Film and TV locations on or near Exmoor

See the places made famous by R.D. Blackmore's classic tale of Lorna Doone, now a major BBC TV production, as well as those in Pandaemonium, a new film about Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge starring John Hannah.

Pandaemonium
Pandaemonium tells the story of the relationship between poets Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Directed by Julien Temple the film stars John Hannah as Wordsworth, Linus Roache as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Samantha Morton as Sara Coleridge, Emily Woof as Dorothy Wordsworth and Samuel West as Robert Southey.

Filmed on location in Somerset, The Lake District and Cornwall, the film makes the most of the classic beauty of the English countryside that inspired the Romantic Poets. However the film is no ordinary costume drama. Julien Temple uses his background as a music video director to give the story some surprises and create a very modern feel to this tale of conflict between the two great British literary figures.

The film received its World Premiere to great acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival on 15th September 2000. After screenings at the British Film Festival in Dinard, France in early October and at the London Film Festival on 3rd November general release to a wider audience is sure to follow.

For interesting information on film locations see www.carlcorway.cc

Blue Anchor was transposed to substitute for Fiskebacksil on the West coast of Sweden to film Channel 5's 'The Shark' This docudrama commemorates the bravery of Royal Navy Commander Loftus Jones who was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross after the battle of Jutland off the coast of Sweden during the First World War. As Captain of HMS Shark he remained in command and carried on firing his guns in the battle after being wounded twice and losing a leg. HMS Shark sank and his body was later found on the beach at Fiskebacksil.

HMS Shark prior to being sunk at Jutland

Lorna Doone

See the places made famous by R.D. Blackmore's classic tale of Lorna Doone, now a major BBC TV production. R.D.Blackmore wrote part of Lorna Doone in the bar of the Royal Oak in Withypool

Crocombe Heathfield station featured in the films A Hard Day's Night (A Hard Day's Night: the film a hard days night (1964) is a mockumentary written by Alun Owen and The Land Girls (The Land Girls: the land girls is a 1998 film|movie directed by David lrland and starring Catherine McCormack, and also on TV in The Flockton Flyer, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Braunton Burrows are a popular film location, for example, they have featured in Pink Floyd's film 'The Wall' as well as on their 'Momentary Lapse of Reason' album cover; they also provided the backdrop for the video to Robbie Williams' smash-hit 'Angels'.

A Tesco TV advert , filmed in mid-March 2007, was set on Crown Estates-owned land using secluded areas of Croydon Hill, between Dunster and Timberscombe. The advertisement, filmed with a 70 man crew for the Tesco's affordable elegance range. ( two-for-the-price-of-one clothing offer), shows a woman riding on horseback through woods to attend a reception. Because she is muddy when she arrives, the woman can discard the dress she is wearing and pchange into a clean dress. A crew of more than 60 people was involved in the shoot, which took two days and also used two helicopters for aerial shots.

Most of the crew stayed in Minehead, many of them in the Gascony Hotel, in The Avenue. The woman on horseback was thought to be a model named Amber Bird.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHtGbUqLTXQ

Dunster was used as a film location in the Hercule Poirot series and for the rural drama Down to Earth.

Dulverton has been used as a film location for Land Girls and Tess of the D`Debervilles

In 1995-6 a production of the Famous Five was filmed at Dunster castle.

The West Somerset Railway has often been used as a film location. Productions using it as a backdrop include:

• A Hard Day's Night - 1964
• Allies at War - 2002
• Miss Marple: The Mirror Cracked - 1992
• Poirot: The Cornish Mystery - 1989
• The House of Elliot - 1991 to 93
• The Land Girls - 1997
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - 1988

Tony Robinson's childrens comedy Maid Marion used Exmoor as the Exmoor film location for the medieval village for her Merry men. 

Contributed by: Julian Biggs