC	Dorset A series fan (tks, Stuart) has spotted that in the 1964 ep, 'The Miracle Tea Party,' Roger Moore's Volvo drives from Weymouth over the causeway and through Castleton to Portland Naval base. Castle Combe was reportedly also used in an episode directed by Ray Austin, details unknown.
Woman Of Straw 1964 Basil Dearden, UA	Poole This Hitchcockian drama starring Sean Connery, Ralph Richardson and Gina Lollobrigida includes a scene of the trio embarking for Majorca via Poole Quay (perhaps chosen as producer Michael Relph was born in Poole).
Guns At Batasi 1964 John Guillermin / 20C Fox	Wiltshire This postwar regimental drama, starring Richard Attenborough as a stiff-necked RSM, about an incident during the handover of power in a Commonwealth state, used a dusted-up Salisbury-area Army camp as an African one.
It Happened Here 1965 Kevin Brownlow & Andrew Mollo, Rath Films	Wiltshire This bleak "alternative history" pseudo-documentary, shot in grainy 16mm by two then-unknown teenagers over a 9-year period, depicts British collaborationism and futile resistance to a German occupation. The early sequences are set near Salisbury, with village scenes shot at Berwick St John near the north Dorset boundary.
The Heroes Of Telemark 1965 Anthony Mann, Rank/ Fox	Poole, Dorset For the ferry-hijack scene early on, the Norwegian port it departs from was played by Poole's New Quay and waterfront, and then the Old Quay opposite plays the British port the boat arrives at. Weymouth Quay with its rail line was also used for a few insert shots, and the sea crossing / minefield scene was filmed in Weymouth Bay.
The Debussy Film 1965 Ken Russell, BBC	Wiltshire This film-within-a-film docudrama for the BBC's Monitor arts series used Larmer Tree ornamental gardens on the Dorset-Wilts boundary, playing various unidentified Parisian ornamental woodland parks and gardens, including one where the director and actors watch part of a pre-WWI Parisian play based on the scandal of Debussy’s long-running menage-a-trois.
The Secret Of My Success 1965 Andrew L. Stone, MGM	Wiltshire This comedy of “How three beautiful girls love for fun - and murder for profit,” starring Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, and Honor Blackman, used Stourhead House and Lacock Abbey.
Catch Us If You Can (US: Having A Wild Weekend) 1965 John Boorman, Anglo-Amalgamated	Wiltshire Begun as a Dave Clark Five vehicle to rival the Beatles films, this 'road-trip' story of a stuntman and a poster-girl model escaping London for the West Country takes them across Salisbury Plain via the Army-controlled village of Imber, to Bath, and across a snow-bound Dartmoor to Burgh Island in south Devon.
The Avengers 1966 Brian Clemens, ITV	Hampshire Scenes such as the pair driving off in a vintage car were often shot on the grounds of Palace House at Beaulieu in the New Forest, using vehicles from Beaulieu Motor Museum. Reportedly, scenes for several episodes involving Steed and Emma getting into various vintage cars, were shot here one day in Sep 66: Escape In Time, The Bird Who Knew Too Much, and The See-Through Man. Castle Combe was reportedly also used in an episode directed by Ray Austin, details unknown.
Hereward The Wake 1966 BBC	Dorset Believe now lost, this was a 16 x 30 mins adapatation for children from Charles Kingsley's Victorian novel about the Saxon resistance hero. The Scott Arms at Kingston near Corfe has production stills on the wall showing locally shot scenes. Nearby Hartland Moor was reportedly used for outdoors scenes.
The New Forest Rustlers 1966 John Braybon / Ian Curteis, Southern Television	Hampshire Half-hour family-drama series set and exterior-shot in the Forest, details not known.
Help! 1966 Richard Lester, UA	Wiltshire The musical number performed under Army protection and ending in a tank-versus-artillery battle, was shot on Salisbury Plain across the road from Stonehenge.
The Three Musketeers 1966 Peter Hammond, BBC	Dorset Stills up in the hallway of the Scott Arms pub above Corfe show filming of scenes in the Purbecks for this children’s-tv 10-part serial, with Jeremy Brett as D'Artagnan and Brian Blessed as Porthos. These seem to be the wooded-countryside backgrounds seen during each episode's opening titles, a sequence shot in the dunes of Studland Beach during the siege of LaRochelle, plus a horseback chase sequence on the coast downs later on. Various farmyards were evidently also used as country inns etc.
A Man For All Seasons 1966 Fred Zinneman, Columbia	Hampshire The tidal reach of the Beaulieu River in the New Forest portrayed the Thames in the scene beginning where the king jumps out of his royal barge into the mud.
Softly, Softly 1966–1976 various dirs, BBC	Dorset, Wiltshire This long-running police procedural series created by Troy Kennedy Martin, about a Regional Crime Squad, shot location exteriors around southern England, including in Dorset and Wilts.
Les Miserables 1967 BBC	IOW This 10-part BBC adaptation starring Frank Finlay as Jean Valjean would have been mainly shot in the studio but used Fort Victoria on the north coast of Wight to portray the dungeons of the Bastille.
Pride And Prejudice 1967 Joan Craft, BBC	Wiltshire This BBC adaptation used Lacock village in exterior village scenes (and Bath for town scenes).
Man In A Suitcase 1967 ITC	Isle of Wight The ep 'The Boston Square' has Cowes marine Parade doubling as Corfu docks.
Dr Dolittle 1967 Richard Fleischer, 20th-C Fox	Wiltshire For this musical adaptation starring Rex Harrison, Castle Combe was used as 'Puddleby-on-the-Marsh', though changes to local fixtures to make the inland village appear to be a a seaside fishing village led to local concerns, culminating in Sir Ranulph Fiennes's arrest for planting explosives on the dam built to turn the village and brook into a harbour-front.
Far From The Madding Crowd 1967 John Schlesinger, MGM/EMI	Dorset, Wiltshire This authentic Hardy adaptation uses around 20 locations, filmed during a 6 month shoot to capture all 4 seasons. Abbotsbury [tithe barn]; Bloxworth [as Bathsheba's house]; Durdle Door [Troy's swim]; Eggardon Hill [Fanny meets the Hussars]; Horton Tower [cock-fighting scene]; Maiden Castle [swordplay scene]; Portesham area [Boldwood's farm]; Encombe estate in the Purbeck Hills [sheep scenes]; Shaftesbury's Gold Hill [approach to Casterbridge market]; Weymouth Esplanade [Bathsheba and Troy's reconciliation]; Devizes in Wiltshire ['Casterbridge' market square, and St John's as Troy's wedding church - Fanny apparently waits in a nearby church, played by Sydling St Nicholas church]. The hilltop country fair and circus was filmed at Preston near Weymouth. (For production details, see our in-depth feature here.)
Goodbye, Mr Chips 1968 Herbert Ross, MGM	Dorset Sherborne's famous boys prep school plays a major supporting role in this production, a musical version of the James Hilton novel, scripted by Terence Rattigan, starring Peter O'Toole, and shot by Dorset-resident Oswald Morris in 70mm Panavision. The railway station and other parts of the town are also seen.
Department S 1968 ITC	Poole, Dorset The ep 'The Treasure Of The Costa Del Sol' has exteriors showing the road past Branksome Chine, and Studland coast road and beach double as Torremolinos. The ep 'Blackout' also uses Studland road and beach, this time as the Bahamas.
The Bed-Sitting Room 1969 Richard Lester, Lopert /UA	Dorset This surreal John Antrobus comedy set mainly in a bleak post-nuclear-war wasteland was part filmed in Weymouth and Portland.
Smugglers’ Bay 1969 BBC	Dorset This is actually a BBC children's version of J Meade Falkner's classic 1898 smuggling adventure, Moonfleet, using Chesil Bank and the adjacent Fleet Lagoon area where the story is mainly set.
Canterbury Tales 1969 John Glenister, Roderick Graham, BBC	Dorset A BBC still shows filming at Milton Abbey (as Canterbury?), and presumably other scenes were shot in the vicinity for convenience in this 7-hour serial starring Joss Ackland, Barbara Jefford, Patrick Magee, Corin Redgrave, and Ian Richardson.
The Benny Hill Show 1969-1989 John Robins, Thames Television	Dorset Studland was used when a beach scene was called for, where Benny would leer at girls in bikinis etc.
Persuasion 1969 Granada TV	Dorset, Somerset, Bath The Dorset location is of course Lyme Regis, for the mandatory scene on the Cobb, in this shot-on-video adaptation.
Monty Python's Flying Circus 1969-74 BBC	Dorset, Bournemouth, Poole Studland Beach is twice seen in the pre-credits sequence where the hermit crawls up and says "It's-", and the vicinity was used for similar tropical-beach skits. Ep 1's opening and closing show the hermit swimming onto and off Studland Beach, while the intro to Ep 2 shows him crossing Studland Beach dunes. Bournemouth, where the team stayed, also appeared in a few early skits, as did Poole's Sandbanks. The Ep 4 sketch 'Undressing in Public' shows Poole beach plus Bournemouth's Palace Court Hotel, Pier and Pier Theatre.
The Dave Allen Show/ Dave Allen At Large 1967-71 BBC	Dorset, Hampshire The New Forest, Studland beach and Shell Bay were used on a 'repertory' basis to film skits - skits about the Army shot in the New Forest, a skit about Vikings shot in Shell Bay etc.
Junket 89 1970 Peter Plummer, Balfour Films /CFF	Dorset This hour-long Children's Film Foundation film scripted by David Ash about a group of school-children (IMDB lists it as SF-themed) had location filming in Dorset, details unknown.
Bright's Boffins 1970 Southern TV	Hampshire This comedy series, now listed as "lost", was apparently aimed at children, and set at an obscure R&D scientific establishment called Halfwitt House. This was represented by Rhinefield House [now hotel] in the New Forest.
The Woodlanders 1970 BBC	Dorset? Judging from stills, a mainly studio-shot production of Hardy's tragedy set in the Cerne-Sherborne area of north-central Dorset. Location exteriors for this 4 x 45 min version costarring Felicity Kendall and David Burke would have been shot in 16mm colour, but no details are available, and the programme has reportedly been wiped.
Doomwatch [1971 eps.] Eric Hills, BBC	Dorset For this popular 70s eco-thriller series, the episode “The Web of Fear” was shot partly at Swanage, and exteriors for the episode "In the Dark" were also shot in Dorset.
The Goodies 1970-81 BBC	Dorset For this once-popular but since hard-to-see 'kidult' series, Weymouth and Portland were both used, for both the series and its 'Beanstalk' feature spinoff, as was Swanage beach, Beaminster, and Parnham House.
Bedknobs & Broomsticks 1971 Robert Stevenson, Disney Studio	Dorset In a typical Disney production approach of the pre-CGI era, 2nd-unit shots of the Purbecks were used in "glass" shots (with skyline etc trimmings painted on), Corfe Castle remaining quite recognisable in the opening and closing shots and the climactic scene, where a ghostly army is magically brought to life by a spell, and puts to flight a U-boat commando party.
Little Women 1970-1 Paddy Russell, BBC	Dorset Production stills in Kingston's Scott Arms above Corfe show the BBC Children's Unit favourite location in the 60s was again used for this colour-video low-budget drama serial, here to represent an American locale. Encombe House in the Purbecks portrays the family home in Concord, Mass., during the American Civil War, and possibly also some of the European locales which occur later in the story. [Issued in 2000 on VHS.]
Melody (S.W.A.L.K.) 1971 Waris Hussein, Hemdale	Dorset In writer Alan Parker's story, a pair of London schoolchildren want to get married and run off to the seaside for a day out from school, with a sequence shot on Weymouth's crowded beach and esplanade.
The Music Lovers 1971 Ken Russell, UA	Hampshire, Wiltshire The New Forest doubled as Russia, and a Wilton House interior was used for Madame von Meck's house, while another local scene, shot at Larmer Tree Gardens (doubling as St Petersburg park), seems to have been cut from standard prints.
Endless Night 1971 Sidney Gilliat, EMI	Isle Of Wight Agatha Christie's novel is set in the Lake District but this was shot partly on Wight, at Mottistone Down etc.
The Two Ronnies 1971-87 BBC	Dorset The comedy duo did a spoof shot on location of the original Bike Boy Hovis commercial on Shaftesbury's Gold Hill, and used rural Dorset for their "Two Tramps" sketches, such as the church at Okeford Fitzpaine for several skits, like the series of Victorian-crime skits "The Phantom Raspberry Blower". Swanage Railway was also used. See also the spinoff TV-special By The Sea, 1982.
Savage Messiah 1972 Ken Russell, MGM	Dorset Stills show a scene filmed on Portland Bill for this Russell biopic of sculptor Henry Gaudier-Brzeska, who used the Portland quarries in his work. In the film, the sculptor and his muse Sophie holiday there.
