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Isle of Wight TV & Movie Locations Tour
If you want a grand tour of the homes of the world's film stars and blockbuster movie locations...go on holiday to New York or Los Angeles.
However, if you want to point at a dozen Isle of Wight locations and say "Didn't we see that on Countryfile?" then check out this guide to Isle of Wight film and TV appearances.
However, if you want to point at a dozen Isle of Wight locations and say "Didn't we see that on Countryfile?" then check out this guide to Isle of Wight film and TV appearances.
1. Mrs Brown and Victoria and Abdul
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Fans of a man in a dress saying the F word will be disappointed to realise that Mrs Brown is not a prequel to Mrs Brown's Boys. It is, of course, a biopic of Queen Victoria from 1997 starring Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly.
Lots of the film takes place at Osborne House (unsurprisingly) although there's also a bit where Billy Connolly takes off his clothes on the cliffs above Compton Bay and runs into the sea in his birthday suit. It's actually the exact spot where I proposed, although I did that fully clothed (it was a cold day). More recently, Osborne House was the location for filming Victoria and Abdul which stars Dame Judi Dench (again) alongside Michael Gambon and Simon Callow. |
Osborne stars in Mrs Brown
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2. The Cockfields
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I genuinely like The Cockfields, unlike a lot of the dross on this list. It was made for UKTV Gold so I don't imagine it has a huge audience but it's a witty and likeable comedy. One of the characters is a carbon copy of one of my relatives, which adds to the hilarity.
The Isle of Wight references are so specific that it's clearly been made by someone who actually knows the Island. There are references to a bird being attacked with a copy of the County Press and a trip to Totland to buy lard as well as an argument about whether it's quicker to go via Norton Green or Afton. Based on that last one I think they're supposed to live somewhere between Freshwater Bay and The Needles. Series one is mostly based around the West Wight, with occasional references to Ventnor. The best scene from series one for Isle of Wight fanatics is the one where they are walking along the cliffs between Freshwater Bay and Compton Bay. My only quibble is that they drive along the Military at Compton Bay to get from Yarmouth to their house. I'll allow this though, as I occasionally take a more scenic route to impress visitors. Series two is equally entertaining, albeit with a slightly different cast. There's a swim at Appley, shopping in Ventnor, lunch in Bembridge and an excellent line about Carisbrooke being too far away from Totland for a date. |
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3. Wet Leg - Oh No and Angelica
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Listen guys. I was like, totally, listening to Wet Leg before anyone else had even heard of them. In fact, I was listening to them before they even met at the Isle of Wight College.
Wet Leg do an excellent job of showing off parts of the Isle of Wight in their self-shot music videos. Angelica sees them dancing around St Catherine's Lighthouse in the sunshine. Oh No is filmed at a slightly blustery Alum Bay whilst Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers lark about in a giant mop. |
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4. That'll Be The Day
According to the Isle of Wight County Press, That'll Be The Day is the 'best remembered movie to be associated with the Island'. The plotline involved David Essex hiring deckchairs and turning to rock n' roll whilst Ringo Starr helps things along. I'm sure there's a bit more to it than that...
Locations apparently include Sandown High School, a holiday camp at Puckpool, an old cinema in Ventnor and Shanklin Pier (which no longer exists).
Rather brilliantly, you can play the remains of the minigolf course which featured in the film, although it's relocated to Rylstone Gardens in Shanklin.
Locations apparently include Sandown High School, a holiday camp at Puckpool, an old cinema in Ventnor and Shanklin Pier (which no longer exists).
Rather brilliantly, you can play the remains of the minigolf course which featured in the film, although it's relocated to Rylstone Gardens in Shanklin.
5. Top Gear
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I believe there's been more than one Top Gear visit to the Isle of Wight, but viewers of the Clarkson, May and Hammond days (as opposed to the What's-His-Name and What's-His-Name Days) will revel in this 2002 appearance which featured in our blog.
Highlights include Jeremy Clarkson:
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6. Fragile
The Isle of Wight Guru Award for the most miserable film produced on the Isle of Wight goes to...Fragile, starring Calista Flockhart, who apparently loves it when people shout "Oi, Ally McBeal!" at her in the street.
Fragile is a grey horror movie based at a hospital on the Isle of Wight, where children's bones keep breaking. It's even less enjoyable than it sounds.
