The Dig: did the movie film at Sutton Hoo, and other locations seen in the film – and when it’s released on Netflix

The latest noteworthy film release to hit Netflix is The Dig, a tale of archeology and romance set against the backdrop of an impending global conflict, centred around the famous Sutton Hoo excavation of an Anglo-Saxon burial ship in Suffolk.

It's a true story, though the film is based on the novel of the same name by John Preston, itself a romanticised and fictionalised account of events.

Ralph Fiennes plays Basil Brown, a self-taught, working-class, pipe-smoking archeologist hired by terminally-ill widow Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan), who is convinced that treasures lie beneath the surface of the grassy burial mounds on her estate.

When Basil uncovers a site of great historical importance, British Museum archaeologist Charles Phillips (Ken Stott) and various members of the London establishment descend on Sutton Hoo to stake their claim to a site of national interest.

But was it shot on location? And can East Anglian natives expect to see some local landmarks on screen?

Here is everything you need to know.

Was it filmed in Suffolk?

While the film is set in Suffolk , a “lot of it” wasn’t actually filmed there, according to Screen Suffolk operations and business development manager, Rachel Aldridge.

That said, there are still plenty of on location moments weaved throughout the film.

The county was the first place the production visited, “because they really wanted to set the tone for the film, gain inspiration from it… so they all had it in their mind so they knew what they were trying to achieve in the look of the whole film.”

“The film opens with a shot of Ralph on his bicycle cycling through the Suffolk countryside, getting on Bawdsey Ferry,” adds Aldridge, and indeed the real Bawdsey Ferry – which transports foot passengers and bicycles across the River Deben to this day – features.