Beyond the Graves – Highgate Cemetery on Film and Television. Online talk.

Cemeteries are synonymous with horror films, and Highgate has been no exception: both Hammer and Amicus have filmed some of their most iconic scenes off Swain's Lane. But the UK's greatest cemetery is far more than just a 'vampire's playground', and its unique combination of meandering landscape, arresting structures and noted inhabitants make it an ideal environment to explore universal themes. From adaptations of Charles Dickens to the films of Mike Leigh (via Paul Temple and even Grange Hill), Jon Dear looks at how Highgate has been portrayed throughout history and what that says about the cemetery's own history and the public's attitude to such spaces. Jon will also explore the work of some Highgate Cemetery's best TV and film writers including Antony Shaffer and Clive Exton. And revel exactly why Alan Whicker was being chased by a Yeti round the Circle of Lebanon.About our speakerJon Dear is a writer on TV and Film who has worked extensively with the likes of the BFI and Hammer, and produced The Quatermass Experiment 70th anniversary event at Alexandra Palace. His first book, No Digging - The Story of the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas is due out in 2026.