_Where to see film and TV locations in East Anglia

East Anglia has long attracted TV and film producers to use our stunning coast and countryside, unspoilt market towns and cities as backdrops. We’ve picked some of the most picturesque locations to feature that you can visit today.

Holkham, Royal Norfolk

Remember the closing shots of Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love (1998) with Gwyneth Paltrow’s shipwrecked Viola walking across a huge, deserted beach? That was Holkham beach. It also featured in Annihilation (2018), based on an Alex Garland bestseller and starring Natalie Portman. Garland also wrote The Beach, the film of which featured a song by All Saints called Pure Shores which was filmed at… yes, you guessed, Holkham beach.

The Palladian hall featured in The Duchess (2008), starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes.

King’s Lynn, Royal Norfolk

The unspoilt maritime town, famous for its number of Grade listed buildings, is a star of The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020), starring Dev Patel, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Laurie and Tilda Swinton, an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ story by Armando Iannucci.

TV shows of Copperfield and Martin Chuzzlewit have also been filmed in the town.

Al Pacino’s Revolution (1985) was shot in King’s Lynn, while Out Of Africa (1985) with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep was part shot at nearby Castle Rising.

Bury St Edmunds, Brecks, Suffolk

Another location for The Personal History of David Copperfield, with production transforming Angel Hill into Victorian London. Other scenes were shot in Athenaeum Lane, Chequers Square and in the Theatre Royal.

In a neat twist, The Angel Hotel on Angel Hill actually played host to Charles Dickens himself when he was in town to read his classic novels.

Lavenham, Wool Towns, Suffolk

Godric’s Hollow, Harry Potter’s birthplace, was filmed in picture-postcard Lavenham.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2 (2010) the Guildhall became the derelict home of Harry’s parents and 15th-century timber-framed De Vere House appeared as the backdrop for the scene where Voldemort murders Harry’s parents.

The owners said they once had a knock on the door and the person outside asked if Harry was at home!

There’s also a small cameo for The Swan Hotel in Lavenham.

The medieval town, which has more than 300 listed buildings, was also used in Ian McShane’s Lovejoy – the final episode of the popular series was titled ‘Last Tango in Lavenham’.

Lovejoy’s Morris Minor was also seen in Newmarket, Clare and Bury St Edmunds while Long Melford’s Bull Hotel and many antique shops featured regularly.

Stiffkey, Norfolk Coast

The Norfolk saltmarshes don’t look much like Vietnamese paddy fields but that’s what they doubled as in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987).

Burnham Deepdale, further along the coast from Stiffkey, was also used to play paddy fields, these time North Korean, in Die Another Day (2002), with Pierce Brosnan as 007.

Sandringham, Royal Norfolk

The Royal Family’s private Norfolk family home isn’t normally used as a film location, but an exception was made for All The King’s Men (1999), starring David Jason, as it told the story of world war one volunteers from the estate who mysteriously disappeared in Gallipoli in 1915. You can learn more about their story at the Sandringham Museum and Sandringham itself is open to the public.

Norwich, Norfolk

The best-preserved medieval city in the country has been used as a backdrop in many films, including Stardust (2007) with Clare Danes, Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, Tulip Fever (2016), a period drama set in 17th century Amsterdam starring Dame Judi Dench, and 45 Years (2015), with Charlotte Rampling outside Jarrolds Department Store, on London Street and in the Royal Arcade.

Broads National Park

Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay gave Berlin Prize-winning performances in 45 Years (2015) which featured the waterways as a backdrop for the family drama.

Elveden Hall, Brecks

Indian Gothic Elveden Hall featured in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), James Bond film The Living Daylights and Princess Caribou (1994) starring Phoebe Cates, Kevin Kline and Jim Broadbent.

Framlingham, Heart of Suffolk

BBC4 comedy Detectorists, starring Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook from The Office and Pirates of the Caribbean, was filmed in the castle town, masquerading as the fictional Daneby. The series won a BAFTA in 2015.