Atonement (2007) Directed by Joe Wright

Set in the 1930s & 40s, Atonement sees a 13-year-old girl (Saoirse Ronan) change the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover (James McAvoy) of a crime he did not commit. The film is adapted from the best-selling Ian McEwan novel and garnered seven Oscar nominations with the filmmakers seeking a suitably extravagant country house for the family’s home. They found it with Stokesay Court in Onibury, which is set in the rolling countryside of Shropshire - with the late Victorian mansion's owners even doing ‘Atonement’ viewing tours. The grand house wasn’t the only Midlands location in the movie with Fish Dock Road in Grimsby, Lincolnshire being used as a bombed-out street in World War II Dunkirk – albeit augmented with added CGI.

Enola Holmes (2020) Directed by Harry Bradbeer

The famous Victorian-era detective Sherlock Holmes is pushed aside in this adaptation that sees his younger sibling Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) investigate her missing mother but ends up on a thrilling adventure. With support from Sam Claflin, Henry Cavill and Helena Bonham Carter, the film’s all-star cast journeyed to the Midlands to shoot at Benthall Hall, a National Trust mansion used as the family’s country house. Additionally, the Severn Valley Railway was utilised with Arley Station in Kidderminster being the location for the film’s train journey scenes. And although studio greenscreen was used for the stunts, in real life passenger trains were rerouted for several days in July 2019 to make the sequences possible.

Stan & Ollie (2018) Directed by Jon S. Baird

This biographical comedy-drama stars Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly as Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and focuses on the comedy duo's personal relationship as they embark on a gruelling music hall tour. A number of Midlands places were transformed into important historical locations including the Great Central Railway. At Loughborough station, Stan and Ollie struggle with cases up the stairs as they tour post-war Britain. And the Black Country Living Museum doubles as a number of Newcastle locations as they arrive for one of their many shows, and the nearby Old Rep Theatre in Birmingham stands in for the interior of Newcastle’s Queen's Hall.

Women in Love (1969) Directed by Ken Russell

Adapted from D.H. Lawrence's 1920 novel, Women in Love is a British romantic drama starring Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson and Jennie Linden. It tells the story of 2 sisters exploring romance and passion with their suitors amongst the elite of the industrial Midlands in the 1920s. Nominated for four Academy Awards, Glenda Jackson won the Oscar for Best Actress and the opening scene has the sisters leaving their home at New Street in Matlock, Derbyshire. Crich Tramway Museum can also be seen during the credits and the extravagant Kedleston Hall in Derby is the location of Hermione's Cottage. The neo-classical Kedleston Hall has been used in many other films too, including The Duchess (with Keira Knightley) and 2016’s The Legend of Tarzan (as Greystoke Manor).

The Young Victoria (2009) Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée

During a ten-week shoot starting in August 2007, The Young Victoria came briefly to the Midlands to tell its story of the early life of Queen Victoria and her marriage to Prince Albert. Like so many period dramas, Lincoln Cathedral stood in once again for scenes set at Westminster Abbey as filming is prohibited inside there. Starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany and Miranda Richardson among a large ensemble cast, the screenwriter sought to make the film as historically accurate as possible. Without any access to some palaces though, the production found unique alternatives. This included the elegant Elizabeth Saloon of Belvoir Castle near Grantham in Lincolnshire which became the Palace quarters of Queen Victoria's mother. 

Peterloo (2018) Directed by Mike Leigh

Based on the massacre of 1819, Peterloo is an historical drama about a mass rally by pro-democracy campaigners who gathered on St. Peter's Fields, Manchester to demand the right to elect their own MPs. Yet despite the north west location of the actual event, and the film’s premiere in Manchester itself, the movie was shot using Lincoln’s ancient houses to represent the bygone streets. The film assembled a patchwork of locations with Lincoln providing the cobbles and stone houses in its Cathedral Quarter. The 12th-century castle and bailgate, as well as Steep Hill, were all transformed for the shoot. And elsewhere in the county, Gainsborough Old Hall (and its brick-lined kitchen) was used in a scene for a meeting in a tavern.

Les Misérables (2013) Directed by Tom Hooper

After many years on stage, the famous musical (itself based on the Victor Hugo novel of course) Les Misérables finally got an epic period adaptation by Tom Hooper, with a superstar cast that included Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway. Set in France during the early nineteenth century, the film’s bombastic centre-piece was shot in Greenwich, London but a brief scene where Eddie Redmayne marries Amanda Seyfried is set at the ‘Pontmercy’ estate – which in reality was Boughton House in Northamptonshire. Situated in the county near Geddington, it is fitting the residence represents a French estate as it’s actually the work of the 1st Duke of Montagu, a former English ambassador to France, with the house being dubbed the ‘English Versailles’.

Pride and Prejudice (2005) Directed by Joe Wright

Based on Jane Austen's 1813 novel, this literary adaptation has a great selection of picturesque countryside locations including Basildon Park, Chatsworth in Derbyshire, Wilton House and the imposing Burghley House in Lincolnshire. Keira Knightley is Elizabeth Bennet with Matthew Macfadyen as Mr. Darcy and their romantic misunderstandings cross paths with Judi Dench’s Lady Catherine whose palatial home ‘Rosings’ is actually this grand Stamford stately home. In addition, Burghley House has been featured in several other films including The Da Vinci Code, Elizabeth: The Golden Age and The Flash.

The Dambusters (1955) Directed by Michael Anderson

Based on the books The Dam Busters by Paul Brickhill and Enemy Coast Ahead by Guy Gibson, this epic war film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when an RAF squadron attacked Nazi dams with a ‘bouncing’ bomb. For the exciting bomb-dropping finale, the production headed to the Upper Derwent Valley in Derbyshire which doubled as the Ruhr valley and was even the test area for the real raids! There are 3 dams linked in steps – the Howden Dam, the Derwent Dam and the Ladybower Dam – which helped create a credible depiction of the raid. Voted the 68^th greatest British film by the BFI in 1999, the film even provided inspiration for the Death Star trench run in Star Wars.

Howards End (1992) Directed by James Ivory

This period romantic drama is based on the novel by E. M. Forster and explores class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century Britain and stars Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson amongst other members of the British acting hoi polloi. Whilst huge chunks of the film were filmed in London and Oxfordshire, the production did head to the Midlands with the village of ‘Hilton’ being filmed in Worcestershire. The ‘George Tavern’ can be found in the village of Upper Arley (near Kidderminster) and ‘Hilton Station’ is in fact Bewdley station on the Severn Valley Railway. It doesn’t end there as the country mansion, used for a nightmarish wedding reception, is at Brampton Bryan Castle, Herefordshire.