Culture of Eastbourne

nection with India comes in the shape of the 18th-century Lushington monument, also at St Mary's, which commemorates a survivor of the Black Hole of Calcutta atrocity which led to the British conquest of Bengal. Proximity to London has led to Eastbourne being the home of actors and television personalities, including the comedian Tommy Cooper. A metal silhouette of the latter can be seen on the wall of a house opposite Motcombe Gardens.

The seafront and the iconic cliff at Beachy Head has been used for many scenes in feature films, and the local council has set up a film liaison unit to encourage and facilitate the shooting of film sequences in and around the town. The 2006 Academy Award-nominated film Notes on a Scandal includes scenes filmed at Beachy Head, Cavendish Hotel and 117 Royal Parade. One of the Harry Potter films also filmed scenes at Beachy Head. Scenes from Half a Sixpence (1969) were filmed on the pier and near to the bandstand. The seafront area was also used for the film Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging directed by Gurinder Chadha. A sequence of a rainy day at the seaside for the Doel family has as its backdrop the Wish Tower, the bandstand, the Cavendish Hotel and the pier in the 1987 British/American drama film 84 Charing Cross Road directed by David Jones.

Television too has used Eastbourne as a backdrop. The series Little Britain had the character Emily Howard strolling along the promenade. Other brief appearances were made in the television series Agatha Christie's Marple, French & Saunders and Foyle's War. One scene in Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer, was shot in and based around what is now known as "D2L" on Seaside Road. The town was used as a location for the BBC's 2009 series, Psychoville. BBC South East Today and