Fearless filmed in Suffolk and London
New ITV drama Fearless filmed across rural locations in Suffolk and used some backdrops in London not seen very often on the small screen.
Fearless’ storyline – a lawyer now living in London trying to prove the innocence of a man convicted for the murder of a Suffolk schoolgirl – makes significant use of the capital as it juxtaposes it with the rural East Anglian scenes as the plot develops.
The drama is the first scripted production to be handled by Screen Suffolk, the new dedicated county film office.
The Screen Suffolk team spent two days last autumn with the show's director and other key members of the production, showing them around locations suitable to the storyboard.
Screen Suffolk director Karen Everett says, "It became obvious very early on that this, almost David Lynch style they were looking for, could best be achieved here in Suffolk. They needed a very distinct landscape that would play an important role in expressing the psychology of key characters.
"We looked at roads that might work best for some of the stunts needed, open spaces and beaches. We're really looking forward to seeing how it all comes together in the show."
Assistant location manager Chloe Misson confirmed that only Suffolk could have provided the landscape needed, saying: "You can't get that look, or create that mood anywhere else - certainly nowhere inside the M25. And we found our Suffolk locations really accessible from London.
"We stayed in Suffolk for two weeks last autumn with a cast and crew that ranged from 20 to 50 depending on the day. Then we went back in February for lots of driving shots.
"Suffolk looks amazing. It features from the opening episode all the way through, in a series of flashbacks, as well as current-day action. We filmed at Bentwaters Parks and the countryside around it. The way those hills roll - the way they look if you are out on them - we captured something very rural, very isolated. We also shot some great scenes at a beach house.”
The series also took in a variety of London locations from September to December last year. The Tudor hall and staircase in Hall Place, Bexley, doubles as the Masters’ parlour at King’s College Cambridge and was managed by FilmFixer.
FilmFixer also handles many of the other London locations that were used to double for key scenes in Fearless: Finsbury Park ‘played’ an American airfield with a CGI plane added in during post; old Surrey County Hall in Kingston was used as a courtroom and a school in Southwark doubled for a prison yard.
Also on The Knowledge
Shetland wins double recommission
The BBC has ordered two more series of detective drama Shetland with the first (Series 9) filming this month.
Bank of Dave the Sequel begins northern shoot
Filming gets underway today (26 February) on the Netflix sequel to 2023 feature Bank of Dave with shooting taking place largely in Burnley and Leeds.
Filming underway on new series of Strike
Strike, The Ink Black Heart – the sixth instalment of the detective drama - has begun filming.
Feature film Lola and Freddie to shoot in London this summer
A new feature film, Lola and Freddie, will shoot in London locations this summer with Naomie Harris, Joel Fry, Jameela Jamil and Olivia Lee leading the cast.
Construction commences on BBC's West Midlands production hub as new series is greenlit
Ground has been broken on The Tea Factory, a new BBC production hub in the West Midlands that promises to be the BBC’s greenest building, with a new series featuring Billy Billingham to be produced in the region.
Ralph Fiennes to direct and star in The Beacon
Ralph Fiennes is set to make his screenwriting feature debut with The Beacon; he will also direct.