Did you know that Athelhampton House has been used on many occasions as a filming location?

Eagle-eyed TV viewers may have spotted the house and gardens in 1976 when episodes of Doctor Who (with Tom Baker as the Doctor) were filmed there. Prior to that in 1972, Lawrence Olivier and Michael Caine made the film Sleuth there. Apparently they were allocated rooms in the servants quarters as their dressing rooms. Film crews were back again in 1984 – this time for the film John Wycliffe: The Morning Star.

In 2009, From Time to Time, a haunting ghost story spanning two worlds more than a century apart was filmed at Athelhampton. It was written and directed by none other than Academy Award winner Julian Fellowes, who, it is said, has a personal connection to the house. The location itself was chosen partly due to its own real-life ghost stories. The Great Hall and Library featured in many scenes, as well as the gardens, St Marys Church and the village of Puddletown itself. The film starred quite the cast – the late great Dame Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Hugh Bonneville and Dominic West.

Athelhampton House has also featured in Antiques Roadshow, Going for a Song, Treasure Hunt and Most Haunted.