Film location boost for Kent economy

Kent County Council has become the only authority, outside of London, with legal powers enabling it to close roads for filming. (As opposed to road works doing it! Ooh, controversial?)

A Parliamentary Bill received Royal Assent on July 27th, giving film makers much more flexibility in choosing locations, and thus giving the local economy the possibility of a huge boost in these uncertain times.

With high profile films such as Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jnr. and Jude Law, filming in Chatham Dockyard, the act means that other areas of Rochester and Medway can be opened up to bring a director’s vision to life.

Dickens World has been already been used by The Hoosiers for a music video while the Dockyard again was the location for scenes in The Golden Compass, The Mummy, Vanity Fair and The World is Not Enough (remember that boat chase?)   

I can’t believe there haven’t been any Dickens adaptations filmed in and around Rochester though! That’s not to say we’re bereft of any filming – Gas House Road recently featured in a BBC adaptation of The Crimson Petal And The White, which is currently being filmed and stars Gillian Anderson and Richard E Grant. Plus, a Bollywood film used our castle as the backdrop to a romantic scene. 

The closest to Dickens I could find was a film about his secret life, where filming took place in his Swiss Chalet in the grounds of Eastgate House.

So apart from the Walkers advert and the Amish teens documentary, can you tell me of anything else that's been filmed in or around Rochester? And if you were choosing a romantic location, whereabouts in Rochester would it be? (A rainy day, strangers taking shelter in the bandstand, maybe?) It doesn’t have to be a romantic scene of course – you might prefer a fast paced action thriller – but where would you choose to set it? And have you got a photo of it you can share?

Personally, I think The Garden House is an idyllic little interior, one of those that give you a false sense of security - and therefore strikes me as a perfect Midsomer Murders crime scene! I hope they don’t take that personally ...