You wouldn't normally want the kind of publicity that "a one-man crimewave" could attract, let alone imagine that it could be among the most exciting and profitable we've ever had.
But when the tag has been given by the Radio Times to the man behind some of the best detective series in TV history, and Hastings & St Leonards is the town featured in his next hot project - you're entitled to get a little excited!
Anthony Horowitz is a veteran screenwriter and the creator of `Foyle's War', tipped to fill ITV's vacant prime time `Inspector Morse' spot, next year.
Set against the epic and emotive backdrop of World War II, Horowitz has created DC Foyle, a character unable to take part in the war effort and resigned to fighting a far less glamorous campaign against crime in the South of England. The victim of the first murder he investigates is a German woman, but he is soon faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem. Who cares about a single German when there are thousands of British soldiers being slaughtered just across the sea?
Horowitz exhaustively researched this project to fend off competing proposals from around 130 other Screenwriters and Producers. The stars include Michael Kitchen (who has appeared in all three of Pierce Brosnan's Bond movies as `Tanner' and is also one of the stars of `A&E'), Edward Fox, Honeysuckle Weeks and Anthony Howell.
The pilot was mainly filmed in and around the Old Town. Although the programme will begin at Admiralty Arch in London, Hastings is the only town to be named. The feature length (two hours) finished product will be broadcast on a Wednesday night in November or December at 8pm. If critics and the audience are receptive enough, a whole series will be written and our town will be one of the stars of the show. In any event, the pilot will be seen by nearly fifty million viewers around the world.
It took Horowitz two months to create the characters and the story and another 2-3 months to write the script. The shoot took place over six weeks during June and July.
Horowitz was delighted with the reception he and the crew received in Hastings & St Leonards and commented on how friendly everyone is. He said: "Shooting here has been a joy _ we love being here." He says that there were two reasons for choosing Hastings & St Leonards - one was that London is simply too expensive and difficult to use and the other is that our town had a very `unique position' in World War II.
Horowitz has written countless episodes of Midsomer Murders, Robin of Sherwood and Murder in Mind. As far as he is concerned this new series is the best he's ever been involved with. "This is as good as it gets," he says, "if we don't get the series on the back of this pilot, I'll be leaving British TV!"
Everybody knows what Morse did for Oxford. Can you imagine what DC Foyle can do for Hastings & St Leonards?
Hastings & St Leonards continued to attract some leading names from the film and television industry over the Summer. First, Ragdoll productions came to town to shoot sequences for the next series of `Teletubbies'. Children from local schools were used for the `insert scenes' that appear in the Teletubbies' tummies. Few people know that the series is now directed by an actor who plays one of the Teletubbies (although we're not allowed to tell you which one!).
Then ITV's popular `Art Attack' came to town to film in Rock-a-Nore car park. The Council's Parking Services team had to remove the height restriction bar so that the crew could get their huge crane through the entrance! Presenter Neil Buchanan spent two days painstakingly making murals out of materials gathered from the beach. The series is expected to air in the Autumn.
A pilot for a major new ITV detective series `Foyle's War' made extensive use of locations in Croft Road, Rock-a-Nore and Maze Hill. As we've mentioned in the article oposite, this show is expected to become the new Inspector Morse which should make us the new Oxford!
In early September, local filmaker Marcus Dillistone shot `The Glow' (working title) in and around the town, making use of the East and West Hill Cliff Railways
together with the Stade and the promenade. This short, bittersweet drama is a global demonstration piece for a new kind of motion picture film stock. It was shot by oscar-winning cinematographers and will be seen by top Producers, Directors and Executives in Hollywood and Europe. It will not only advertise the format in which it was filmed but will also serve as a remarkably persuasive promotional tool for the town. Other recent productions include the BBC film `When I Was 12' (due to be shown later in the year), a series of promotional programmes for the children's channel Nickelodeon and a number of international documentary films which should help bring Hastings & St Leonards to audiences around the world.
Hastings & St Leonards' rare combination of coast, countryside and cosmopolitan town life attracts some of the best eyes in the business _ another reason to believe that it's fortunes are finally on the up!
Councillor Mike Bigg, Cabinet Member responsible for Regeneration and Tourism said:
"The financial and promotional benefits of having a major production in the town speak for themselves. We are fast acquiring a reputation as one of the most film-friendly local authorities in the country and will continue to support this exciting sector."
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This page last updated: 15/10/2001