Amazing Mr. Blunden, The

A black wreath is placed on the door after Mrs. Allen’s husband is killed in the Great War, leaving her and the three children no option but to move out. The house is part of a set at Pinewood Studios in Iver, Buckinghamshire and this frontage appears in ‘Hands of the Ripper’ and ‘Games That Lovers Play’.

Mr. Frederick Blunden (Laurence Naismith) calls on the impoverished Mrs. Allen at her lodgings in Camden Town to offer the widow a job as the caretaker of Langley Park, a derelict mansion in the country.

The mysterious old man bids farewell to Lucy and Jamie Allen. Again, this is the standing set at Pinewood which also appears in 'All Coppers Are . . . ', ‘The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes’, ‘Go for a Take’, ‘Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width’, 'Penny Gold' and ‘Carry On at Your Convenience’.

The family arrive in the home counties to take up residence at Langley Park. This is the village of Hedgerley in Buckinghamshire.

Explaining that the church is hidden by the background foliage, Alex Powell notes that the tree to the left of centre in the screen capture has since been cut down.

A country bus arrives in the nearby village. Outside the White Horse public house on Village Lane in Hedgerley.

From ground level, without the prop letter box. PW

Having dropped passengers at the pub, the Ford Model T pulls away with Lucy (Lynne Frederick) and Jamie Allen (Garry Miller) looking out at the village. Facing north on Village Lane, Hedgerley.

It appears that the gardener has been dismissed at the property behind the wall to the left. PW

The bus approaches the gates of Langley Park. The South Entrance to Pinewood Studios on Pinewood Road in Iver, Buckinghamshire.

Antony Blair visited the same gateway for this shot.

Mr. Clutterbuck (Graham Crowden) leads Mrs. Allen (Dorothy Alison) and the children into the grounds of the supposedly haunted mansion. The South Gate of Pinewood Studios which also appears in 'The Woman in the Hall', 'Toomorrow', ‘Carry On Screaming’, ‘Carry On Nurse’, 'Crackerjack' and ‘The Ghoul’.

The same location in autumn taken by Antony.

After pausing outside the derelict country house, Mr. Clutterbuck shows the family the house where they are to live. This seems to be a set built in the grounds of Heatherden Hall at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire.

Whilst picking flowers in the garden, Lucy senses something. Through the trees can be seen a suitably dressed Heatherden Hall.

Lucy and Jamie listen as Sara (Rosalyn Landor) and Georgie Latimer (Marc Granger) tell them that they need help as they are in great danger.

Lucy explains that one hundred years earlier, she and her brother became orphans after the death of their parents. Various aspects of Heatherden Hall feature in ‘Twice Around the Daffodils’, ‘A Stitch in Time’, ‘The Plague of Zombies’, 'Band of Thieves', 'Innocent Bystanders', 'The Iron Maiden', ‘In the Doghouse’, 'Floods of Fear', ‘From Russia with Love’ and ‘Consuming Passions’ amongst many.

Lucy and Jamie are put into the care of Uncle Bertie (James Villiers) and solicitor Mr. Blunden.

Taking an interest in Bella Wickens, a music hall chorus girl, their dissolute Uncle Bertie often returned to plunder the house to keep himself in the luxury that he was used to.

Sarah recounts that soon after Bertie and Bella were married, her mother Mrs. Wickens (Diana Dors) moved into Langley Park, sacking all the staff except Thomas Mortimer (Stuart Lock) and Miss Meakin before setting her eyes on the estate.

Returning to 1918, Mrs. Allen and the children attend church. St. Mary’s church on Village Lane, Hedgerley in Buckinghamshire.

Foliage prevents a more accurate angle. PW

Lucy takes no part as Jamie searches the churchyard for evidence of the Latimer children’s death. St. Mary’s church in Hedgerley.

Antony Blair found the wrought iron kissing gate on the edge of the church yard but the church itself is obscured by trees.

When Jamie and Lucy are transported into Sarah and Georgie’s era, the children hide as Mrs. Wickens hunts for Thomas.

After saving Sarah and Georgie in the past, Lucy searches the churchyard once again to find that one of the tombstones has changed. The graveyard surrounding St. Mary’s church on Village Lane in Hedgerley, Buckinghamshire.

Antony Blair provides this view from a similar position.

Lucy and Jamie spend time in the grounds of Langley Park as Mr. Clutterbuck arrives bearing wonderful news for the family. The bridge over the lake in the grounds of Heatherden Hall at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. The location is also seen in 'The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins', ‘Please Turn Over’, 'Mary Poppins Returns', ‘The Impersonator’, ‘Games that Lovers Play’ and ‘Bugsy Malone’.

The bridge snapped by RJ