Florence Court House appeared in all its glory during Sunday night’s airing of the first episode of new BBC drama, The Woman In White.

The early 18th century house built for Sir John Cole and named after his wife Florence, which was given to the National Trust by Viscount Cole in 1954, was chosen by the show’s producer because of its “classic frontage set in acres of unspoilt and rolling parkland.”

BBC One’s bold new adaptation of Wilkie Collins’ psychological thriller was filmed in Northern Ireland in 2017. Other period houses featured in the series are Dundarave House, Bushmills; Narrow Water Castle, Warrenpoint; and Campbell College, Belfast.

Producer Sarah Curtis said: “Northern Ireland proved to be the perfect place to film an ambitious period drama such as The Woman In White. 
“We had a wide choice of grand houses, many of which, crucially, have been in the same family for many years and so have not been over-restored. The countryside outside Belfast is beautiful, unmarred by development or electricity poles, and its landscapes range from parklands and ancient forests to wide open beaches - everything that we needed to give the story the sweep and epic quality of the original novel.”

The home of Frederick Fairlie and his nieces Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe has been created using a combination Florence Court for the exterior and Dundarave House for the interior.

Ms Curtis explained: “Dundarave House’s interior rooms matched Florence Court perfectly but were all connected to each other allowing the actors and the camera to move easily from room to room.”
The Woman In White will be on BBC One on Sunday evenings at 9pm for four more episodes.