Oh baby! Kingdom's back in Swaffham
FILMING has begun in Swaffham and other parts of West Norfolk on the second series of the ITV1 drama Kingdom, with local writer and actor Stephen Fry heading the cast.
The first series proved a hit with viewers, averaging 6.6 million viewers per episode. It thrust Swaffham – given the fictitious name Market Shipborough for drama – into the national limelight.
Much of the location filming takes place in the town, and this week saw stuntmen doing a dramatic chase sequence through the Market Place, with a motorbike being hotly pursued by the distinctive Alvis car that Mr Fry uses in the series.
Mr Fry, who stars as Norfolk solicitor Peter Kingdom, was also spotted on Wednesday shooting scenes at Downham Railway Station.
Six episodes are to be filmed this time, for showing next spring, and ITV senior drama publicist Naomi Phillipson said film crews were likely to be in the area for the next three months.
Mr Fry said: "We were all so delighted by the wonderfully positive reception to Kingdom, and we couldn't be more pleased to spend another summer under Norfolk skies."
Sequences have already been shot in Oakleigh House, beside Swaffham College, which is the solicitor's office and home in Kingdom. Scenes are also expected to be filmed in the parish church, Greyhound pub, police station and the Market Place, which featured first time round.
One of the guest stars in the second series will be actress Lucy Benjamin – Lisa Fowler in BBC1 soap EastEnders. Kingdom's cast also includes Hermione Norris, Karl Davies, Celia Imrie, Phyllida Law and Tony Slattery.
At the end of the first series, Peter Kingdom was told he was to be an uncle by a woman who arrived out of the blue. In the new series, he finds himself having to learn all about feeding times and changing nappies when baby Daniel, the son of Peter's missing brother Simon, moves in.
ITV's director of drama Laura Mackie said: "Kingdom really struck a chord with viewers, and was one of our best-performing dramas of 2007."
* Producer Georgina Lowe will be talking about The Kingdom Effect at Tuesday's annual meeting of the Iceni Partnership, in Swaffham's Assembly Rooms. The meeting starts at 7.30pm.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
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