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Thame Local History
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A Film and Televsion Set
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For a long period after 1983, the owners of Thame Park and Thame Park House did not
live there. The interior of Thame Park House and also the extensive park were used until recently by the film and television industry. This often entailed temporary redecoration of the interior, in order to create the desired backdrop. Over the years the house and the park appeared in very many film and television scenes, and the people of Thame must often have been unaware that the backdrop to the dramas unfolding on their television screens was but a mile or so away. This was not always the case with the making of the film 'Saving Private Ryan'. On at least one occasion shoppers in Thame High Street were startled by a number of very loud explosions coming from nearby. Those who didn't know that filming was taking place in Thame Park were at a loss to explain them. Many scenes from 'Saving Private Ryan' were filmed in Thame Park, which took on the guise of the hinterland of the Normandy beaches. The interior of the Chapel within Thame Park was also used for a key scene in which the American soldiers rested overnight inside a French church. These scenes are a fitting echo of the role played by Thame Park in the training of the Special Overseas Executive during World War Two. The last major television drama to be filmed in part at Thame Park was the BAFTA award winning series 'Longitude' starring Michael Gambon as John Harrison. The recreation of John Harrison's submission to the British Admiralty was filmed inside Thame Park House. |