The Triple Echo (US: Soldier In Skirts) 1972 Michael Apted	Wiltshire The farm which is almost the only setting for this Glenda Jackson-Oliver Reed WW2-set drama (from an H.E. Bates novel) of a deserter disguised as a woman is in the Wiltshire Downs. One production acccount says it was shot in the Wylye Valley [sw of Salisbury], with scenes also shot on the Wilts-Dorset boundary. The post-office may have been in Berwick St James, but the pub is said to have been in Devizes in north Wilts.
The Lotus Eaters 1972 BBC	Dorset For this drama serial about expats, Purbeck's The Blue Pool was a low-budget standin for a Mediterranean beach.
Till Death Us Do Part 1972 episode BBC	Bournemouth The Garnetts go for a stay at the 'Commodore Hotel’ (played by the 5-star Royal Bath), where Alf gets to act the uncouth Brit on holiday.
Sleuth 1972 Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Palomar	Dorset "Cloak Manor" was portrayed by Athelhampton House. The maze Milo encounters in the opening scene was added for the filming, as were the gargoyles lining the driveway.
Something To Hide (US: Shattered) 1972 Alastair Reid, AVCO Embassy	Isle Of Wight The Bembridge area appears as 'Westsea' in this adaptation of Nicholas Montsarrat's psychological-horror novel of a middle-aged man who takes in a pregnant teenage hitch-hiker.
Wreck Raisers 1972 Harold Orton, Children's Film Foundation	Dorset The Lyme Regis area was the (unnamed) location for this hour-long children's adventure where a group of children need to raise a sunken boat they saved money to buy. The sunk-boat scene was shot at Seaton Hole.
Lady Caroline Lamb 1972 Robert Bolt, MGM/EMI	Wiltshire Directed by the scriptwriter Robert Bolt as a vehicle for his wife Sarah Miles (co-starring Richard Chamberlain as Lamb's lover Byron) this uses various Regency-era stately homes, including the opulent Wilton House (probably for the masqued-ball scene).
The Black Arrow 1972-5 Peter Croft & Bob Leng, Southern Television	Dorset, Hampshire Southern Television filmed exteriors for its 3-season-long adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Wars-of-the-Roses adventure in its own license area, locations including Milton Abbas and the New Forest.
“Bike Boy” Hovis ad 1973; 1992 Ridley Scott, CDP	Dorset Shaftesbury's cobbled Gold Hill played a north-of-England village and became an iconic calendar image after the steep street was chosen by then ad-agency director Ridley Scott to evoke a nostalgic image of thrift and honest toil. It was remade on improved film stock in 1992.
Thriller: 'Lady Killer' 1973 Bill Hays, ATV	Dorset A 68-minute pilot for Brian Clemens's anthology series Thriller, starring Robert Powell and Barbara Feldon, 'Lady Killer' has exteriors shot in the Purbecks, with shots of Swanage and St. Aldhelm's Head, and a distinctive rock pinnacle by the quarry cliffs where the finale takes place.
That'll Be The Day 1973 Claude Whatham, EMI	Isle Of Wight Much of this realist drama of the early years of a John Lennon type who drops out of school to work at Butlins and on the funfair was shot in Southsea or on Wight (Ventnor cinema, Shanklin Pier etc), where such attractions existed unchanged since the 1950s when the film was set.
Wessex Tales 1973 various dirs, BBC	Dorset This anthology series of telefeatures, dramatizing 6 of Hardy's short stories, was all shot on location, in 16mm, mainly at sites around West Dorset, from Parnham House to Bat’s Head on the Coast Downs.
Warship 1973-8 BBC	Dorset For exterior shots, the series used, as 'HMS Hero', the frigate HMS Phoebe which had been 'adopted' by the people of Bournemouth, and was thus sometimes seen in the Bay; a North African night landing scene was shot here, using that old standby for tropical beach settings, Studland Beach, dressed with a few palm trees. A County guide notes Lulworth Cove and Portland Harbour were also used.
The Pallisers 1974 Hugh David, BBC	Wiltshire The National Trust's Stourhead estate appeared in the opening garden-party scenes of this 26-part adaptation of Trollope's 6-novel sequence co-starring Susan Hampshire.
Brief Encounter 1974 Alan Bridges, ITC/Channel 5	Hampshire Made for US TV, this re-working, starring Burton and Loren, of the Noel Coward play for the diesel-train era went for English high summer as a background, rather than the grey grimness of the 1945 steam-train-era film. It was set and shot (in 16mm) almost entirely on location in the New Forest and Winchester. Forest locations include Brockenhurst Station [Mrs Jesson 's local station] and the Beaulieu River, and Winchester's include the Cathedral, Old Bishops' Palace grounds [Mystery Play scene], the old water-mill [Alec's borrowed flat], and the surrounding Hampshire Downs [picnic-walk scene].
Some Mothers Do 'Av 'Em 1973-8 BBC	Dorset In the 1973 Season 2 episode "Cliffhanger" or "Frank Goes Over The Edge", the scene where Frank ends up hanging from the rear bumper of his Morris Minor as it teeters on the cliff-edge was shot on cliffs south of Swanage.(Presumably the location was chosen for safety reasons, as the cliffs above the quarries here do not drop off straight into the sea.) Reportedly the BBC also shot exteriors for 2 other episodes at the same time around Swanage, details not yet known.
Out Of Season (US: Winter Rates) 1975 Alan Bridges, EMI	Dorset This domestic drama of an American (Cliff Robertson) returning to an ex-partner (Vanessa Redgrave) who runs a seaside hotel is set entirely on the Isle of Portland; the hotel which is the main setting is on the western, Chesil-Bank side of the peninsula.
Enid Blyton's Famous Five 1975-8 Portman / Southern TV	Hampshire The production base was at Exbury House and most of it was shot there and at locations around the New Forest - Rhinefield House, Beaulieu, Burley, Buckler's Hard, Lepe, Blackfield, and Marchwood. Sites along the coast were also used, Lymington, Keyhaven, Milford-on-Sea, Highcliffe, Mudeford, and Christchurch.
The Survivors 1975 BBC	Dorset, Wiltshire Several military sites were used in this recently-remade Terry Nation post-catastrophe SF drama. In the 3rd and final series, the episode 'Sparks' was shot at the expropriated village of Imber on Salisbury Plain, and 'Long Live the King' at Piddlehinton Army Camp in central Dorset.
Overlord 1975 Stuart Cooper, EMI/ Imperial War Museum	Dorset This award-winning b&w docudrama of the last months of a WW2 conscript is built around actuality footage, but new scenes were shot locally, with Poole and the Kingston Lacy-Corfe estate credited, Studland beach being the standin for Normandy, though only Corfe Castle is recognizable, other locations being deliberately anonymous in keeping with the concept of the luckless conscript protagonist as a young Everyman figure.
Barry Lyndon 1975 Stanley Kubrick, WB	Poole, Wiltshire The opening scene was shot in a country lane near Blandford, and Crichel House portrayed the gambling-club house. Compton Acres Gardens appears briefly as Spa in Belgium, while parts of Stourhead estate and Wilton House portray various English stately homes.
Sykes 1976 BBC	Christchurch A car stunt scene shot at Mudeford Sandbank for this Eric Sykes/ Hattie Jacques 1970s sitcom reportedly led to Christchurch Council discouraging future filming there, due to its fragile ecology.
Ripping Yarns 1976 Terry Hughes, BBC	Dorset In this Michael Palin/ Terry Jones spoof series, Milton Abbey School was the location for the pilot episode "Tomkinson's Schooldays."
Nuts In May 1976 Mike Leigh, BBC	Dorset BBC Birmingham head of drama David Rose, who grew up in Swanage, suggested the idea for this cult black comedy about a camping weeked holiday here, the entire film being shot outdoors (apart from a brief scene in Corfe’s Greyhound pub). On view are Sandbanks Ferry, Corfe, Purbeck Hills, Lulworth, and The Square & Compass pub at Worth Matravers.
Rogue Male 1976 Clive Donner, BBC	Dorset Unlike the 1940 Hollywood-studio adaptation called Man Hunt, this version of the famous Geoffrey Household spy novel was filmed on location, first in Germany and then [52 mins in] in the west Dorset locales around Cattistock where much of the story takes place. (The one recognizable location is the Fox Inn there.)
The Man In The Iron Mask 1976 Mike Newell, ITC/NBC-TV	Dorset This expensive made-for-TV costume drama starring Richard Chamberlain and Patrick McGoohan used mainly real French chateaux, but in a pair of action scenes the Purbecks double as France: a carriage chase atop the Coast Downs and a swordfight at Dancing Ledge.
The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin 1976-80 BBC	Dorset Burton Freshwater beach at West Bay is seen in the opening titles where Reggie leaves his clothes on the beach and plunges into the sea, and when he finally disappears at the end of Series One disguised as a tramp, he heads towards Lyme via Burton Bradstock.
Children Of The Stones 1977 Peter Graham Scott, HTV	Wiltshire Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray’s SF drama serial used Avebury as the main setting of ‘Milbury’ as it has a megalithic stone circle at the edge of the village, and is said to have inspired the story. Exteriors were shot on location in 16mm, with some "prop" stones added to the real ones for the shoot.
Children Of The New Forest 1977 John Frankau, BBC	Hampshire This 5-part adapation was the first version of the story to use colour location filming, in 16mm. Location details not known.
Julia 1977 Fred Zinnemann, 20C Fox	Isle Of Wight The Isle Of Wight is a credited location for this adaptation of Lillian Hellman's pseudo-memoir Pentimento. Presumably [details not known], it appears in the framing scenes portraying Hellman and Dashiell Hammett's US beach house.
The Four Feathers 1977 Don Sharp, NBC-TV	Hampshire, Wiltshire Several stately homes and their grounds were used for the scenes of 1880s English country life in this US made-for-TV production starring Beau Bridges, Robert Powell, and Simon Ward. Details not yet known.
Valentino 1977 Ken Russell, UA	Bournemouth, Poole Russell's biopic of silent star Rudolph Valentino has Bournemouth and Poole doubling for 20s Hollywood. The driveway to his Hollywood mansion is above Flaghead Chine in Poole, while its facade and interiors are the Russell-Cotes Museum on Bournemouth's East Cliff. The RCM also stands in earlier on, as the home of the actress played by Carol Kane, and the house where he poses for arty stills. The back garden of the Royal Bath Hotel next to the RCM was also used. Westbourne's Grand Cinema (now a bingo parlour) is where Felicity Kendall and a female audience watch the seduction scene in The Sheik.
Jubilee 1977 Derek Jarman	Dorset Jarman went to school in the area, and used it in a few of his indie films, like this one, where the finale was shot at Tilly Whim Quarry.
Target 1977-8 Philip Hinchcliffe [producer], BBC	Hampshire This 17-ep Regional Crime Squad drama series in the tough "Sweeney" mold, starring Patrick Mower, was set and filmed, all on location, in Southampton and surrounding area.
Return Of The Saint 1978 ITC	Isle of Wight The double-ep Collision Course, released abroad as the syndicated telefeature The Saint And The Brave Goose, is partly set at Cowes during the power boat races, and exteriors also show the coast towards The Needles lighthouse.
The Mayor Of Casterbridge 1978 BBC	Dorset This version all shot on the then-new colour VTR system was entirely shot in the Corfe Castle area. The village (no castle in sight) portrays early-Victorian “Casterbridge” and the Scott Arms inn at Kingston above Corfe still has Henchard's prop tombstone in its beer garden.
The 39 Steps 1978 Don Sharp, Rank	Dorset Portland is listed on various location-guide websites, but with no details. It may be some of the interiors of the Victorian fortifications there doubled as WWI-era London stairways, docks, etc.
Worzel Gummidge 1978-81 Southern TV	Hampshire The New Forest was used for a number of scenes of this children's TV series starring Jon Pertwee, about a scarecrow with magical abilities. The Xmas special titled 'A Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake' also filmed scenes in Lymington.
Blake's 7 1978-83 BBC	Dorset, Poole, Hampshire Another example of the BBC using Dorset sandpits and quarries as exotic locations, in this case other planets: Bovington Camp Sandpit, Winspit Quarry, Binnegar Heath sandpit, Poole's Nuffield Road site. The 1978 episode ‘Duel’ was exterior-filmed in the New Forest [acc to IMDB, at Hazel Hill, Shave Green, and Suters Corrage], here portraying a wooded planetary surface.
Potter 1979 BBC	Bournemouth, Poole This short-lived Arthur Lowe sitcom filmed exteriors in Bournemouth and Canford Cliffs, Poole.
To The Manor Born 1979-83; 2007 BBC	E Somerset For this popular sitcom, the Cricket St. Thomas estate was used for the house exteriors and grounds of "Grantleigh Manor", situated north of Lyme (as it is in reality).
A Question Of Guilt 1980 various dirs, BBC	Dorset Some exteriors seem to have been filmed in Evershot for this portmanteau historical docudrama series on female murder suspects.
