Hitler’s occupation of... Saunton Sands
Islanders’ anger as Lily James wartime drama moves Guernsey to Devon
WHEN two big-name stars from Downton Abbey started filming a new movie about the Nazi occupation of Guernsey, tourist chiefs on the Channel island should have been jumping for joy.
But they had to watch from afar as the historic events were recreated not on their own streets and beaches but on those nearly 200 miles away – in Devon.
A street in Bideford became a Nazi-occupied area of Guernsey and a sequence featuring an American Dakota aircraft landing on a beach was shot at nearby Saunton Sands.
Director Mike Newell, best known for Four Weddings And A Funeral, also recorded scenes in Clovelly and the stately home Hartland Abbey before moving on to Bristol Docks and Ealing Studios.
The film, The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society, is based on a best-selling 2008 novel. It tells the story of a book club which became a refuge for its members during the Nazi occupation.
Lily James, who played Lady Rose in Downton, stars as author Juliet Ashton, who uncovers the story of the book club during a trip to Guernsey.
Lily’s Downton co-star Jessica Brown Findlay, who played Lady Sybil, is Elizabeth Mckenna, the book club founder.
A source said: ‘We didn’t shoot in Guernsey as it didn’t have any suitable locations left.’
And a spokesman for film distributors Studiocanal said: ‘It was too tricky to recreate the look and feel of 1940s Guernsey given how much the island has changed since that time.’
Locals took to social media to express their anger, with one complaining: ‘I’m glad there is a movie based on our beautiful island but it’s disappointing that it looks nothing like Guernsey.’
And Tony Brassell, a former film commissioner for Guernsey, said of the cliffs and countryside now being featured in the movie: ‘They are beautiful but they don’t look anything like Guernsey.’
However, Mike Hopkins, of VisitGuernsey, insisted the film’s release in April, at the beginning of the tourist season, was perfect timing to capitalise on it.
He said the movie ‘referenced’ the island’s coastline and featured shots of iconic observation towers built by the Germans.
He added: ‘As well as bringing the island to a potential new audience, the film will reignite interest from those who have not visited Guernsey for a while.’