Set jetting The Personal History of David Copperfield
The town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk was transported back to the era of Charles Dickens, with sawdust, horsedrawn coaches and costumed characters, when it became a backdrop for the 2019 comedy drama, The Personal History of David Copperfield.
The Angel Hill area, along with the Angel Hotel, were used to create a busy London street scene depicting the arrival of a young David Copperfield, played by Dev Patel.
The town’s Regency Theatre Royal also featured in the movie when Copperfield goes to the theatre with some raucous friends, and during another scene towards the end of the film when he reads extracts from his novels on the stage.
Directed by Armando Iannucci, the film is based on Charles Dickens’ famous novel. Many elements of the book follow events in Dickens’ own life, and it’s often considered as his veiled autobiography.
Dickens first stayed in The Angel Inn in 1835 when he was a journalist working at the Morning Chronicle.
In 1859 and 1861 he returned to the hotel to read to a captive audience at the nearby Athenaeum, staying in what is now room 215. Known as the Charles Dickens Suite, guests can book this very room, which is still furnished in the style of his era.
A blue plaque was placed on the Angel Hotel on the 200th anniversary of the author’s birth in 2012 to commemorate his visits – but it was removed for filming as, of course, it wasn’t there in David Copperfield’s time!
Bury St Edmunds and The Angel Hotel also feature extensively in The Pickwick Papers, immortalising Dickens’ love for the town. theangel.co.uk. burystedmundsandbeyond.co.uk.