To Serve Them All My Days 1980 Terence Dudley, Peter Jefferies BBC	Dorset In this 13-part adaptation by Andrew Davies of an RF Delderfield novel-sequence, Milton Abbey School was used to portray a West Country school, "Bamfylde," in the decades after WWI.
Hannah 1980 Peter Jefferies, BBC	Dorset Exteriors for this 4-part drama serial about a middle-aged housekeeper trying to start over as governess to a local vicar, were reportedly shot at Weymouth, portraying the script’s fictional “Radstowe.”
The Wildcats Of St. Trinian's 1980 Frank Launder	Isle Of Wight The series' script setting of 'Barsetshire' was more Wiltshire (somewhere near Wantage racecourse), but here Wight was used whenever the usual Home Counties locations did not suffice.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman 1980 Karel Reiz, Juniper/UA	Dorset The adaptation by Harold Pinter of John Fowles's contemplative period novel as a film-within-a-film shows Lyme Regis in modern as well as period (ie 1860s) guise. The modern picnic scene was shot nearby at Beer, East Devon.
Into The Labyrinth 1980-82 Peter Graham Scott, ITV	Somerset, Wiltshire This 3-season children’s-fantasy adventure serial about time-travel, witches etc had ‘book-end’ scenes shot at Avebury and on Glastonbury. (cf Wikipedia: ‘The opening and closing book ends for seasons two and three were shot at Avebury stone circle and Glastonbury Tor, respectively.’)
Fair Stood The Wind For France 1981 BBC	Dorset This adaptation of HE Bates's novel about an RAF crew downed in WW2 France used the Sturminster Newton area for its 'Continental' features, such as a local windmill.
The Trespasser 1981 Colin Gregg	Isle Of Wight An independently-made adaptation, starring Alan Bates, of the DH Lawrence novel largely set on Wight.
Private Schulz 1981 Robert Chetwyn, BBC	Dorset A Dorset County Council guidebook says Portland and nearby villages in SW Dorset were used for this fact-based satiric drama serial set in WWII written by 'I Claudius' scriptwriter (and former tax inspector) Jack Pulman, about the Nazis' 'Operation Bernhard' plan to flood Britain with counterfeit £5 notes. Dorset was evidently used in the sequence set in England, with the Purbeck Hills and Studland Beach (as Dunkirk beach) also appearing.
Scarf Jack 1981 Christopher McMaster, Southern Television	Hampshire, Dorset This period juvenile 6 x 30mins serial scripted by poet PJ Kavanagh from his novel was set in 1790s Ireland, but filmed within Southern TV's own region, using Beauworth and Hinton Ampner House in Hampshire, and Shaftesbury in Dorset for street scenes, including Gold Hill cobbled lane.
Sense And Sensibility 1981 Rodney Bennett, BBC	Dorset, Somerset In this colour-video production, Came House estate was Barton Park, Babington House was Norland's, and Crowcombe Court in Somerset was the London house, while Bath played itself.
Tenko 1981-4 BBC	Dorset To supplement authentic overseas filming in Malaya, the series filmed at an overgrown quarried area near Moreton (a similar area in Surrey was also used), with not one but two replica camps built at each end of Warmwell Sand And Gravel quarry (near Moreton railway bridge), one being reportedly blown up.
In The Secret State 1982 Christopher Morahan, BBC	Dorset According to a County Council guide, this adaptation of Robert McCrum's 1980 novel concerning the growth of a big-brother database state as a reaction to industrial unrest was part-filmed in and around Burton Bradstock in SW Dorset. The story setting ranges from Whitehall to Southampton to Cornwall, and SW Dorset presumably stood in for the latter.
The Barchester Chronicles 1982 David Giles, BBC	Hampshire This was mainly filmed in Peterborough, but Trollope's 'Barchester' novels are said inspired partly by Salisbury Cathedral, and this 7-part adaptation of two novels back to back also used Breamore House south of Salisbury.
Beau Geste 1982 Douglas Camfield, BBC	Dorset The BBC Childrens Unit again resorts to Dorset for low-budget substitutes for exotic locations, in this case a Saharan Foreign Legion outpost: a polystyrene Fort Zinderneuf erected in a large quarry pit near Moreton for exteriors, with gunnery rooms in Weymouth's 19C Nothe Fort used in interiors.
Only Fools And Horses 1981-91 BBC	Bournemouth, Dorset, Wiltshire The famous episode 'A Touch of Glass,' where the boys are hired to clean a priceless chandelier was filmed in West Dorset. The opening was at Sutton Waldron (between Shaftesbury and Blandford), and the stately home, Clayesmore School (the former Iwerne Manor) near Blandford. The village of Iwerne Minster was also used for the Cornwall-set 1983 episode 'Friday The 14th'. In 'It Never Rains', Knoll House Hotel, nearby Studland Beach and Bournemouth doubled for Benidorm. The series's London-set exteriors were mainly shot at Bristol, but Salisbury was used for various street-market scenes, and sometimes for scenes at the boys' local pub.
By The Sea 1982 Bill Wilson, BBC	Dorset, Poole In this Two Ronnies special, a slapstick attempt at seaside-postcard humour, Swanage and Studland play the resort of 'Tiddley Cove.' Locations include Swanage steam-railway station, pier (as it was then) and seafront, Swanage's Grand Hotel and Studland's Knoll House Hotel grounds, Studland Beach (with beach huts), and Poole Park railway.
Remembrance 1983 Colin Gregg, Channel 4	Dorset Parts of this Falklands War drama, about soldiers searching for someone just before they sail from Portsmouth, were filmed in Weymouth and Portland.
Mansfield Park 1983 David Giles, BBC	Hampshire, Somerset Ken Taylor’s adaptation was shot using Somerley House near Ringwood as Mansfield Park, plus Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset for scenes set at Sotherton Court.
Don’t Wait Up 1983-90 BBC	Bournemouth, New Forest The Bournemouth residential suburb of Talbot Woods was used to double outer London in exteriors for this sitcom, as well as Southbourne and Christchurch. (Co-star Nigel Havers has said Bournemouth was used as the parking was so much easier.) The New Forest was used for scenes where the characters go for a drive.
Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984 Michael Radford, Umbrella-Rosenblum Films/ 20C Fox/Virgin Films	Wiltshire This first colour production, filmed the year Orwell’s 1948 novel was originally set, starring John Hurt and Richard Burton, has recurring shots of Winston's fantasy of meeting Julia among green downs, filmed at The Roundway, a semi-circle of hills near Devizes. A hangar at RAF Hullavington near Chippenham was used for the "Two Minutes Hate" crowd scene.
Moonfleet 1984 Colin Cant, BBC	Dorset This 6-part adaptation of the classic smuggling adventure set in 1750s Dorset and Wight uses Dorset locations from Chesil Bank to Wimborne Minster (Deans’ Court cellars as the smugglers crypt).
The Bounty 1984 Roger Donaldson, Dino De Laurentiis Prod'ns	Wiltshire The story’s flashback-framework scenes, where Bligh is being court martialled for losing his ship, were shot in Wilton House's Double-Cube Room.
Robin Of Sherwood (US title Robin Hood) 1984 Richard Carpenter, Goldcrest/ HTV	Somerset, Wiltshire The cult series was partly shot in Wiltshire using Lacock Abbey [as Kirklees Abbey], Castle Combe village area, and Bradford-Upon-Avon’s preserved tithe-barn [as Nottingham’s Great Hall]; and in Somerset, using Hinton Priory, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, with 'Loxley' village sets on the Mells Park Estate.
John Wycliffe: The Morning Star 1984 Tony Tew, Gateway Films	Dorset Locations for this religious biopic about the 14th-C reformer include Athelhampton House.
Miss Marple 1984-91 BBC	Hampshire, Bournemouth, Poole, Dorset For this long-running series of telefeatures (some over 2 hrs) starring John Hickson, Nether Wallop in Hampshire was her home village of 'St Mary Mead'; Bournemouth appeared in “The Body In The Library”, where parts of the Carlton, Highcliff and Royal Bath Hotels portray 'The Majestic,' the story's large seafront hotel in "Danemouth", and old Council buildings in Shillito Rd in Branksome (Poole) portray the police HQ. The west Dorset villages of West Milton-Powerstock appear in “A Murder Is Announced”, while west Dorset and east Devon locations appear in 'Sleeping Murder.' Somerley House near Ringwood was used for "The Mirror Crack'd."
The Russian Soldier 1985 Gavin Millar, BBC	Dorset A post-Chernobyl drama filmed in the countryside around Sherborne in north Dorset.
Lifeforce 1985 Tobe Hooper, Cannon	Christchurch This adaptation of Colin Wilson's The Space Vampires, directed by horror-specialist Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist) shot 2nd-unit scenes for its London-ablaze finale at Tucktonia, the now-demolished theme park which had a large-scale model of central London including St Paul's Cathedral.
A View To A Kill 1985 John Glen, UA	Christchurch According to the Echo [13-6-07] this Roger Moore 007 adventure shot a scene (presumably involving an explosion) at the “MOD testing ground off Boundary Lane in Christchurch.” (MOD policy is to avoid identification of its properties for security reasons.)
Return To Oz 1985 Walter Murch, Disney	Wiltshire The area around Chitterne village on mid-Salisbury Plain was used for the Kansas-set scenes.
The Black Tower 1985 Ronald Wilson, Anglia TV	Dorset Shot on video with patently soundstage interiors, the main location exteriors in this 6-part PD James 'Adam Dalgleish' mystery drama are the Kimmeridge clifftop by the Tower (painted black as per the title), and as the stately-home monastic-retreat main setting, nearby Encombe House.
The Collectors 1985 Geraint Morris, BBC	Poole, Hampshire, Dorset This 10-part Saturday-evening drama from the producer of Juliet Bravo and The Onedin Line, about the work of Customs & Excise, was set in a fictional Dorset port (called 'Wrelling') and was the major use to date of Poole as a location. Locations include Poole Harbour, Yacht Club, Customs House, quayside, town centre, Upton House [casino], The Mansion House (restaurant), King Charles Inn, Sandbanks [esplanade]; Lilliput [church hall]; and Hamworthy [pier]. There are also nearby Dorset locations: Creech Grange [as French chateau]; Hurn Airport; Studland [beach], Sturminster Newton [livestock market].
Howard's Way 1985-90 BBC	Hampshire This was BBC's hit drama serial of the 1980s, about small boat-builders on the Solent. The main location was the Hamble River off Southampton Water, plus Burlesdon village, and Lymington marina. Various other locations doubled as foreign locales: Hamble village as Italy, Warsash as the USA; Somerley Manor as a French chateau; Southampton Town Hall as a Swiss bank; The Solent ferry as the QEII; and Hurn Airport as New York airport.
A Seaside Story 1986 Roger Lambert, Prologue Prodns / Thames TV	Dorset This youth drama, written by the director, was shot at Lyme Regis, details not known. IMDB plot summary: "Two seventeen year old boys visit Lyme Regis for a weekend. Martin is self confident and chases girls, Sam is a dreamer, and finds ecology far more interesting! They stay at a guest house run by a very eccentric old lady. The film follows their serio-comic adventures."
Blackadder II 1986 John Lloyd, BBC	Wiltshire In the series set in Elizabethan times, the Palladian-style ornate bridge and gardens of Elizabethan-era Wilton House appear behind the end titles, and in the only exterior-shot scene in the series.
The Day After The Fair 1986 BBC / A&E	Wiltshire A Xmas drama, from a West End play based on Hardy’s story ‘Under The Western Circuit’, is set and was shot in Salisbury, locations including Mompesson House.
Northanger Abbey 1986 BBC	Wiltshire Bowood House estate was used for the cliffside walk and rowboat scenes, and Corsham Court as the Fullerton's rectory, plus Bath as itself (Pump Room, Roman Baths, Royal Crescent).
Brat Farrar 1986 Leonard Lewis, BBC/A&E Dorset	Dorset This longer and more faithful adaptation of Josephine Tey's classic identity-switch thriller [see Paranoiac, 1961] was also partly shot on the Dorset coast, this time at Smedmore House above Kimmeridge Bay.
Comrades 1986 Bill Douglas, BFI/Skreba	Dorset For this realistic 3-hour re-enactment of the 1830s Tolpuddle Martyrs episode, Tolpuddle is played by Tyneham, the long-deserted Purbeck hamlet taken over by the MOD in WW2, here dressed with 'cob' textured plaster facades. (The snow is real.) Dorchester plays itself in the court, jail, printer's shop, and High Street scenes. Maiden Castle and the Lulworth Ranges appear as the surrounding countryside, with Cerne Giant glimpsed in the opening. A church interior was also shot at Winterborne Whitechurch.
JerUSalem 1987 Paolo Hewitt, Style Council	Dorset Music video starring the "boho soul group" The Style Council, said inspired by Colin MacInnes's novel Absolute Beginners, shot in the Purbecks at Tilly Whim Caves, Worth Matravers etc.
