The Personal Life of David Copperfield, Bury St Edmunds
_Where are movie and TV locations in Suffolk
Walk in the footprints of silver and small screen stars
Suffolk has hosted its fair share of dramas, films and tv programmes over the years, not least Harry Potter and Ed Sheeran, BBC1 murder mysteries and Hollywood blockbusters. Discover where the stars of the screen have stood and find the locations where many favourite TV and film stories have been acted out…
Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown in The Dig, here on location on the River Alde at Snape
Relive The Dig
Perhaps the most dramatic archaeological find in British history, 2021 Netflix movie The Dig reimagines the events of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge in Suffolk.
Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston, it stars Carey Mulligan as landowner Edith Pretty and Ralph Fiennes as local self-taught archaeologist Basil Brown, as well as Lily James, Ken Stott and Ben Chaplin.
At first only Brown believes that the mounds on Pretty’s rural estate could be Anglo-Saxon rather than the more common Viking era. Inevitably he is proved right, as the dig unveils the burial site of King Raedwald, his treasure and the remains of his ship.
The film received five nominations for the British Academy Film Awards, including one for Outstanding British Film.
Today, the treasure is in the British Museum, but you can visit the National Trust site that inspired the story and nearby filming locations for The Dig.
All the shooting done in Suffolk for The Dig is in close proximity so you can travel easily from one location to the next, leaving the crowning glory to the end.
Start with a visit to Thorpeness beach. Shots were filmed here close to the iconic 15-feet high Scallop sculpture by Maggi Hambling. It was installed there in 2003, so of course is not in The Dig. Very Instagram-able though.
Our next stop is Snape Maltings, home of the Aldeburgh Music Festival and Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival. It’s here that the 1881 sailing barge Cygnet, based here, was filmed on the River Alde for one of the loveliest cinematographic moments of the film.
As well as an arts complex, Snape has a range of eateries and shops with distinctive local produce.
The next locations are Butley Foot Ferry and RSPB Boyton and Hollesley Marshes, before heading to Shingle Street, an isolated hamlet by the sea.
Finally head over to All Saints Church, Ramsholt, one of 38 round tower churches in Suffolk, where some delightful aerial shots were taken.
Stay overnight, and next day enjoy a leisurely trip to Sutton Hoo itself. As the National Trust site is open to the public year-round it couldn’t be used for shooting The Dig – but you’ll be immersed in the location that inspired the story.
Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe in Lavenham for Harry Potter
Hunt down Harry Potter
Chocolate-box Lavenham offers everything you could want from a place often called the Best Kept Medieval Village in England.
The charming market town played its part in the blockbuster movie, The Deathly Hallows Part 1 & Part 2, as Godric’s Hollow, the magical village where Harry Potter was born.
De Vere House in the town played the part of the Potter family home. The magnificent 15th century medieval home is painted a distinctive bright orange colour with timber frames all over the outside.
Fortunately for fans, the owners have put a room on Airbnb so you can come and stay here and pretend you are a guest of the Potters in the wizarding world.
It’s said that De Vere House has the second most photographed doorway in the whole of the UK, only beaten by Number 10 Downing Street.
The Swan Inn is also featured in the film.
Lily James filming Yesterday in Halesworth
Yesterday
This 2019 musical romantic comedy written by Richard Curtis and directed by Danny Boyle has a struggling musician, played by Himesh Patel, realise he’s the only person on Earth who remembers The Beatles after waking up in an alternate reality where they never existed.
The film, also starring Lily James and Ed Sheeran, was filmed at Lowestoft, Latitude Festival, Halesworth and Ramsholt as well as other spots.
The Detectorists filming in Framlingham, with Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones
Discover The Detectorists
The British comedy television series, first broadcast on BBC Four in October 2014, was written and directed by Mackenzie Crook, who also stars alongside Toby Jones.
The series is set in the fictional small town of Danebury in north Essex. The plot revolves around the lives, loves and metal-detecting ambitions of Andy and Lance, members of the Danebury Metal Detecting Club, but much of it was actually filmed in and around the market town of Framlingham in Suffolk, including The Castle Inn pub by the iconic Framlingham Castle.
Detectorists won a BAFTA at the 2015 British Academy Television Awards for Television Scripted Comedy.
In May 2019, it was voted 19th in a Radio Times list of Britain’s 20 favourite sitcoms by a panel that included sitcom writers and actors.
Filming David Copperfield on Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds - note the car park ticket machine
Dickens in Bury St Edmunds
The Personal History of David Copperfield film, written and directed by Armando Iannucci, had significant scenes shot in Bury St Edmunds.
Starring Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Laurie and Tilda Swinton, it’s based on the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
The Angel Hill in Bury St Edmunds was transformed for filming. Other locations in the town were Chequers Square opposite St Edmunds Cathedral and inside the Theatre Royal, which is the location bookending the film.
Lesley Manville and Timothy McMullan in Magpie Murders at Kersey
On the Magpie Murders trail
Based on the 2016 mystery novel by British author Anthony Horowitz, the story focuses on the murder of a mystery author and uses a story within a story format. Starring Lesley Manville and Daniel Mays, the six-part series was developed by PBS in the US and Britbox but was then bought by the BCC, who announced it would be airing a follow-up season Moonflower Murders.
Timothy McMullan as fictional detective Atticus Pünd and Manville stars as editor turned sleuth Susan Ryeland who reads an Agatha Christie-type murder mystery story with the final chapter missing. ‘I’m going to Suffolk to find out who did it,’ she says.
Some scenes were shot in Woodbridge, but the real star is Kersey, arguably the prettiest village in Suffolk with its iconic ford in the middle of the main street over a tributary of the River Brett.
The Crown
In 2019, The Crown, based on an award-winning play ‘The Audience’ by showrunner Peter Morgan, has a scene filmed at Newmarket racecourse. This lavish, Netflix-original drama chronicles the life of the late Queen Elizabeth II and shows her love of horses and racing.
Join Discover Newmarket on one of their tours around the racecourse and other attractions within the town.
Other scenes were shot at Somerleyton Hall.
Downton Abbey
The Queen Anne-style Belchamp Hall in Suffolk was used for the Downton Abbey film A New Era as it had the required country pile plus church for the wedding of Tom Branson (Allen Leech) and Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton).
Iris
Dame Judi Dench stars as literary giant Iris Murdoch in director Richard Eyre’s film Iris (2001) which was shot in the pretty seaside town. Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent and Hugh Bonneville also star.
Walk in Ed Sheeran’s footsteps
Although not a film or TV, Ed Sheeran filmed his videos for his album Subtract on the Suffolk coast.
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