It probably won’t come as too much of a surprise to learn that the dramatic Dartmoor scenery has served as a backdrop to numerous film and TV productions. Filming in the area has taken place for nearly 100 years, with the earliest silent movies set on the moors being released in 1929.
Probably the best-known film to be set, and shot, on Dartmoor is Steven Spielberg’s epic War Horse, which tells the story of a young farm boy and his horse in World War I. The farm at Ditsworthy Warren became the Narracott family home in the film, although the thatched roof and outbuildings were added for the production. The famous ploughing scene caused several headaches for the film crew. The scene is supposed to take place in a terrible rainstorm but on the day of filming, it was actually a beautiful sunny day! The ‘rain’ had to be hastily improvised with sprinklers, but if you look very carefully, you can see the blue sky beyond. Also, the National Park Authority refused permission for the land to be ploughed up, so a large tarpaulin had to be laid over it and covered in soil and plastic boulders before filming could begin. Apparently, not every boulder was collected afterwards, so if you visit the area, you might be lucky enough to find one.
Dartmoor has also provided a backdrop to numerous TV programmes. The recent series Sherlock featured the moors in an episode called ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’, which was based on the Arthur Conan Doyle novel. Although most of the episode was actually filmed in the Vale of Glamorgan, Haytor and Hound Tor also feature. Due probably to its accessibility, Hound Tor has been used many other times as a location for film and TV. In 1995, a two-episode story of Doctor Who was filmed here, called ‘The Sontaran Experiment’. During filming, Tom Baker, who was playing the Doctor at that time, slipped on a patch of wet grass and broke his collar bone. He was forced to conceal a neck brace beneath his trademark scarf for most of the Dartmoor scenes. In 1999, Hound Tor featured as ‘Kendrick Tor’ in an episode of Eastenders, which saw Ian Beale and his girlfriend Melanie visiting the West Country to see the total eclipse.
Action in the BBC mini-series Gold Digger was split between central London and rural Devon, with Dartmoor providing many of the locations. Widecombe in the Moor features heavily in the series, and scenes were also shot at Haytor and Honeybag Tor. Canonteign Falls provides the setting for the penultimate episode in the series.
The BBC also used Dartmoor as a location for its popular series Down To Earth, starring Warren Clarke and Pauline Quirke, which saw a family from London relocate to Devon for a better quality of life. Much of the first two series was shot around Cheriton Bishop and many of the locals were extras. My claim to fame: my horse trailer was used by the fictional family and appeared in several episodes – I didn’t get paid but the trailer was resprayed for free!