Suspicion 1987 Andrew Grieve, HTV	Somerset? This is a remake of a Hitchcock film script shot in Hollywood in 1941, but here filmed on location. While the original novel (a 1932 cult crime novel) was set in Dorset, the adaptation (which keeps the 1941 ending) is set in Somerset, where it appears it was mainly filmed [details not known].
Full Metal Jacket 1987 Stanley Kubrick, WB	Dorset Due to his fear of flying, Kubrick shot his films in Britain, and Dorset was reportedly used for some roadside scenes of the soldiers advancing. The IMDB has Dorset used for "Vietnam countryside scenes" but no details are given.(There are also rumours he filmed a scene at Compton Acres ornamental gardens in Poole.)
Maurice 1987 Merchant-Ivory	Wiltshire, Dorset Wilbury Park near Amesbury and the boathouse at Dorset's Crichel Manor were used in the team's adaptation of yet another EM Forster novel.
[A] Hazard Of Hearts 1987 John Hough, Gainsborough	Dorset The first of Gainsborough's intended series of Barbara Cartland adaptations for US television, the Stair Hole area on the west side of Lulworth Cove was used in the finale of this costume drama.
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (Inspector Wexford series) 1987-2000 ITV	Hampshire, Dorset, Isle Of Wight The Inspector Wexford series starring George Baker used Romsey as its central locale of 'Kingsmarkham'. Other locations in the surrounding area were used, mainly Southampton for busy urban scenes, New Forest locales [such as Rhinefield Hotel or the village of Wellow] for woodland country scenes, plus - when a greater variety of architecture was needed - Bournemouth.
First Born 1988 Philip Saville, BBC	Wiltshire Scenes were filmed around the county for this 3-part SF psychological drama adapted by Ted Whitehead from Maureen Duffy's novel Gor Saga, with Charles Dance as a genetic researcher who creates a human/ape hybrid child. Locations included Calne, Savernake Forest, Longleat Safari Park, and New Wardour Castle country manor house SW of Salisbury.
Christabel 1988 Adrian Shergold, BBC/A&E	Dorset This Dennis Potter adaptation of a memoir (The Past Is Myself by Christabel Bielenberg) of an English girl who married a German staff officer who opposed Hitler was mainly shot abroad, the Dorset scenes being presumably of her childhood.
The Lady And The Highwayman 1988 John Hough, Gainsborough	Dorset The second [see Hazard Of Hearts, 1987] of Gainsborough's Cartland adaptations, this time from her "Cupid Rides Pillion." The Winspit quarry caves and Purbeck Downs appear in the opening scene, involving the escape of Charles II (Michael York) with the help of his loyal Cavalier the "Silver Blade" (Hugh Grant), after which the location shifts elsewhere.
Rockliffe’s Folly 1988 BBC	Dorset In this short-lived police serial made as a spinoff from the popular London-based Rockliffe's Babies, the fed-up Scotland Yard detective played by Ian Hogg moves to the Wessex coast for a change of pace, and finds the provinces have problems of their own. Weymouth portrays the central setting of "Maidenport;" the police station seen was Dorchester's, and Bridport was also used, as well as the Askerswell-Loders area.
The Woman In Black 1989 Herbert Wise, BBC	Wiltshire Susan Hill’s popular modern ghost-story novel (still running as a stage play), adapted by Nigel Kneale for the BBC’s then-annual “Xmas ghost story” slot, is set in a seaside town but had “Gothic” scenes shot at Lacock.
Doombeach 1989 Channel 4/ Childrens' Film Unit	Dorset A juvenile “Edge Of Darkness” almost entirely shot in the Purbecks, with town scenes (school and hospital) filmed in Swanage, outdoors scenes shot in Durlston Park, on the Purbeck Hills, and Lulworth Army Ranges, while Poole Hospital portrayed a nuclear plant.
The Strange Affliction Of Anton Bruckner 1990 Ken Russell, ITV	Hampshire This hour-long docudrama, made for The South Bank Show, on the Austrian composer's stay, after one of his nervous breakdowns, at a secluded sanitarium in a Continental forest, had opening sequences shot at the Rhinefield Hotel, and woodland scenes shot in the surrounding New Forest.
Saviour's Day 1990 Gordon Elsbury	Dorset This music-video done for Cliff Richard's 50th birthday, used also to promote his Xmas single of the same name, was shot on the Purbeck coast, atop or adjacent to Durdle Door clifftop rock-arch.
Waiting For God 1990-95 BBC	Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch, Dorset Though the location scenes at the retirement-home "for the nearly dead" were shot elsewhere (no doubt for legal reasons), Bournemouth was used in exteriors as the town is the central story locale. (The sitcom's title was a play on Bournemouth's nickname 'God's waiting room' as much as to Beckett's play Waiting For Godot.) As well as Bournemouth's Town Hall, Square, JobCentre, high-street shops etc, also used were locations in Poole and Christchurch (e.g. the Hospital), and some sequences were shot in the surrounding countryside, e.g at Milton Abbas.
The Brittas Empire 1990-6 BBC	Hampshire, Bournemouth, Christchurch For the popular sitcom about the manager, played by Chris Barrie (of Red Dwarf), of a local leisure centre, all exteriors were shot at Ringwood Recreation Centre. As the series went on to become a hit, and the scriptwriters opened out the setting, Southampton, Bournemouth, and Christchurch were also used. For example, Bournemouth's Norfolk Royale was a Brussels EU boardroom and later a conference-site hotel in the final series, when Mudeford was used in a beach scene.
One Foot In The Grave 1990-98 Susan Belbin /Christine Gernon, BBC	Christchurch, Bournemouth, Poole, Dorset, Hampshire For this popular long-running sitcom by David Renwick, exterior filming was concentrated in the conurbation. The house where the prematurely-retired Victor "I don't believe it!" Meldrew lives was exterior-filmed at Walkford in Highcliffe outside Christchurch, with other scenes shot at such central Bournemouth locations as the Norfolk Hotel [as Victor's place of employment etc], Micawber's Wine Bar, and Boscombe Pier. Downtown Poole was also used, and scenes of various miserable or disastrous attempts at a day out in the country were filmed at Kimmeridge Bay, in the New Forest, etc. The series' finale was shot at an underpass just outside Winchester.
The Green Man 1991 Elijah Moshinsky, BBC/A&E	Dorset For this 3-part Malcolm Bradbury adaptation of Kingsley Amis's ghost-story-as-Christian-parable novel, West Dorset doubled the Cambridgeshire locale. This was perhaps due to its star Albert Finney, who had long owned the film rights to it, having filmed in this area in 1963 for Tom Jones, and knew it held old woodlands suitable for the scenes where trees come to life. Exteriors for the £1.7 million production were filmed, in high summer, on a wooded private estate owned by an Austrian millionaire which held an 18th-C manor house (Upcerne Manor and Dominey's Yard by Buckland Newton have both been suggested), representing the story's eponymous haunted inn.
Five Children And It (US video title: The Sand Fairy) 1991 Marilyn Fox, BBC	Dorset This Edwardian children's serial from The Strand Magazine serial The Psammead, the first part of the "5 Children" trilogy by Railway Children author E.Nesbit, was exterior-shot around Wolfeton near Dorchester, with a local sandpit used for the scene where the children find a wish-granting Psammead or "sand fairy." (Not to be confused with the 2004 feature remake, this 2nd BBC version of the novel was followed by a BBC spinoff serial with a different cast, Return Of The Psammead [qv] in 1993, and then part two of the original trilogy, The Phoenix And The Carpet, in 1997, qv)
2 Point 4 Children 1991-99 Richard Boden, BBC	Bournemouth In this 57-episode sitcom (also known as "Two Point Four Children" and "2.4 Children") created by Andrew Marshall and starring Belinda Lang and Gary Olsen, Bournemouth exteriors were used to portray the series' setting in 'London West One' suburbia.
A Murder Of Quality 1991 Gavin Millar, Thames TV	Dorset John le Carre's adaptation of an early 'Smiley' novel, where he investigates a murder at his old school, starring Denholm Elliot and Glenda Jackson, and done as a postwar period piece, was no doubt filmed at Sherborne as LeCarre himself attended the boys' school here.
The Secret Life Of Arnold Bax 1992 Ken Russell, ITV	Hampshire For this late entry in his long series of lyrical TV docudramas about composers for The South Bank Show, Russell (who also plays Bax) used Highcliffe Castle, a then just-restored Georgian stately home on the clifftop overlooking the western end of the Solent, and the beach for a fantasy-dance scene.
The Good Guys 1992 LWT	Dorset The episode "Going West" of this comedy-adventure series was shot at West Bay, with the finale at Bovington Camp Tank Museum.
Archer's Goon 1992 Marilyn Fox, BBC	Salisbury The 6-part TV adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones's children's 1984 modern-Gothic fantasy novel was filmed in Salisbury.
Mulberry 1992 BBC	Bournemouth, Dorset BBC's never-completed supernatural comedy-drama series, Karl Howman's followup to his sitcom Brush Strokes [which may have shot exteriors locally], filmed exteriors in and around the Bournemouth area (Throop Mill, Westbourne Arcade, town centre), using High Hall house near Wimborne as the central locale, with some village exteriors shot nearby at Witchampton.
Robin Hood - Prince Of Thieves 1992 Kevin Reynolds, Warners	Wiltshire, Hampshire For this US production shot at locations from Beachy Head to Hadrian's Wall, Old Wardour Castle in south Wiltshire was used as the ruin of Locksley Castle, where Robin discovers his father's corpse hanging in chains. Some Sherwood scenes were shot in the New Forest, with the initial horseback chase into Sherwood filmed on open heath at Hampton Ridge NE of Fordingbridge, and a village built in the Mark Ash woodland near Bolderwood.
The Insatiable Mrs Kirsch (Die Unersättliche Mrs. Kirsch) 1992 / 1996 Ken Russell, C4 /Regina Ziegler Filmproducktion/ Westdentscher Rundfunk	Dorset Ken Russell's shaggy-dog-story contribution to this Euro-funded late-night-TV series of half-hour dramas annoyed its backers, and wasn't shown for 4 years. Starring his then-wife Hetty Baynes, it was filmed at a Purbeck seashore-quarry [clifftop-viewpoint opening], in Studland [large resort hotel], Wareham [tearooms, cinema etc], with a glimpse of Corfe Castle in the final shots. A replica of the Cerne Giant was created on a hillside near Worth Matravers for the denouement where the actress does a fertility dance on it.
Return Of The Psammead [US: The Return Of The Sand Fairy/The Return Of It] 1993 Marilyn Fox, BBC	Isle Of Wight This 6-part BBC followup to their 1991 Edwardian children's Five Children And It serial [qv] shot scenes on the Isle of Wight, including its preserved steam railway.
Lady Chatterley 1993 Ken Russell, Global Arts/London Films/BBC	Isle Of Wight Locally-resident director Ken Russell again used his home ground for this 3-part DH Lawrence TV adaptation. Scenes set at the railway station were shot on the IOW Steam Railway (Havenstreet Stn), at Lady C's father's South-of-France seaside villa at several IOW clifftop estates (Old Park Hotel and Lisle Combe house in the Rare Breeds Park at St. Lawrence, plus Blackgang Chine theme-park maze), while the IOW ferry was used for the ocean-liner finale.
Harnessing Peacocks 1993 James Cellan Jones, Meridian TV	Dorset, Wiltshire This contemporary TV version of another Mary Wesley novel (post Camomile Lawn) set in a Cornish seaside town used Lyme Regis's George's Square, Monmouth St, Broad St, plus parts of Salisbury to supplement a range of other, less local, locations.
Middlemarch 1994 Anthony Page, BBC	Dorset, Somerset Though the main location for this BBC adaptation by Andrew Davies of the George Eliot novel was Stamford, Lincs. (as the title village), other scenes were shot more locally, at Brympton d'Evercy and in east Dorset.
The Madness Of King George 1994 Nicholas Hytner, Samuel Goldwyn	Wiltshire The interiors of Windsor Castle for this Alan Bennett drama starring Nigel Hawthorne were shot at Wilton House, with its Double Cube Room seen in the opening concert etc.
The Browning Version 1995 Mike Figgis, Paramount GB	Dorset For this updated i.e. 1990s-set, widescreen version of the postwar Rattigan play, filmed in lush June end-of-term weather, two locations were combined. The main location for school and village scenes was Milton Abbas, with Sherborne mainly used where high-street amenities like bookshops were required.
Call Red 1995 ITV	Dorset, Hampshire This drama series about a helicopter paramedic team based in the Portsmouth area (the closest real-life heliport base being at Lee On Solent) filmed scenes along the coast and in the New Forest, including a jetliner crash in woodland near Hurn airport.
The Buccaneers 1995 Philp Saville, BBC	Hampshire This miniseries adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel about 4 young American women looking for suitable marriage prospects among the English upper class used a wide range of locations in the US and the UK, including Houghton Lodge near Stockbridge, as "Runnymede House," the home of the character played by Jenny Agutter.