Geographically, it's a bit weird. Calista arrives on a Red Funnel ferry in East Cowes and is then whisked along Ryde Pier, which leads to the Military Road and then back to Ryde.
The actual hospital building was somewhere on the mainland, or maybe Spain. Anyway, it wasn't the Isle of Wight so I don't give two hoots.
There's more in our blog on Fragile
Fragile is a grey horror movie based at a hospital on the Isle of Wight, where children's bones keep breaking. It's even less enjoyable than it sounds.
Geographically, it's a bit weird. Calista arrives on a Red Funnel ferry in East Cowes and is then whisked along Ryde Pier, which leads to the Military Road and then back to Ryde.
The actual hospital building was somewhere on the mainland, or maybe Spain. Anyway, it wasn't the Isle of Wight so I don't give two hoots.
There's more in our blog on Fragile
A Wightlink ferry...
...which magically turns into a Red Funnel ferry
"Crumbs, those steps were steep"
Hang on, since when have Red Funnel used Ryde Pier?
"Are you sure this is the right way to Ryde?"
7. Reach for the Moon
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This should really be at the top of the list, since it starred me. Well, I think I was in the background in one shot of this ITV drama filmed at Carisbrooke High School and broadcast in 2000.
I must admit I've not re-watched it since the original broadcast, but I seem to remember we called it Reach for the Remote (what wags we were). Having said that, as I write this it has a higher score on IMDB (8.3) than Ben Hur (8.0) so is definitely better. |
Godshill was featured in Reach for the Moon
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One IMDB reviewer seemed overwhelmed with the quality of the whole thing:
"As Reach for the Moon reached its denouement I found my attention torn between the taut drama as the many interwoven sub-plots were played out against the beautiful backdrops"
Another IMDB reviewer was less poetic, describing it as:
"A dreadful, dreadful bunch of nonsense, but The Isle of Wight looked gorgeous."
Besides Carisbrooke High School, it also featured the fudge box thatched houses in Godshill where one of the characters lived and Shanklin. In real life, the school was earmarked for closure but was saved after protests. I don't remember its important role in television history being brought up as part of the arguments for keeping the building, but it certainly should have been.
Apart from me, it also starred Lynda Bellingham and Jonathan Kerrigan.
"As Reach for the Moon reached its denouement I found my attention torn between the taut drama as the many interwoven sub-plots were played out against the beautiful backdrops"
Another IMDB reviewer was less poetic, describing it as:
"A dreadful, dreadful bunch of nonsense, but The Isle of Wight looked gorgeous."
Besides Carisbrooke High School, it also featured the fudge box thatched houses in Godshill where one of the characters lived and Shanklin. In real life, the school was earmarked for closure but was saved after protests. I don't remember its important role in television history being brought up as part of the arguments for keeping the building, but it certainly should have been.
Apart from me, it also starred Lynda Bellingham and Jonathan Kerrigan.
8. Countryfile
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My mother wouldn't recognise Leonardo di Caprio if he was filming in Ventnor, but she would be overjoyed if she stumbled across the Countryfile team on one of their Isle of Wight adventures.
There have been two visits in the last few years, and no doubt others that a Countryfile historian can help out with (Mum, give me a call if you're reading this...) The 2014 edition involved: Matt Baker scraping something grey off the underside of Ryde Pier as it celebrated its 200th birthday, a visit to Osborne House and Osborne Bay and a toddler group which meets in Bouldner Forest near Yarmouth. In 2016, Countryfile returned to cover further scraping of something off the side of an old structure. This time, it was ivy on the side of Carisbrooke Castle, where they also tried out the donkey's wheel. Other outings included: Adgestone Vineyard (where they gave the impression that the Isle of Wight basks in 30 degree heat in December), Ventnor Botanics and Brading Roman Villa. There was also some classic Countryfile BANTER during a wet and windy National Trust exercise of chasing goats around St Boniface Down so that they can have a pedicure. |
Carisbrooke Castle starred in Countryfile in 2016
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9. Message to Love
This one is more of a documentary - or a rockumentary according to the blurb.
It tells the story of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival when vast numbers of people turned up in fields near Freshwater, took off their clothes and danced around to Jimi Hendrix.
