Starring Great Britain - Highclere Castle

Honey coloured buildings, Greek pillars, gothic arches spanning a narrow street, tall, mullioned windows, courtyards and gatehouses – the city of Oxford never fails to enchant and inspire. In addition, the sun was shining which is always a win. Ten days ago, I was part of a panel speaking at a Heritage Filming Conference in the Bodleian Library.  

The brainchild of Christina Pascoe from English Heritage, the conference pulled together interested parties to learn and talk together. It was such an interesting day, from the intricate detail of filming 'Hamnet' a National Trust property with such care and authenticity to relating the stories and the filming of 'Call the Midwife' at Chatham Docks. 

The many heritage buildings scattered throughout the UK are the “real” sets for numerous TV series and films. Authenticity, depth and context along with atmosphere and natural lighting are easily added to the film makers’ textures and sounds, all of which can create those stunning vital elements that shape the narrative, set the tone, and immerse the audience in the story. Buildings are powerful visual metaphors, adding layers of meaning to a story and helping to mirror the characters’ emotional state or their personal growth and used in this way, locations can be used to represent a character’s inner world, highlighting both their struggles and their successes. 

England, with its diverse landscapes, offers filmmakers and TV creators a rich variety of settings from dramatic coastlines to serene villages. In recent years, many productions have turned to locations outside of London to bring their stories to life. From the National Trust Scotland to assorted art galleries, from Stonehenge to Tintagel, all our historic sites are real and touchable. For all the possibilities of AI, there is still nothing quite like a real building. Most of us enjoy a sense of belonging, of knowing where we are and the knowledge that these buildings exist in real life and may even be visitable instils an extra something to the viewing pleasure. There is nothing like the reality of place, hearing the natural world, seeing with our own eyes, of smelling the scent of spring. 

Film tourism combines reality with our imagination and, rather like reading a book, allows us for a few moments to live vicariously, standing in the steps of our favourite screen characters, from Lord Grantham to Sherlock Holmes. For houses such as Highclere, it is a relatively new and still evolving business model but consistent with the need to makes such buildings relevant to a modern world. 

It is a different way of marketing but with its own issue in that inevitably film crews change or add to houses. There may be less or more wisteria crawling up the outside, or roses where none exist in real life. Different furniture and paintings can make a room look completely different and some parts of a house may exist only in a studio and not at all in real life. Certainly the Highclere guides very used to explaining to our visitors that Mrs Patmore’s kitchen is in a studio many miles from the real Castle!