Restoration 1995 Michael Hoffman, Miramax	Somerset, Dorset Set in London and Suffolk circa 1663, exteriors of Forde Abbey in west Dorset, interiors of Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset, and Mapperton Manor's sunken Italianate garden in west Dorset were used in this large-budget extravaganza made for the Film Centenary 1996, starring Robert Downey, Hugh Grant, Sam Neill, and Meg Ryan.
Pride And Prejudice 1995 Simon Langton, BBC	Wiltshire This international hit drama-serial version starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth was shot at over 20 locations around England. The local-interest ones are in Wiltshire: Lacock preserved village (Meryton village scenes, with The Red Lion Pub as the Assembly Rooms) and Abbey (as Cambridge university interiors), plus nearby Luckington Court (as 'Longbourn,' the Bennet family home), Luckington Church being used for the wedding scene.
Sense And Sensibility 1995 Ang Lee, Columbia	Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire This feature adaptation starring Emma Thompson was largely shot in south Devon. Locations closer to home include Montacute House in Somerset (where Marianne falls ill), and several locations in Salisbury - Mompesson House played the house where the family stay on their London visit, Cathedral Close played a London street, nearby Wilton House's Double Cube Room was used for the London ball scene, and Trafalgar Park south of Salisbury played Barton Park. Winterborne Clenston Church near Blandford in Dorset was also used for the wedding. Evershot was used for a street scene.
Persuasion 1995 Roger Michell, BBC	Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire This BBC feature version, shown overseas in selected cinemas, was shot on location in Super-16mm, using more natural light than before to create a more realistically smoky look, in Lyme (including the Cobb) and Bath (both portraying themselves c1815), with country scenes shot in Somerset and Wiltshire (Sheldon Manor as Uppercross).
Gulliver's Travels 1995 Charles Sturridge, Henson Prodns, Hallmark Ent/ NBC	Dorset This 3-hour $20m adaptation, starring Ted Danson and an all-star cast of English actors in various satiric-eccentric roles, included town and harbour scenes shot at Shaftesbury, Bridport and West Bay, and there were various setups on the Dorset coast portraying both England and (intercut with scenes shot in Portugal) the shores of several fabled lands (e.g. Black Ven as the land of the Houyhnhnms).
Emma 1996 Doug McGrath, Miramax	Dorset, Somerset For this Jane Austen cinema adaptation starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Evershot in west Dorset portrayed Emma's village of "Highbury" in several scenes. Neighbouring stately homes were portrayed by Mapperton Manor [as 'Randalls', and 'Hartfield' back garden], West Stafford House, Crichel House [as 'Donwell Abbey', in archery scene] and Came House outside Dorchester [as Emma's home of 'Hartfield']. In Somerset, Coker Court and adjoining East Coker church were used, while the ford scene where Emma's carriage gets stuck in the river is Moreton ford in central Dorset. The picnic and strawberry-picking scenes were shot at Bulbarrow Hill in North Dorset. Dorset woodlands are seen throughout.
Portrait Of A Lady 1996 Jane Campion, Polygram	Wiltshire This adaptation of Henry James's novel by New Zealand director Jane Campion used a range of locations, including Heale House Gardens north of Salisbury.
The Missing Postman 1996 Alan Dossor, BBC	Poole, Dorset This was largely shot locally, in the area where author/scriptwriter Mark Wallington (of 500 Mile Walkies fame) grew up, with the protagonist's home in the Hamworthy district of Poole, and the Badbury area doubled for other locales during his epic cycle ride to Scotland.
Moll Flanders 1996/1997 Pen Densham, MGM	Somerset, Wiltshire In this US-coproduction feature starring Forrest Gump co-star Robin Wright Penn, 18th-C. London is played by Lacock village and the George Inn, at Norton St. Philip in East Somerset. (Note: the 1996 ITV miniseries starring Alex Kingston, which was re-titled The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of Moll Flanders to avoid confusion, is sometimes listed as also having scenes shot at Lacock.)
The Prince And The Pauper 1996 Andrew Morgan, BBC	Christchurch For this Sunday-afternoon BBC-1 family-serial version of Mark Twain's children's novel, scripted and produced by Dorset-resident actor-writer Julian Fellowes, Christchurch Priory was used as Westminster Abbey for the climactic Coronation scene. Reportedly the Priory now looked more like the Abbey as it was in 1587, due in the writer-producer's words to Westminster's anachronistic 'litany of Victorian tombs.'
Drovers' Gold 1997 BBC Wales	Somerset Frome was used for the final scenes at the Smithfield's meat market in this historical drama of the days of cattle drives from Wales to London.
Fierce Creatures 1997 Robert Young, Universal	Winchester This attempt to follow up the success of the anarchic A Fish Called Wanda with a "transatlantic" sitcom-style story (originally titled "Death Fish II") used Winchester's Marwell Zoological Park as its central setting.
The Scarlet Tunic 1997 Stuart St. Paul, Scarlet Films	Dorset This Napoleonic-era tragedy from Hardy's short story "The Melancholy Hussar" was almost entirely shot on the Coast Downs in the Bridport-Chideock area, including Chideock Manor, with a few sea scenes shot around Portland and Seatown beach.
Wilde 1997 Brian Gilbert, BBC/Sony	Dorset, Hampshire The biopic starrring Stephen Fry shot scenes on the Dorset coast at Lulworth, Durdle Door, Studland, and Swanage (pier), as well as using Houghton Lodge in Hampshire.
No Child Of Mine 1997 Peter Kosminsky, Meridian Broadcasting	Hampshire Fact-based drama about child abuse, filmed at The Community School in Romsey, and in Southampton.
Mrs Brown (US title Her Majesty Mrs Brown) 1997 John Madden, Ecosse Films	Isle of Wight, Wiltshire This biographical drama starring Judi Dench as Victoria and Billy Connolly as the outspoken Scots groom who befriends her was partly set and shot at Victoria's retreat on the Isle of Wight, Osborne House, with Wilton House's Double Cube Room used for other interiors.
The Woodlanders 1997 Phil Agland, River Films / C4	Hampshire, Wiltshire This adaptation of Hardy's novel by documentary filmmaker Phil Agland was filmed mainly in Breamore Wood (over two seasons) on the edge of the New Forest, also employing Winchester (town and Cathedral), plus Salisbury and the village of Alvediston in Wiltshire.
The History Of Tom Jones, A Foundling 1997 Metin Hüseyin, BBC	Dorset The BBC1 drama-serial remake [see also under 1963] was shot in West Dorset, using Mapperton Manor, Parnham Manor, and Golden Cap viewpoint.
Emma 1997 Diarmuid Lawrence, ITV	Wiltshire Austen's 'Merytown' was played by Lacock preserved village, and Trafalgar Park House outside Salisbury was also used.
The Beggar Bride 1997 Diarmuid Lawrence, BBC	Hampshire, Dorset This 2-part adaptation of a Gillian White novel about a woman who becomes a bigamist to help pay for child care used Somerley House, near Ringwood, as its main setting, with a finale shot on the Dorset coast.
The Sea Change 1997 Michael Bray, Winchester Films	Bournemouth This comedy drama, costarring Maryam D’Abo, was inspired by the fairytale of the Little Mermaid and reportedly opens and closes with scenes shot on Boscombe Pier.
Men Behaving Badly 1997 BBC	Dorset The iconic image of the Cerne Abbas Giant appears in the series finale - an aerial shot in the episode where the lads have to get rid of a favourite old sofa.
Der Preis der Liebe (The Price Of Love) 1997 ZDF TV	Dorset, Hampshire This adaptation of a Rosamunde Pilcher romance novel was shot at Corfe Castle, in Bournemouth [Arcade, Airport], and at Somerley House estate.
The Phoenix And The Carpet 1997 Michael Kerrigan, BBC	Dorset In this follow-up to Five Children And It [see under 1991], Studland Beach and Warmwell Quarry played exotic locations such as a South Seas isle in this E. Nesbitt magic-carpet children's story, where the children meet another magical creature - this time a fire-bird rather than sand-fairy, voiced by David Suchet. (Note: not to be confused the 1995 US adaptation The Phoenix And The Magic Carpet.)
Cash In Hand 1998 Justin Baldwin, Bald Eagle Films	Dorset Not shown theatrically, this crime drama costarring Charley Boorman and Richard E. Grant about the chase that follows the finding a cashbox has an airport scene filmed at Hurn.
Still Crazy 1998 Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais	Wiltshire This Spinal-Tap style comedy-drama from the veteran comedy team of Clement & LaFrenais, starring Billy Connolly, Bill Nighy, Timothy Spall and Jimmy Nail, of a dysfunctional rock-band's comeback attempt, is largely set abroad. An early sequence was shot at Avebury, with the famous megalithic stone circle portraying the "Druids' Circle" where the group have a mystic experience convincing them to get back together.
Cash In Hand 1998 Justin Baldwin	Bournemouth An independent production by a local film-maker, this crime drama used Bournemouth Hurn airport.
Saving Private Ryan 1998 Stephen Spielberg, Dreamworks	Wiltshire The Ryan family farmhouse, where the mother collapses when the Army car with the chaplain arrives with the bad news of her sons' deaths, was built for the production in wheatfields south of Avebury.
Tess Of The D’Urbervilles 1998 Ian Sharp, LWT/ ITV	Dorset, Wiltshire This ITV dramatization of the Hardy tragedy made wide-ranging use of locations: Alton Pancras and area, Cerne Abbas [as ‘Kingsbere’], Minterne Magna, Frome Valley, Chettle, Burton Bradstock, Swanage [as “Sandbourne”] Pier, Promenade, and Railway; Stonehenge [finale].
Children Of The New Forest 1998 Andrew Morgan, BBC	Dorset, New Forest This relatively free adaptation used more location filming than previous versions, much of it shot in Breamore Wood on the west side of the Avon Valley.
Monk Dawson (alt. title Passion Of The Priest) 1998 / 2004 Tom Waller, De Warrenne Pictures	Dorset The adaptation of Piers Paul Read's award-winning 1969 novel about a Catholic monk who becomes a journalist amidst London decadence used Dorset's Milton Abbey School for one sequence.
The Scold’s Bridle 1998 David Thacker, BBC	Poole This Minette Walters crime melodrama about mistreatment of women, past and present, was shot largely in and around Poole, using the Civic Centre, Quay, Police Stn, Shore Road and the docks area.
Harbour Lights 1998-9 Steve Lanning, BBC	Dorset The producer and scriptwriter being West Bay area residents, this attempt to recreate the appeal of ITV's Heartbeat, with Nick Berry as a fishing-port harbourmaster, used extensive filming in the West Bay ['Bridehaven'] area - Bridport, the Fleet Lagoon, the caves at Beer etc.
Elizabeth 1998 Shekhar Kapur, C4 /Polygram /Working Title	Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire The film's long list of composite locations included Montacute House in Somerset and Athelhampton House in Dorset.
The Winslow Boy 1999 David Mamet, Columbia/ Sony	Isle Of Wight Dramatisation of the Terence Rattigan play set at the naval cadet college on Wight (location details not known).
Guest House Paradiso 1999 Adrian Edmondson, Polygram	Isle Of Wight This black-comedy feature, a spinoff of the Ade Edmondson/Rik Mayall BBC series Bottom, set at a guest house built next to a nuclear power plant and run by the disaster-prone pair, was exterior-filmed on Wight.
Milk 1999 William Brookfield, Gummfluh /Arcane /Given// Trijbits /Sky Pictures /Remil / NFTS	A comedy-drama set on a Wiltshire dairy farm run by a 40-something man and his mother, beset by grasping relatives when the mother dies suddenly; shot in Wilts, details unknown.
The Accountant 1999 Andrew White	Bournemouth, Dorset Locally-made crime drama shot in and around Bournemouth and at Verwood.
The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd 2000 Andrew Grieve, ITV	Wiltshire For this feature-length episode of David Suchet-as-Poirot series, Castle Combe played the fictional village of King's Abbott.
Billy Elliot 2000 Stephen Daldry, BBC/ Tiger Aspect/ Working Title	Wiltshire Though the film was mainly shot up north where the story is set, the London Royal Ballet School, the film's stately-home style dance school was portrayed by Wardour New Castle, a Georgian manor house.
Chocolat 2000 Lasse Hallstrom, Miramax	Somerset, Wiltshire English locations doubled as France in several scenes - Brympton d’Evercy and Salisbury (town scenes), Bruton (farm), and Fonthill estate near Salisbury (boating scenes).
Hound Of The Baskervilles 2000 Rodney Gibbons, Hallmark Ent Canada	Somerset Montacute House was used as Baskerville Hall for this Canadian-TV version.
Reach For The Moon 2000 Rob Evans /Joanna Hogg, LWT	Isle Of Wight This school drama, starring Linda Bellingham and Peter McEnery, was shot largely at the High School in Carisbrooke.
