Where is The Larkins filmed? Filming locations of Darling Buds of May remake - and will there be a series 2?

ITV has brought 1990s comedy series The Darling Buds of May back to screen in a reboot titled ‘The Larkins’.

Starring TV presenter and comedian Bradley Walsh, The Thick of It actress Joanna Scanlan and Bridgerton’sSabrina Bartlett, the series is based on novels by H.E. Bates, written in the 1950s.

The Larkins is set in Kent, much like the books, but where was the new series filmed? This is what you need to know.

Where was The Larkins filmed?

In keeping with the novel and prior series, The Darling Buds of May, ITV chose to return to Kent to film The Larkins.

The Darling Buds of May was synonymous with the countryside and village feel of the series, which fans of the show will no doubt expect from the reboot.

The traditional feel to the series was on the mind of Sophie Clarke-Jervoise, the Executive Producer on the show, who said they had “been so lucky” to film in Kent once again.

Clarke-Jervoise added: “We wanted it to be in Kent because the novels are set in Kent.

“We wanted these lovely rolling hills, farms in the background, it’s just gorgeous, we’ve been so lucky.

“We did look at other locations options but we just kept coming back to Kent because it has that authenticity of the novels.”

The Larkins’ Home

In The Darling Buds of May, Ma and Pops Larkins raised their family on a farm.

Though this will be replicated for the new series, the actual location used to film the farm has been revised.

While David Jason and Pam Ferris raised their brood on  Buss Farm in Pluckley, the new location has not yet been identified but it has been confirmed that filming took place on a Kent farm.

Buck Farm has become an iconic attraction for fans of the show since the 1990s series, so the new location has a lot to live up to.

Bradley Walsh, who plays Pa Larkin, said of his character’s new home: “I think the farm we’re working on has a good couple of hundred, three hundred acres maybe, it’s beautiful.

“The interiors are the true inside of the farmhouse, it’s so lovely.”

The Village

The Kentish villages of Underriver, Eynsford, and West Peckham were used as the predominant filming location for the series.

The streets were given a 1950s makeover - restoring shops, homes and streets to traditional post WW2 designs.

Filming across the three locations, as well as using actual villages to shoot, proved difficult as filming got underway during the pandemic.

Walsh said of the locations: “The joy of shooting here in Kent is the fact that this is where the books took place, so you get an affinity with it and you get a real feel for it.”

London and the Surrey

Production also took place in London and Surrey.

ITV’s cameras were spotted at Flanchford Farm in Reigate in April 2021 and filming also took place at a nearby primary school in Betchworth, believed to be related to the upcoming series.

Season one of the Larkins is available to watch on the ITV Hub, it runs for six episodes aired weekly and culminates in a Christmas special which is set to air in December