When a film production company is planning a film they often keep the location quiet for fear of to many people converging on the set and making things difficult. With that in mind I would like to share a story with you that happened to me and I can assure you that it is 100% true.
I was staying with relatives in Torquay, a place that I have visited many times and the place where I was staying is only a 5 minute walk away from a village called Cockington. This village is about as picture postcard as it is possible to get, you know the kind of thing I am talking about, thatched cottages, horse and carriage rides along with scenery which can only be described as stunning.
Anyway, late one afternoon we decided to walk down to Cockington for a bite to eat in the village pub, The Drum Inn. To reach the village you have to walk down a quiet lane, I have lost count of the number of times that I have walked down this lane and the only people that you see are dog walkers or joggers.
Anyway, as we were walking down the hill we could hear a number of people walking up the hill and we were shocked to see that they were dressed as soldiers, not any old soldiers mind you, American soldiers. We stood to one side to let the soldiers pass and the one at the front said ‘Good Afternoon’ to us with a strange smile on his face. As they walked past I said to my husband that I know he will think that I am mad but the soldier who has just said hello to us was in fact the Hollywood star, Christian Slater.
In not so many words he told me that I must be mistaken but when we arrived in the village there was a massive film crew lorry and lots of camera’s. It turns out that it was Christian Slater who had said hello and he was filming ‘Churchill: The Hollywood Years’ and the Torquay village of Cockington was the fictitious village of Frothington-on-the-Waddle whilst the nearby Oldway Mansion doubled up as Buckingham Palace.
If you would like to read about our other favourite top 10 British TV locations then please click here.
It should also be noted that Torquay was also used in scenes from Monty Python, The Persuaders and The Saint which took advantage of the fact that Torquay harbour looks remarkably like that of Monte Carlo.
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