Happy Birthday Shakespeare 2000 Nick Hurran, BBC	Wiltshire This 2-part TV contemporary comedy-drama with a Shakespearean motif (partly set and shot in Stratford), starring Neil Morrisey, had scenes shot on Salisbury Plain, including Stonehenge.
Maybe Baby 2000 Ben Elton, Pandora	Dorset? The Cerne Giant, or a replica of it (accounts vary) appears in the finale of the UK cut of this Ben Elton comedy of a couple trying to have a baby. (This seems to have been cut from US prints on the grounds the Giant as a symbol of fertility was deemed too obscure.)
Everyone's Happy 2000 Frances Lea, Footprint Films	Dorset The Full Monty screenwriter Simon Beaufoy returned to Dorset, where he went to film school, to make this 65-minute drama feature about two couples meeting at a campsite. Shot in and around Swanage, locations include a local campground and the Pier.
Heading South 2001 Adrian Ward	Bournemouth, Dorset This independent production by a local filmmaker used Bournemouth beach and night clubs and Blandford in mid-Dorset.
Pearl Harbor 2001 Michael Bay, Buena Vista	Dorset Dorset is credited as a location in the end credits, but no details are given. (Possibly Portland Castle in the scene 38 minutes in, of the Japanese staff planning their attack in a coastal fort.)
Les Visiteurs en Amérique [Just Visiting] 2001 Jean-Marie Poiré, Buena Vista	Dorset In this US remake of the smash-hit French comedy about time travelling, Les Visiteurs, Corfe Castle's dramatic skyline [shot from the top of the village church] provides a scene-setting intro shot of 'Malfete' castle.
Out Of The Ashes 2001 Dan Zeff, BBC	Dorset Drama by award-winning filmmaker about the effect of foot and mouth disease on a family farm near Gillingham in north Dorset, where it was filmed.
Die Rose von Kerrymore 2001 Axel de Roche, ZDF/ORF	Dorset Despite its Irish-sounding title, Rosamunde Pilcher’s novel The Rose Of Kerrymore is set in Dorset, shot at Weymouth [quayside scene], Old Harry Rocks, the Coast Downs around Kimmeridge, and a yet-unidentified stately home portraying "Kerrymore."
New Year's Day 2001 Suri Krishnamma, Films de Losange	Isle Of Wight This youth drama was shot on Wight, details not known.
The Princess Diaries 2001 Garry Marshall, Walt Disney Pictures	Wiltshire The palatial manor in the land of "Genovia" seen in an aerial shot in the finale of this mainly-US shot adult-fairtyale romance from Meg Cabot's novel is Longford Castle, on the Avon south of Salisbury.
Blood Of The Vikings 2001 BBC	Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire Large-budget documentary mini-series (with matching book) on ancestral Viking heritage involving many locations and re-enactment scenes, shot in Scandinavia, Ireland, and GB. This included some locally-shot scenes, in Poole Harbour [Viking longship], at Verwood [on farm where Icelandic ponies are bred], on Salisbury Plain, and at Winchester.
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (US:~And The Philosopher's Stone) 2001 Chris Columbus, Warners	Wiltshire Lacock Abbey rooms were used for various classroom scenes: the Sacristy, the Chapter House and The Warming Room, with its [real] cauldron, and Harry's house is a building in Lacock village.
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets 2002 Chris Columbus, Warners	Wiltshire For this sequel, Lacock village and Abbey were again used.
Will You Marry Me? 2001/2 ??	Dorset Co-starring Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty, this Bollywood romantic drama filmed 'three spectacular all-singing, all-dancing sequences' along the Weymouth sea-front and at Portland harbour. (Original Hindi title not known.)
Elgar - Fantasy Of A Composer On A Bicycle 2002 Ken Russell, ITV	Isle Of Wight This hour-long docudrama (a follow-up to his 1962 docu Elgar), was part filmed at Ventnor (where the Elgars had honeymooned) and elsewhere on Wight, with KR's 4th wife Elize playing Lady Elgar. For the fantasy scenes visualising Elgar’s music (in this case The Wand of Youth Suite), locals were used as extras, e.g. pupils of the Gillian Cartwright School of Dance, Ventnor, as the fairies the programme alludes to, and the Medina Marching Band as the giants.
K-19: The Widowmaker 2002 Kathryn Bigelow	Dorset For this grim fact-based drama of a Soviet nuclear sub meltdown, shots of the sub on the surface were filmed off Portland, using a 50-foot long model.
Below 2002 David Twohy, Miramax	Dorset For this WWII-set submarine horror drama, shots of a large-scale model sub were filmed off Portland.
Goodbye, Mr. Chips 2002 Stuart Orme, ITV	Hampshire Winchester College was a number of collegiate buildings around southern England used for this tv version, starring Martin Clunes.
The Real Jane Austen 2002 Nicky Pattison	Hampshire This one-hour docudrama on the writer's life has scenes shot at Chawton, Steventon Church, and in Winchester, showing her final home on College St, and the Cathedral, where she is buried.
The Way We Live Now 2002 David Yates, BBC	Hampshire This adaptation of the Trollope novel included a scene shot on the beach at Highcliffe, in Ep 2 (encounter between Paul and Roger, who sees Paul with the American Mrs. Hurtle, and calls him a cad etc).
Morgen träumen wir gemeinsam (Tomorrow We Dream Together) 2002 Rolf von Sydow, Steamship Films, ZDF TV	Bournemouth, Dorset This early entry in the ongoing series of Rosamunde Pilcher novel adaptations for German state TV is set as well as filmed in Bournemouth and Dorset. Directed by Max von Sydow's son, this is an adaptation of Part II of Pilcher's "A Home For A Day." (The German title is literally "Tomorrow We Dream Together", the English working title being 'Let's Think About Tomorrow.') It shows Bournemouth Pier, a convent school in town, Milton Abbas village, a golf course (Purbecks?), a stately home (Chettle?), Wareham (street, courthouse?), Poole (Marina, Harbour), Old Harry Rocks (promontory walk); Studland Manor; a village duck pond (Worth Matravers?), Bournemouth's Westover Rd Odeon, Studland churchyard (plus another), Wareham riverside (opposite town Quay), Studland Beach, and a remote house on an estuary (the Frome?).
Let's Roll: The Story Of Flight 93 2002 Chris Oxley, Granada TV	Christchurch This British-made docudrama on one of the four 9-11 downed jetliners used the control tower and other facilities at Bournemouth Airport at Hurn to portray parts of US airports.
Martin Luther 2002 Cassian Harrison, PBS-TV	Hampshire This docudrama starring Timothy West and narrated by Liam Neeson used Winchester [Cathedral, College, St Cross Hospital], and Romsey Abbey to represent European locales.
Daniel Deronda 2002 Tom Hooper, BBC	Hampshire, Somerset The BBC serial had the usual wide range of locations (from Edinburgh to Malta), local ones being Avington Park Georgian manor outside Winchester (as 'Quentcham Hall') and Forde Abbey in Somerset (as The Abbey).
28 Days Later 2002 Danny Boyle, UK Film Council	For this mainly London-set post-apocalyptic thriller, locations in the Salisbury area were also used, notably Trafalgar House and grounds as the army HQ.
Through The Looking Glass 2003/2006 Craig Griffith, Wood Ent.	Dorset This psychological horror tale of an artist alone in a large house being taken over by visions he sees in an ornate mirror was shot at a stately home in north Dorset, Compton House near Shaftesbury.
A Place To Stay 2001/2003 Marcus Thompson, Hollywood Daze Motion Pictures	Wiltshire Described as a "powerful supernatural love story," by the TV-editor turned writer-director, it concerns a pair of outcasts who come together "among the crop circles of Wiltshire."
The Mayor Of Casterbridge 2001/ 2003 David Thacker, Pearson TV/A&E	Dorset, Wiltshire An ITV adaptation of the Hardy novel, starring Ciaran Hinds, and shot mainly in Dorchester, at Maiden Castle, Cerne Abbas, Charmouth and nearby Stonebarrow.
Flamme der Liebe (Flame Of Love) 2003 Steamship Films, ZDF TV	Dorset The Purbeck headland of Old Harry Rocks makes its trademark appearance in the opening of this entry in ZDF's Rosamunde Pilcher romance series, indicating the story is set in Dorset.
The Ultimate Truth 2004 Nick Clark, Wysiwyg Films	Hampshire This indie comedy feature about a young Aussie living in rural Hampshire with his girlfriend was partly shot in the New Forest.
Freak Out 2004 Christian James, Beyond Therapy Ent	Bournemouth This low-budget horror spoof about a 'camp vegetarian serial killer' was filmed over a 5-year period mainly in Bournemouth [Shelley Manor etc] and London.
Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya? (Who Is In My Dream?) 2004 Rajesh Bhatt, Inspired Movies	Weymouth According to a tourism handout, this Bollywood film shot scenes at Weymouth's Nothe Gardens, Harbour and sea-cliffs.
Vipère au poing (UK title: Viper In The Fist) 2004 Philippe de Broca, Angoa-Agicoa	Dorset This autobiographical family drama by author Hervé Bazin is set and mainly shot in France, but for coproduction tax reasons, studio work was done in England, and Dorset is credited [IMDB]. Creech Grange Manor in the Purbecks played a French manor house.
Live For The Moment 2004 Richard Booth, Final Cut Films	Dorset A psychological drama, by a Salisbury-born writer-director, of a crisis precipitated by a hit-and-run accident, filmed at Blandford, Poole [Broadstone and Canford School], and Wimborne.
Amnesia 2004 Nicholas Laughland, Ecosse Films / Carlton TV	Isle Of Wight A 180-minute TV-serial psychological thriller starring John Hannah as a detective whose life has fallen apart since his wife disappeared in suspicious circumstances, this was shot on Wight [details not known].
The Queen Of Sheba’s Pearls 2004 Colin Nutley, Svensk Flmindustri	Dorset A Swedish-financed adult family drama, set in 1944-52 England, filmed in Devon and at Milton Abbey school in Dorset.
Auf den Spuren der Vergangenheit 2004 Sharon von Wietersheim, Bavaria Film	Dorset Shot (partly?) in Dorset, this is a romantic drama by a US-born TV director who works in Germany [IMDB]. The title translates as "Following in the footsteps of the past."
Beyond The Sea 2004 Kevin Spacey, Lions Gate	Dorset For this Kevin Spacey biopic of Bobby Darin largely shot in Germany, the Lulworth Cove area doubled 1960s Big Sur, California, for the scene where Darin retreated to a caravan for a winter after being afffected by the killing of RFK.
He Knew He Was Right 2004 Tom Vaughan, BBC	Wiltshire Stourhead Gardens were among the many locations appearing in this 4-hour Andrew Davies adaptation of the Anthony Trollope novel, set in the City of Wells in Somerset and around Europe.
The Libertine 2004 Laurence Dunmore, Weinstein	Somerset Montacute House near Yeovil plays "Adderbury" manor in this Johnny Depp costume drama.
Mr Harvey Lights A Candle 2005 Rhidian Brook, BBC	Wiltshire Salisbury Cathedral and town play themselves in this spiritual drama.
Bare Naked Talent 2005 Mark Withers, Big Brush Films	Bournemouth This still-unreleased ultra-low budget comedy is best described by its IMDB synopsis: “Documentarian Linda Boreman follows naive movie director Jack Innov's attempt to gather a cast and crew to shoot his first adult motion picture 'Assanova', in order to use the profits for 'real' films, kick-starting his film career officially at a later date.”
The Only Boy For Me 2005 High Stakes Productions/ ITV	Dorset An ITV rom-com about a single mother, shot and perhaps set, in and around Weymouth's Greenhill district, with other scenes shot in Weymouth Harbour and on Portland Bill.
Fragile 2005 Jaume Balagueró, MGM	Isle Of Wight This psychological drama starring Calista Flockhart set in a remote children's hospital was filmed partly on Wight [details unkown].
Pride And Prejudice 2005 Joe Wright, Universal	Wiltshire, Hampshire This feature version used Stourhead Gardens in Wiltshire [the rainstorm-proposal scene in the Temple of Apollo folly], and Wilton House's Double Cube Room [drawing room at Pemberley], plus nearby Martin Down Nature Reserve.
Walk Away And I Stumble 2005 Nick Hurran, Granada TV	Wiltshire A ‘fatal-illness’ romantic TV drama 2-parter set and shot in Wiltshire, locations including Avebury Stone Circle.
Nanny McPhee 2005 Kirk Jones, UIP	Dorset In this children's feature, Durdle Door just beyond Lulworth Cove was used for the beach-picnic scene, where Nanny works her magic on kite-flying.
Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont 2005 Dan Ireland, Cineville	Hampshire This comedy-drama about a young London-based writer (Rupert Friend) befriended by an elderly widow (Joan Plowright) has a 'day out' sequence set and filmed in the grounds of Beaulieu Palace House in the New Forest, where she and her husband used to go.
