Bill Nighy, David Tennant and Julie Christie were among the stars spotted in Morden Hall Park during filming of Stephen Poliakoff’s latest film - Glorious 39 - released last month to critical-acclaim.

The park’s historic Snuff Mill and surrounding buildings were transformed to resemble 1930s Britain for filming of some of the more gruesome scenes of the World War 2 thriller.

The film captures the drastic measures taken by those determined to preserve their way of life as panic over the imminent threat of Nazi Germany spread - including the culling of pets in the park by owners afraid their animals would otherwise starve owing to a shortage of food.

Zoë Colbeck, manager of the National Trust park, said: “The detail the props department went into was amazing. I felt very sorry for the actors as the film was set in the summer and they were filming in November so hot water bottles were required to thaw out the actors between takes.

“Morden Hall Park has never been the location of a film before and it was very interesting to see the second-hand book shop transformed into a veterinary surgery and the Snuff Mill into a waiting room.

“The park’s featured for about 10 minutes and we have some of the scariest scenes. You also get to look inside the stable yard but I can’t tell you any more or I’ll spoil the film.”

Glorious 39 is set in the last weeks before World War II broke out and the first weeks of the war itself with the thriller’s plot focusing on the appeasement conspirators who believed Britain was destined for defeat.

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