You can see some of the site from upstairs at the Cow Co restaurant at Tapnell Farm, or you can see the Jimi Hendrix statue at Dimbola Lodge. There are also various DVDs of performances from the 1970 Festival including Jimi Hendrix, Moody Blues and Leonard Cohen.
If you're really keen, you can even stay somewhere with a view of the 1970 festival site. Options include East Afton Farmhouse, Tom's Eco Lodges or Tollgate Cottages B&B.
It tells the story of the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival when vast numbers of people turned up in fields near Freshwater, took off their clothes and danced around to Jimi Hendrix.
You can see some of the site from upstairs at the Cow Co restaurant at Tapnell Farm, or you can see the Jimi Hendrix statue at Dimbola Lodge. There are also various DVDs of performances from the 1970 Festival including Jimi Hendrix, Moody Blues and Leonard Cohen.
If you're really keen, you can even stay somewhere with a view of the 1970 festival site. Options include East Afton Farmhouse, Tom's Eco Lodges or Tollgate Cottages B&B.
10. Annika
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Annika was an early 1980s TV miniseries which was originally shown on Channel 4 and told a weepy love story of a Swede and a Brit.
Lots of it was filmed around the Isle of Wight, providing nostalgic views of seaside resorts, most of which actually look quite similar now. You can get it on DVD or it was on Youtube when I searched. |
10 points for identifying where this was filmed
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11. Coast
Aerial camerawork isn't quite as novel as it once was, with every man and his dog owning a drone camera for gawping into the neighbour's garden.
Coast visited the Isle of Wight in Series 2 (rocket testing at the Needles), Series 4 (Brook Chine dinosaur footprints, Alum Bay and The Needles, Freshwater Bay), Series 7 (the Needles again, this time climbing it) and Series 8 (Osborne, Cowes, Round the Island Yacht Race).
Coast visited the Isle of Wight in Series 2 (rocket testing at the Needles), Series 4 (Brook Chine dinosaur footprints, Alum Bay and The Needles, Freshwater Bay), Series 7 (the Needles again, this time climbing it) and Series 8 (Osborne, Cowes, Round the Island Yacht Race).
12. Guesthouse Paradiso
The Bottom film was partly filmed on the Isle of Wight with a scene with Ade Edmondson on a motorbike on the Military Road. There's a bit where they added in a great big industrial chimney right by Brook Chine.
13. Take That - I Found Heaven
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Gary Barlow was apparently disappointed that Sandown Bay was chosen as the location for this collision of 1990s hair and backflips. According to Wikipedia he wanted something a bit more 'exotic'. Of course, he could have gone to Priory Bay or Whitecliff Bay, which were winners in my guide to the 'best Isle of Wight beaches for pretending you went abroad'.
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14. Spiceworld: The Movie
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This one's an oddity as it wasn't filmed on the Isle of Wight but the Spice Bus has since retired to the Island for an easier life. You can find it at Island Harbour which is on the outskirts of Newport. At the time of writing (2021) it is listed on Airbnb so you can live the dream and spend a few nights onboard.
The movie itself made a shed load of money but was not quite so successful with viewers. It currently scores 3.5/10 on IMDB with one reviewer describing it as 'one of the most horrifying and painful viewing experiences I have ever witnessed'. And that's not even one of the most negative reviews. |
The Spicebus now lives on the Isle of Wight
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15. The Beast Must Die
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There was a lot of hoo-haa about this series, which was filmed for Britbox and released in 2021. I wouldn't say it's an all-time classic drama but Isle of Wight fans will enjoy watching the backgrounds.
It's about a mother plotting revenge for the death of her son in a hit and run crash. It takes geography a lot less seriously than The Cockfields, but we'll forgive that as the sweeping shots are good adverts for the Isle of Wight. The central plot point occurs on the road leading up to the Needles Old Battery which is spliced together with the Military Road. There's a curious beach scene, where two beach huts magically appear on the crumbliest cliff you've ever seen. I think it's Chilton Chine. There's also a police station in Ventnor, tense conversations on Ryde Pier, sailing around Cowes and Yarmouth and high drama on Sandhard Beach which is a lesser-known beach around Yarmouth. The main house in the series is Gatcombe Manor which went up for sale for £6m in 2021. |
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