Aashiq Banaya Aapne (Love Takes Over) 2005 Aditya Datt, Shagun, Shiv	Dorset One of a series of Bollywood-UK coproductions, romantic dramas which have a seaside sequence shot in Weymouth and area.
Annai 2005 Shubha Sandeep	Dorset Weymouth also appears in this Bollywood/UK production, other details not known. (Strictly speaking it is a 'Kollywood' film - a longstanding south-Indian regional cinema with dialogue in Tamil.)
Kuch Din, Kuch Pal (Some Day, Some Moment) 2006 K.S. Shiva, Spice Team Ent.	Dorset Weymouth's Nothe Gardens made an appearance in this Bollywood/UK production.
Shaadi Karke Phas Gaya Yaar 2006 K.S. Adiyaman	Dorset Weymouth appears in this Bollywood/UK production of a story about young marrieds in conflict, from a story by the director.
Footprints In The Snow 2006 Richard Spence, C4/ITV	Salisbury This TV drama starring Caroline Quentin and Kevin Whately, of a woman who fights to regain the use of her legs after she is paralyzed in a crash and fears she may lose her husband, was partly filmed in Salisbury Hospital and town.
Walking With Shadows 2006 Ben Myers	Wiltshire This ghost story, an adaptation of the director's stage play about a teen who is walking with several kinds of "shadows," was filmed partly at Marlborough.
The Da Vinci Code 2006 Ron Howard, Sony Pictures	Winchester The north transept of the Cathedral appears briefy in hazy flashbacks as Westminster Abbey as well as the Vatican.
Eastenders 2006 BBC	Dorset A holiday sequence was shot in Purbeck, at Worth Matravers, and Kimmeridge.
The Lost 2006 Neil Jones, British Phoenix Films	Hampshire This improvisational graphic war-as-the-real-horror drama was shot in 48 hours in a dense forest outside Winchester portraying an Ardennes-type WWII situation where the 3 soldier protagonists lose their way, and then their minds and their humanity.
Die Liebe ihres Lebens (‘The love of her life’) 2006 Michael Steinke, FP New Media Gmbh/ ZDF	Dorset, Wiltshire This Rosamunde Pilcher adaptation used Old Harry peninsula, Studland (Manor, Church and village), Corfe Castle, Clavel Tower, the Purbeck Coast Path, the inn at Plush, Cerne Abbas village, Salisbury (Cathedral and street), Minterne Magna house and estate, Bournemouth (Dean Park cricket pavilion), Poole, Blandford [brewery], and Stonehenge.
Und Plotzlich War Es Liebe ("And Suddenly There Was Love") 2006 FP New Media Gmbh/ ZDF	Dorset This adaptation of a 1958 Rosamunde Pilcher romance, "Family Affair", set here in the Purbecks, features various local clifftops, Studland, Swanage Pier, and Old Harry Rocks (evening picnic scene), plus Minterne Magna estate, and Wimborne (Cornmarket, Minster Books, etc).
Van Wilder 2: The Rise Of Taj 2006 Mort Nathan, National Lampoon	Winchester For this teen-comedy sequel set in England, "Camford University" is portrayed by Winchester College, and other scenes were shot around the city.
Number 13 2006 Pier Wilkie, BBC4	Winchester Winchester Cathedral's library and close appear in this ghostly Xmas story (a BBC tradition) from an MR James tale, of a Victorian scholar who stumbles on a time-warp situation while staying at the local inn.
Amazing Grace 2006 Michael Apted, Walden Media/ Bristol Bay	Dorset, Wiltshire This biographical drama about William Wilberforce and his influence in ending Britain's slave trade mixed local and non-local sites, the local ones being Blandford and Chettle House [as WW's Wimbledon home] in Dorset, Trafalgar Park house in Wiltshire, and Salisbury (including the Cathedral).
Children Of Men 2006 Alfonso Cuarón, Universal	Dorset The Poole Harbour-set finale of this adaptation of PD James's futuristic novel, starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine, was shot in Portland Harbour.
Am Ende des Schweigens 2006 Erhard Riedlsperger, Regina Ziegler Filmproduktion	Bournemouth For once a German TV production shot here which is not a Rosamunde Pilcher romance - Charlotte Link’s adaptation of her novel being listed as a thriller (the title translates as "At the end of silence").
Beau Brummell: This Charming Man 2006 Philippa Lowthorpe, BBC	Wiltshire This biopic of the rise and fall of the original dandy, played by Somerset resident James Purefoy, was shot partly at Wilton House.
The Message Part 1 2003/2007 Lynn Morrey	Hampshire Locally-made independent SF drama, starring Judi Bowker, about portents revealing a coming calamity, largely shot in the Christchurch-Highcliffe area.
Small Town Folk 2004-7 Peter Stanley-Ward, Gumboot Pictures	Hampshire Set in 'Grockletown' in one of those just-off-the-map inbred remote districts where the denizens rape and kill 'grockles' (tourists), this ultra low-budget 'rednecksploitation' mock horror was shot (on mini-DV) in the New Forest by local filmmakers using their own money.
Persuasion 2007 Adrian Shergold, ITV	Dorset, Wiltshire Lyme Regis's Cobb (which we see in several scenes here) is again the star location, this time combined with a few shots of neighbouring Seatown, with Bath at itself, plus some Wiltshire manors - Great Chalfield Manor, Neston Park, Sheldon Manor.
Ein Sommer der Liebe 2007 ZDF	Dorset Weymouth, Poole, and Purbeck stand in for Cornwall in this adaptation of Rosamunde Pilcher's story 'A Summer Of Love.'
The Relief Of Belsen 2007 Justin Hardy, Wellcome Trust /C-4	Dorset For this grim docudrama scripted by Peter Guinness, the MOD facility at Holton Heath outside Poole, which in wartime had been a cordite factory, and recently appeared in Bad Lads Army, portrayed the notorious German extermination camp as British medical units found it in 1945.
Flügel der Hoffnung 2007 ZDF	Isle of Wight Another German-TV adaptation of a Rosamunde Pilcher romance, this time set and shot on Wight.
Lark Rise To Candleford 2007-11 various dirs, BBC1	Wiltshire This popular dramatisation running 4 seasons (40 eps) as a Sunday-night drama, taken from Flora Thompson's autobiographical novels of her youth, was partly shot in north Wilts, at Hatt Farm and Neston Park, both near Corsham, where the exteriors of the two villages of the title were recreated.
Primeval 2007 Impossible Pictures, ITV	Bournemouth A scene for Season 2 of the ITV series that uses CGI to add in predatory 'time-warp' creatures was shot on Bournemouth beach around the Pier.
Elizabeth: The Golden Age 2007 Shekhar Kapur, Studio Canal / Working Title	Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset This sequel, again starring Cate Blanchett, this time as an older Elizabeth around the time of the Armada, used Winchester Cathedral again (The Nave and Lady Chapel as St Paul's, and as parts of Windsor Castle and the Tower of London), Portland Harbour [Armada scenes], plus Somerset for country scenes.
Cranford 2007 Simon Curtis, BBC	Wiltshire Though Elizabeth Gaskell's town is based on 1840s Knutsford in Cheshire where she grew up, Lacock preserved village was used, mainly for the high street scenes.
Stardust 2007 Matthew Vaughn, Paramount	Wiltshire In this big-budget Hollywood-financed all-star adult fantasy from Neil Gaiman’s novel, Castle Combe portrays the key setting, the English village of Wall, named after a mysterious local wall that is a portal to a magical realm, where the young hero must venture on a quest.
To The Manor Born 2007 Gareth Gwenlan, Arlington Prodns/ BBC1	Somerset Cricket St Thomas as 'Grantleigh Manor' was again used for this one-off 25-years-on Xmas-special followup (for details on the series, see under 1979).
The Walker 2007 Paul Schrader, Kintop etc	Bournemouth This US-set political thriller was shot on the Isle of Man for tax reasons, but some 2nd-unit shots of Bournemouth nightlife were reportedly used as that of Washington DC.
Speed Of Light 2007 Nick Peterson, EdgeImageBank Pictures	Isle of Wight A dystopian SF thriller, which has four different endings, is set on an island containing a huge derelict warehouse, where the 2 young protagonists make a discovery which alters their perception of reality.
Gavin & Stacey 2007-8 Baby Cow Productions, BBC3	Salisbury Scenes for all 6 episodes in Season One of this "couples" comedy-drama, co-starring Rob Bryden, set mainly in Essex and Wales, about an Essex boy and a Welsh girl, were shot in Salisbury.
Four Seasons (aka Vier Jahreszeiten) 2008 Gate Filmproduktion, ZDF	Wiltshire Another German-made Rosamunde Pilcher adaptation, this time in English with a largely Brit cast [Tom Conti, Michael York etc] in a set of 4 standalone dramas, which premiered on Xmas Day in Germany. Various West Country locations were used, including the Georgian manor house of New Wardour Castle manor house SW of Salisbury.
Eastenders BBC 2008	Dorset Weymouth was the scene of a Mitchell family holiday, with exteriors of the Esplanade etc shot there in April 2008 for broadcast in July.
The Other Boleyn Girl 2008 Justin Chadwick, BBC Films	Wiltshire Peter Morgan’s feature remake of the Philippa Gregory novel (previously made for TV in 2003) about two sisters (Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson) vying for the affections of the king (Eric Bana), with fatal consequences for the winner, used Lacock Abbey to portray Whitehall Palace.
Bonekickers 2008 James Strong/ Nick Hurran/ Iain B. MacDonald, Monastic Prod'ns /Mammoth Screen, BBC	Dorset, Somerset “The Lines Of War”, Episode 5 of this Bath-based trendy-archaeologist drama series, used the interiors of two WWI tanks at Bovington Tank Museum. Scenes set in the surrounding countryside – representing the former WWI battleground of Verdun – may also have been shot nearby (unconfirmed). The final episode had shots of Glastonbury Tor and a denouement at Wells [Cathedral, moated Palace].
Tess Of The D'Urbervilles 2008 David Blair, BBC Drama	Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire This 4-part dramatisation, starring Gemma Arterton as Tess, was filmed (in 35mm) at various locations. Bath and Bristol were used for non-rural scenes (such as the "Sandbourne" guesthouse), while village and farm scenes were shot at Corsham, Melkham, and Frome. Corfe and Lacock were used for street scenes, the Marlborough Downs above Lockeridge for scenes of Tess trekking cross-country, and the Purbeck Downs above Dancing Ledge for the clifftop opening May dance, with the finale at Stonehenge.
Into the Storm (working title Churchill At War) 2008 Thaddeus O'Sullivan, KBO/BBC Films/HBO	Hampshire For this US TV followup starring Brendan Gleeson, to the 2006 The Gathering Storm [starring Albert Finney], the exterior of Breamore House is seen in a scene of the Allied generals' 1944 HQ; its interiors also double for rooms in the PM's house "Chequers", and nearby Woodgreen village up the Avon Valley was also used in the 1940 Battle of Britain sequence.
Heist 2008 Justin Hardy, BBC	Winchester Part of BBC Four's Mediaeval season, this fact-based comedy-drama set in 14C London was filmed at the 6-centuries old Hospital Of St Cross, as Westminster Abbey in both interiors and exterior shots.
The Heart Of Thomas Hardy 2008 Harry Hook, BBC	Dorset This hour-long documentary presented by Griff Rhys-Jones (a tie-in with BBC's new Tess) included dramatized scenes of Hardy's sad marital life, filmed in 'Hardy Country' locations such as Bockhampton cottage where he was born.
Ein Schneespaziergang 2008 Thomas Herrmann, ZDF	Poole, Dorset This latest of over 75 Rosamunde Pilcher adaptations made by German state TV was shot in Poole and Dorset locations, details not yet known.
Ruddy Hell! It's Harry And Paul 2008 Tiger Aspect/BBC	Dorset The local press reports scenes for the new series of this Paul Whitehouse - Harry Enfield sketch show were filmed in June at locations around Purbeck District, “including Studland, Creech Grange, near Wareham, and Durlston Country Park, Swanage.”
Léif Lëtzebuerger (English title Charlotte: A Royal At War) 2008 Ray Tostevin, Grace Prod’ns Yeovil / CNA Luxembourg	Somerset This Luxembourg-UK co-production is a feature-length documentary, filmed in 4 countries and 3 languages, on how Luxembourg’s Grand Duchess Charlotte made influential WW2 BBC radio broadcasts from exile (Léif Lëtzebuerger means "Dear Luxembourgers"). Ham Hill portrayed the Luxembourg countryside in dramatised re-enactment scenes showing her 1940 escape, with Yeovil Manor Hotel portraying palace interiors.
Creatives Grow Better In The South West 2008 SWRDA	Somerset This 4-minute video shot at a farm near what looks like Montacute [tower in b/g], a viral hit on You Tube for its black humour, is a promo for the SW Region as a creative centre. It is in the form of a spoof news item/ interview titled The Harvest, wherein creative people (or rather creative juices) are shown as a type of farm crop, which grows well in the Southwest.
