Australia’s Miss Fisher franchise is a Melbourne success story and for the latest instalment of the crime-solving adventure, Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears, Melbourne was transformed into 1920’s London.
The original Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries television series produced by Every Cloud Productions was a hit in Australia and internationally, averaging 1.7 million viewers per episode over its three seasons and has been watched by millions of viewers across 180 countries. Its spin-off, Miss Fisher’s Modern Mysteries also had audiences hooked when it screened in Australia last year, while the remake in Mainland China, Miss S, is an Australian first.
The new feature film, which opened in Australia last month and began screening on Acorn TV in the US on March 23, sees the trail-blazing central character Phryne Fisher travel to 1929 British-mandated Palestine and England to unravel a wartime mystery around a priceless jewel, an ancient curse and the disappearance of a forgotten tribe.
While the scenes in the Middle East were filmed in Morocco, the filmmakers found the grand English manors and gritty London streetscapes and alleyways in Melbourne.
The film’s Location Manager Dan Beck says Melbourne can offer up numerous locations that can double for the United Kingdom.
“When it comes to English-looking alleyways and streetscapes, the inner city suburbs of Melbourne have lots of cobblestone laneways and Victorian architecture.”
Location Manager Dan Beck
“The front of South Melbourne Town Hall doubled for a London police station in Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears and we made the most of the 1800s details in the surrounding streets.”
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For the large English manor in the film, Werribee Mansion, an Italianate mansion located less than 40 minutes’ drive from downtown Melbourne, was an easy choice for the filmmakers.
“The script called for a grand English mansion with vast manicured gardens – in the film the owners are from money so the location needed to reflect this. We also needed the gardens to be large enough to land a plane”, said Dan.
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The elegant ballroom scenes in the film, however, were shot at Rippon Lea Estate, a heritage property that is popular with both Melburnians and filmmakers. Fans of the original television series, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, which averaged 1.7 million Australian viewers per episode over its three seasons, will recognise it as Aunt Prudence’s house.
“The ballroom at Rippon Lea has beautiful heritage bones and can be transformed in many ways,” said Dan.
Visit our online Locations Gallery to see how Melbourne can transform itself for your next project. For more information on Victoria’s locations and incentives programs contact:
Joe Brinkmann
Manager, Production Attraction & Support
joe.brinkmann@film.vic.gov.au