"Tilling" Real or Makebelieve?
I've just discovered wonderful series. Is Tilling a real seaside town in England? Why did the series only run for one year?
shareTilling does not exist, the filming took place in Rye on the South coast of England.
E F Benson, who wrote the original books, died in 1940. The producers only filmed stories from the books and did not have a scriptwriter extend the series by creating new stories for those characters. The 10 episodes are all that there is, but I think that is how it should be left. They were perfect just as they are.
Tilling is actually based on Rye in the books.
E F Benson lived there and his house was the basis for "Mallards".
Real or makebelieve,the characters are, as Georgie would say, Just Parfect! Whoever chose the actors for this series did an excellent job. Just as Rye is the Parfect setting.
shareI must politely disagree with cranem. Benson wrote five books about Mapp and Lucia, so there was much more material than what was used in the flawless series. It is now sadly too late to do any extensions, because of the death of Nigel Hawthorne and the advanced age of the Misses McEwan and Scales. They are all indeed irreplaceable, as is the rest of the ensemble cast. This series is perfection; I've watched it countless times in the last 20+ years.
"If ah irritate you, jes think how ah irritate mahself."
I have visted Rye ( Benson's model for "Tilling" ) on two occasions, and made pilgrimages to all the houses that Benson/ Rye experts believe were the bases for the homes of the major characters. I even had lunch and/or tea at the model for "Wasters", Diva's tea rooms. The location of the filmed TV series resembles Rye, but I don't think it actually is, for MOST of the scenes - - at any rate, the houses depicted in the series do not resemble the real homes very closely. The Norman tower looks the most like the one at Rye, and the gate in the town wall, through which one takes the road out to "Grebe". Does anyone know if the series was actually filmed at Rye, if there were other locations used, and where they were located ?
shareJust to clarify about the number of Mapp and Lucia books: there are six, but only in the last three do Mapp and Lucia meet up.
The sequence starts with Queen Lucia and Lucia in London, set in Riseholme. Georgie features, but Miss Mapp does not.
The next is Miss Mapp, set in Tilling, but before Lucia and Georgie have visited.
Benson then puts all three characters together in Mapp and Lucia, Lucia's Progress and Trouble for Lucia. The TV series is based on the last three books.
FYI -- Some of the books are free on Amazon as ebooks. I'm reading Miss Mapp.
shareYou didn't look hard enough. You can find virtually everything in the town all looking exactly as it does on the screen though the odd liberty is taken with the layout. You can go right out to Grebe past the golf course. I can't of course answer for the gardens and interiors.
shareJust to add a note to this excellent thread.
I live about 4 miles from Rye.
Rye and Winchelsea were the main locations for Mapp & Lucia,but the Elizabethan fete in the opening episode was (I think) filmed in Biddenden,and "Poppy" Duchess of Sheffield's castle was actually Hever Castle.
At the bottom of our garden is the river Tilligham,which Benson shortened and used as the town name in M&L.
Riseholme,where Lucia and Georgie came from originally,is believed to be based on Broadway in the Cotswolds.
Although Lamb House now belonging to the National Trust,was the model for Mallards,it wasn't possible to use if for the TV series.The garden room from which Mapp could see in 3 directions (from the bay window) was actually destroyed by a WW2 bomb (and has never been rebuilt).
So the film company had to use what it felt were the most suitable houses for the purpose,and of course houses placed so as to not inconvenience the townspeople of Rye.
Benson himself is buried in Rye cemetery,just up the hill from Rye.
I was in the bank last week, and the cashier said to the customer in front of me~"Well, Colonel going out to the links"?
AND
there are still some ladies who carry wicker baskets for their shopping.
As morleys says,if you look you can fins the original sites mentioned in the novels.
As has been said before,it was a shame that the series started on what is about half way through the Mapp and Lucia series.
I imagine the producers were not sure if it would "take off" so went for that decision?
Of course they COULD have filmed the missing novels after the TV series,but once (sadly) Nigel Hawthorne died they could not.
Did you know that Nigel Hawthorne bought the TV & film rights to M&L sometime in the 60's,as he had always wanted to play Georgie.However,it took some years before a change in fashion mafe M&L desirable to a TV company again.
Now Fred Benson lays at peace near his beloved Rye,have a look here:~
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6247
Au Reservoir!
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