With the focus currently on the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, it recently came to light that part of the series Doctor Who The War Games was filmed in East Dean and the surrounding area.
The series was the last one starring the second incarnation of The Doctor Patrick Troughton and was filmed in Spring 1969. In the series the Tardis lands on a planet where a race known as the Aliens have gathered soldiers from different wars in Earth’s history, brainwashed them and put them to battle. Their aim is to form an invincible army from the survivors and take over the galaxy. The fighting takes place across various time zones. Some scenes were filmed around the old farm buildings in East Dean, on the village green, at Birling, as well as at the Cuckmere Haven and on the lane leading to West Dean. These scenes relate to the parts of the series where the Doctor and his companions find themselves caught up in the fighting in World War 1.
“It’s wonderful being a small part of television history,” says Charlie Davies-Gilbert of Beachy Head, which owns some of the locations used in the filming. “Particularly as Doctor Who is still such an incredibly popular programme, even after all these years.”
For further information go to www.doctorwholocations.net/