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince 2009 Devid Yates, Warners	Wiltshire, Dorset Lacock Abbey and village [Cantax Hill, Church St, The Angel inn, West St] are again used, and a scene was shot in the marshes on the Fleet Lagoon, at Abbotsbury, and Poole was also used.
The Young Victoria 2009 Jean-Marc Vallée, GK Films	Wiltshire Scripted by Dorset-resident Julian Fellowes and reportedly co-produced by Martin Scorsese and the Duchess Of York, this royal biopic of the young queen (Emily Blunt) and her domineering mother (Miranda Richardson), was shot partly at Wilton House [as Coburg and Rosenau Castle in Germany as well as Buckingham Palace.]
The Boat That Rocked (US title: Pirate Radio) 2009 Richard Curtis, Working Title	Dorset For this “period comedy” about the heyday of pirate radio, Portland waters and coastal facilities doubled for the script’s 1960s North Sea setting, and local "lookalikes" were hired to double Kenneth Branagh and other principals. Local press reports in May 2008 had also announced "...street shots set in the 1960s will be filmed in Castletown" [on eastern Portland]. The 'pirate' ship was a former Dutch hospital vessel moored in Portland Harbour. A mockup of the ship's interior was built on Portland's new Osprey Quay [Olympic marina] site, and there was also a report of a scene shot at Lyme Regis. From viewing the film, the Lyme scene appears to be at the opening, of the famous Cobb breakwater.
The Queen: The Life Of A Monarch 2009 Edmund Coulthard, Patrick Reams, Marion Milne, Blast! Films /C4	Somerset, Wiltshire Locations for this 5-part TV docu-drama, set over 5 decades and starring 5 different actresses in the title role, included Orchardleigh House at Frome and Stourhead House.
Right Hand Drive 2009 Mark Kalbskopf, Pine Road Pictures UK	Wiltshire This just-completed HD production represents the writer-director's return to his home county after years in the US. A partly autobiographical rite-of-passage drama, scripted by the director and set in rural west Wiltshire, it was partly filmed around Bremhill and Kington St Michael. The official synopsis is: "A young man struggling with a confining religious heritage faces inviting new vistas when foreign visitors come to stay in his small rural world." The director describes it as 'dealing with a young man's struggle to come to terms with his childhood faith, his embarrassing heritage and romantic impulses'.
The Wolf Man 2009 Joe Johnston	Wiltshire This "re-imagining" of the famous Hollywood horror film has an American in Victorian times returning "to his ancestral homeland". Here, this seems to be southwest England, filming locations being Lacock Abbey's tithe barn and Castle Combe as the village of ‘Blackmoor’. A series of gruesome murders are being investigated by Hugo Weaving as Inspector 'Aberline' of Scotland Yard. (Abberline was the Dorset-born CID man who led the 1888 Ripper hunt before retiring to Bournemouth).
Creation 2009 Jon Amiel, BBC Films/RPC	Wiltshire This biography of Darwin starring Paul Bettany, from the book Annie's Box by Randal Keys, used Bradford-on-Avon to portray Malvern where Darwin was treated for health problems.
Bravetart vs The Loch Ness Monster 2009 Ken Russell, Gorsewood Films	New Forest, Hampshire This 'no-budget' indie mini-feature has KR as Aleister Crowley, the Edwardian Laird Of Boleskine Manor overlooking Loch Ness, and KR's wife Elise as the brave Scots tart who tackles Crowley and his conjured-up monster. Filmed at Hordle-Walhampton boarding school near Lymington (as Boleskine House), Hatchet Pond in the New Forest (as Loch Ness!), and Southampton's mediaeval town walls (as Edinburgh Castle). It was announced it would be distributed online, a la YouTube, but there is still no sign of it.
U Be Dead 2009 Jamie Payne, ITV	Poole, Dorset This thriller, starring David Morrissey and Tara Fitzgerald, based on the recent news story of a London couple’s 3-year battle to escape and then to trap stalker Maria Marchese, was filmed partly in Poole, locations including the Salterns Hotel.
The Tesco Bomber 2009 Tern TV /ITV	Bournemouth Hour-long dramatised documentary in Tern's Real Crimes series, re-enacting the case of a Bournemouth man who in 2000-01 tried to blackmail local Tesco's stores and their customers with bomb threats, presenting Dorset Police with their biggest-ever case.
Cranford Xmas Special 2009 Simon Curtis, BBC	Wiltshire Spinoff/followup for Xmas '09 being shot in London [Syon House interiors again] and Wiltshire this summer, once again using Lacock High Street as an 1840s-era town near Manchester.
Far From The Madding Crowd 2009 Rosita Clarke, Gryphon Films	Dorset Feature-length student production for DVD release made by The Gryphon School in Sherborne, scripted and directed by their head of drama, with cast and crew of over 140 students, filmed over an academic year entirely on Dorset locations, from Sherborne to Durdle Door.
Fathers Of Girls 2009 Ethem Cetintas & Karl Howman, FoG Films	Wiltshire, Poole? Domestic drama set in Wilts, with Ray Winstone as a small town solicitor trying to come to terms with an unexpected development as his daughter leaves home, which was 'shot entirely on location around Salisbury'. Some additional footage was reportedly shot on Poole Quay.
Patrol Men 2009 David Campion, Ben Simpson	Dorset, Wiltshire This "zero budget" UK indie attempt at the "best Z-grade horror film ever" shot scenes at Lulworth Cove and Salisbury area to represent a fictitious island somewhere south of Britain, where a masked paramilitary gang of curfew enforcers protect the island's sinister secret.
The Day Of The Triffids 2009 Nick Copus, BBC	Hampshire For this 2-part HD version of the SF classic (originally set in London, Wilts, Dorset, Sussex, and Wight), St Cross Hospitaller's abbey just outside Winchester was one of many locations. It appears in ep 2 as the snow-covered abbey run by the Mother Superior played by Vanessa Redgrave.
Zombies Of The Night 2009 Stuart Brennan	Hampshire Scenes were shot around Winchester for this low-budget horror inspired by the idea Foot & Mouth Disease may be infecting humans.
A Day Of Violence 2009 Darren Ward, Giallo Films	Hampshire Southampton was used for this independently-made crime horror-thriller, released this summer.
Entscheidung des Herzens 2009 Thomas Herrmann, ZDF	Dorset, Poole, Hampshire For this 76th Rosamunde Pilcher adaptation for German state tv, the IMDB lists only Dorset and Poole as locations. A German wiki site gives it as set in Cornwall but filmed at Durdle Door, the Somerley Estate near Ringwood (Hants), the Hall & Woodhouse brewery at Blandford [family business HQ], a house in Studland, Studland Beach near Old Harry Rocks [walk], Kimmeridge Bay and Corfe Castle [car tour scenes].
Morris: A Life With Bells On 2009 Lucy Akhurst, Twist Films	Poole, Dorset, Wiltshire Poole [Sandbanks, Lighthouse Concert Hall, Bowlplex, Bournemouth U.] portrays California's Venice Beach etc in this spoof of a Morris Dancing cult leader. Tisbury in Wilts was used for a country-fair scene;, the Cerne Giant is also glimpsed, as is Wimborne Minster's folk festival.
Death In Ventnor 2008/2010 David George	IOW This indie no-budget gangster-spoof [?] from local writer/director David George (who also plays the lead) features a trip from the mainland south to Ventnor on the southern tip of Wight, where a post office robbery is attempted.
Tour de Force 2010 Kim Sønderholm, Cetus Prodns	Hampshire This mainly Danish-set thriller about a bereaved policeman who turns hitman also filmed a sequence in Southampton.
Tribe 2010 Benjamin Johns, Savanna Films	Dorset Listed by the IMDB as an Action/Crime drama, about "A year in the life of a half-breed Gypsy as he tries, against the odds, to adjust to the 21st century and leave his roots behind," this production, backed by David Essex, was filmed in the Horton area of east Dorset. (Note: This has the same IMDB details as Traveller (2012), and may be an earlier version of it or a prequel.)
The Harsh Light Of Day 2010 Oliver S. Milburn, Harsh Light Productions / Multistory Films	Dorset Horror film scripted by director, of hero who turns vampire to take revenge of his wife's murderers. The film's website gallery has what looks like a scene of the Purbeck cliffs.
Churchill's Spy School 2010 Mike Ford, History Channel	Bournemouth, New Forest Feature-length documentary with re-enacted scenes, telling the story of the SOE "finishing school" on the Beaulieu estate, where agents were trained before being dropped into France.
The Drummond Will 2010 Alan Butterworth, Knee-Jerk	Wiltshire A b&w indie comedy-drama shot in a Wiltshire village, details not known. Described as a black comedy set in a decaying rural England, it “follows estranged brothers Marcus and Danny Drummond as they find themselves on a surprisingly dangerous undertaking to unravel the mystery surrounding their father's unlikely wealth.”
Montague Jack 2010 Ray Joyce, Wimborne Cine & Video Club	Dorset, Poole An ultra-low budget hour-long amateur docudrama [issued on DVD], starring locally-resident actor Michael Medwin OBE as Insp Abberline, telling the story of local Ripper suspect Montague John Druitt. Shot (on HD) in Wimborne [cemetary, riverside, Priest's House Museum etc], Pamphill [as a London park], and Poole [Upton House as Met Police Div. HQ, Scaplens Court as a school, a back alley as an East End murder scene, and the harbour as the Thames].
From Time To Time 2010 Julian Fellowes, Ealing Studios	Dorset This adaptation by Dorset-resident writer-director Julian Fellowes, starring Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, and local resident Harriet Walter, of the 2nd in Lucy Boston's popular 1950s "Green Knowe" novels about a boy discovering that his ancestral home is a portal to the past, has Athelhampton House plus the writer-director's own stately home, West Stafford House, as "Green Knowe," with nearby Puddletown used for church and village square scenes, plus the stables at Came House nearby.
Tamara Drewe 2010 Stephen Frears, Ruby/ WestEnd / BBC Films/Sony	Dorset This adaptation of Posy Simmonds's satiric graphic novel set largely in east Dorset was shot in West Dorset, at Salway Ash (NW of Bridport up the B3162), in Bridport, and at The White Hart pub in Yetminster. The rock festival scene was shot at Larmer Tree festival, and Yeovil Station also appears.
War Horse 2011 Steven Spielberg, Dreamworks/Touchstone Pictures	Wiltshire, Devon Village scenes for this adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel (and more recently hit stage play), about a farmhand who goes to France in WWI to retrieve his cherished horse after it is sold to the Army for use at the Front, were shot in Castle Combe, with riding scenes shot on Dartmoor.
N-Day 2011 Ali Paterson, Inopean Films	Bournemouth The tagline for this SF thriller being made by a Bournemouth film student is “The pressure is on to survive,” the plot involving four divers trapped in a decompression chamber during a world-wide disaster involving swarming nano-robots.
Tezz 2011 Priyadarshan, United 7 Entmt	Hampshire This Bollywood thriller using the "Speed" Hollywood template, with a bomb aboard the London-Glasgow express train, has a romantic dream sequence shot in Winchester [High Street etc].
Cavegirl 2011 Andy Bell, Movie Part Media / CBBC	Dorset, New Forest Not to be confused with the film version being shot in South Africa, this production filmed scenes for a 'teaser' trailer for the pilot episode for the remake of a 2001 BBC children's series, subtitled [?] "Teenage Problems In A Stone Age World," around the beach and cliff areas of Barton-on-Sea, New Milton and Highcliffe, with woodland scenes shot just inland, in the New Forest.
John Carter 2012 Andrew Stanton, Disney	Dorset According to locals, footage was shot near Worth Matravers. (The quarry caves at Winspit?)
Les Misérables 2012 Tom Hooper, Working Title Films	Hampshire Winchester [Cathedral, College etc] doubles as France in this adaptation of the hit musical set in 19C France.
Thor: The Dark World 2013 Alan Taylor	Wiltshire A scene was reportedly shot at Stonehenge for this sequel to Thor.
Broadchurch 2013 Kudos, ITV	Dorset This 8-part series for ITV scripted and co-produced by Bridport resident Chris Chibnall, and co-starring David Tennant as a newly promoted police detective who arrives in the 'picturesque coastal town of Broadchurch' to investigate a boy's murder, broadcast in March-April 2013, was filmed partly at West Bay and Bridport.
???	What's next for the region, filming-wise? Send us your news! (Any more news re local filming on announced adaptations of Sam Mendes's off-again on-again planned version of Ian McEwan's novella On Chesil Beach, or the filming around Bridport of Stephen King's story "I Am The Doorway" ? The IMDB currently also lists a number of pending films, evidently mainly local indie productions: Tom Thurgood's The Dreamer and Soap, Hannah the Mott's One Of Us, Christian James's Stalled, Luke Tedder's Revival, Carlo Ortu's Cut Loose, and Don Mancini's Child's Play. Though we don't list short fillms per se, any updates here would be appreciated.

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