Haddenham residents are familiar with Church End being used as a film location – from The Muppets to Midsomer Murders and, most recently, as a backcloth for Lady Penelope and her trusty chauffeur Parker in a Halifax Ad.
Filming is soon to take place in the village again, this time as part of the TV series 'Pennyworth', exploring the life of Batman's Butler, Alfred, in 1960s England.
Representatives of the production company are hosting a 'Residents' Presentation' at St Mary's Centre from 6.00pm on Wednesday 13th February, when they will talk through the filming schedule day-by-day and answer any questions. The filming will take place on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd February.
From a practical perspective, the filming will require road closures on all the approaches to Church End (Aston Road, Church Way, Station Road, and the route to Manor Farm) and the production company has issued the following statement, send as a letter to residents.
Letter to Residents
FILMING AND ROAD CLOSURE NOTIFICATION HADDENHAM VILLAGE GREEN AND SURROUNDING ROADS
We would like to notify you of proposed filming for a new Warner Horizon TV series "Pennyworth" on Thursday 21 February and Friday 22nd February 2019.
What is Pennyworth?
A ten-part series rooted in the Batman universe, exploring the backstory of the iconic character of Alfred Pennyworth – a young, former SAS officer living in London in the early 1960s, trying to acclimatise to civilian life after a decade in the special forces. Alfred must navigate friendships, romance, reconciliation with his father, and establish a career for himself, post war. Though he claims to crave the simple life, he is repeatedly pulled into dangerous situations that utilise his unique skill set and satisfy his craving for living on the edge. The scenes we would like to film in Haddenham occur in Episode 4 of the series
What would we film?
We'd like to film various exterior scenes, including a chase sequence, around the village green, St Mary's Church, Station Road, Gibson Lane, Church End and Flint Street, with much of the chase sequence taking place in and around properties on Flint Street. Please see the map at the end of this letter that outlines affected areas.
What would happen and when?
In order to dress the set and insure that the roads are clear of modern cars, including those on driveways we will be closing the roads from 6.00pm on Wednesday 20th February until 8.00pm Friday 22nd February.
Our filming days would be Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd February 2019
Filming is currently scheduled between 7.30am and 5.30pm; we would then require a bit of time to pack away and the majority of our shooting crew would be off site by approx 6.30pm Thursday and a little later on Friday in order to do some clear up work to return the village as found and open up the roads again.
We may also alter various street signage in the affected area, cover road markings and chat to individual properties in this area about some set dressing or use of a door/window for some background artists to transport the village green area back in time. If you live in a property that overlooks the green and might be interested in taking part, please do get in contact.
Please also be aware that for this project, we will have some film lighting, possible camera cranes and other big equipment. Also we usually wet down the streets and use smoke effects to give a misty effect.
Parking and access
Residents:
We will be providing alternative, free parking for affected residents at an as yet unconfirmed location within the village (details of which will follow in another letter). We will provide a 24hr shuttle service to and from the parking and provide contact details of the driver so you can get back and forth if required. We will provide residents with a parking sticker for their windshield which will allow parking and use of the shuttle service. Please get in contact to request one if you believe you will be affected. (see map)
We are aware that our road closure will cause concern about deliveries, collections/drop offs for hospital appointments, access for the elderly, pregnant or those with young children, so would ask where possible to be made aware of any of the above so that we can ensure access is available where required.
Pedestrians will be able to access all roads on foot at most times. The only time that we may ask for any pedestrians to wait would be during our filming hours if we are in the middle of a take, for a few minutes.
Filming Vehicles:
As parking is a premium in the village and we want to feature as much of the beautiful green as possible in our episode we will be finding alternative parking for our large equipment trucks and using smaller ones to ferry equipment in where possible, these will then unload and park elsewhere.
Properties around the village green
We would very much like to discuss with you the possibility of using the entrance to your home, a front window or a driveway as part of the background action. We would of course pay a fee to any of the properties that would be used. Please contact one of us on the details at the bottom of this letter if this may be of interest to you.
Community payment
We are aware that whilst exciting and interesting filming can cause disruption to an area if not planned and executed in a thoughtful manner. In recognition of inconvenience caused we intend to make donations to the parish council, St Mary's Church and other local businesses.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. For now, may we thank you all in advance for your patience and co-operation with our production. So much of what the British film industry achieves is dependent on the goodwill of the residents and businesses of the areas that we film in, and your co- operation is greatly appreciated.
We will follow this letter up with a final summary of what and where we hope to film on the days and full details of alternative parking provision and shuttle bus driver details once we have confirmed these. We will be visiting the village over the next few weeks to meet as many of you as possible and discuss any concerns or collaborations.
Tom Timbers
Assistant Location Manager
T: 07917 890 318 E: shiverme@gmail.com
Jenni Lewis
Location Manager
T: 07740 368 316
E: jennilewis20@gmail.com
Bryony Preen
Assistant Location Manager
T: 07505 519234
E: bryonypreen@gmail.com
PENNYWORTH SHOE BUCKET LTD
Registered Address: Warner House, 98 Theobald's Road, London WC1X 8WB
Postal Address: 2nd Floor | Building 6 Leavesden Park I WD25 76S Telephone: 020 3427 2493 Switchboard: +44 (0)20 3427 6507 VAT Number: 272 0678 01 Company Number: 10778534
