Famous Filming Locations in London

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London is the home of many fantastic feats of Film and Television: so, if you’re looking for an inventive way to spend your day out, then location hunting is a great way to fill your Instagram with recreations of your favourite scenes. This article is the Television Edition of currently, recently or currently resurging popular shows filmed right on this doorstep.

Now I have a severe obsession that I feel I should disclose, but refuse to apologise for: I am another 20-something who thinks that the sun rises and sets with Phoebe Waller-Bridge – so expect her to feature significantly in this article.

Actually, why wait? This is my article and I am a fully-fledged-Phoebe-fan (it sounds better if you say it out loud). Let’s jump right in and start with the dysfunction and irrepressible wit of one Fleabag.

Fleabag

The majority of filming takes place in Dartmouth Park in Camden, where you can have a seat on a park bench and take a moment to yourself to gather your thoughts and feelings (especially if you’ve just had a devastating haircut that makes you look like a pencil). But if you are a true Fleabag fan, then there are two places that you absolutely have to visit…and I bet you can guess which ones.

The beautiful, quirky and just plain wonderful lovechild of Fleabag and Boo – the Guinea Pig Café – can be found on York Rise. It is a bustling Turkish restaurant by the name of Bold Café & Restaurant and is bound to steal your heart. Although, I cannot confirm whether “Chatty Wednesdays” is a thing or not – but it really should be.

And lastly, the next suggestion is only for those of you who are able to behave yourselves because it is not simply a filming location, but an actual place of worship. That’s right. If you go and visit the Parish Church of St Andrew’s, you will find the place most often used so that Hot Priest could inflict his divine torture upon us. But don’t worry, if you suddenly feel quite overwhelmed then there are plenty of places for you to… kneel.

It is with great sadness that I must confirm that Sex Education was not filmed in London and therefore is outside of the scope of this article.

Similarly, it should come as no surprise that Gavin and Stacey is another excellent feat of television that was filmed predominantly in South Wales – except for the iconic moment in the very first episode where our lovebirds find each other: filmed in Leicester Square. There are a couple of station scenes, but that’s really about it in terms of significant G&S scenes shot in London.

If anyone is looking for a writer to document the filming locations found around the borderlands of England and South Wales, then you know where to find me.

Killing Eve

Just because she’s behind the scenes, it doesn’t mean you don’t feel that PWB magic – but the strong ladies in front of the camera do a pretty excellent job themselves too. I can’t help but feel that a certain je ne sais quoi will be missing from these locations without the promise of Villanelle lurking around the corner. But then again… that’s probably a good thing.

If you remember the fateful scene in Season One where Bill follows Villanelle into a Berlin nightclub, then you should put on your party shoes and experience the icon of (ironically) English nightlife at Fabric London in Farringdon: just down the street from the Barbican Performing Arts Centre. You have been warned though: this club’s infamous speakers promise an immersive experience – in that the bass is so powerful that you can feel the music as well as hear it.

You may need some R&R the next day, so make sure that you have done your research and secured a winner of a London Package Deal on your accommodation. A boutique hotel near the Barbican? How about a London City spa hotel? Either way, you will be sure to find a great place to rest your body after this day of exploration. If you’re up for it, then you should be sure to check out the many opportunities for shopping near Moorgate station. Otherwise, you can continue on your mission to find more fantastic locations.

You’d already be based at the Barbican Centre, which forms the backdrop of one of Eve’s and Carolyn’s covert conversations filled with plotting and secrecy in Season Two when Eve finds out that she may have a job to return to. Then you can stop for a pint at Old Nick’s Pub on Sandland Street, which is just on the other side of Farringdon. This is where Eve, Bill, Elena (and regrettably Frank) have a post-work drink right at the beginning of the show should you want to circle back to the beginning of where it all started.

The Crown

There have been many productions surrounding the lives of British Royals, but few have been as successful and binge-worthy as The Crown – and that is quite an accomplishment given that the plot is literally history and we all know how it ends. Regardless – it is exquisite, and you would be entirely justified in wanting to see where the magic happens.

While the actual series was not actually filmed in Buckingham Palace (shocking, I know), I still think that you can tick it off your list as the place where the actual story took place – and you were probably going to go there anyway. Most of the interiors were filmed within the Old Royal Naval College and even at Lancaster House, which is right by Buckingham Palace on the other side of St James’s Park. It was Lancaster House that posed as the Palace when the Royals greeted the Apollo 11 astronauts in Season Three.

Most of the scenes were filmed in grand family estates further out from the city, which is a long way to go for someone to tell you that you’re on private property, to please get out of their bedroom and that no – you may not use the loo. So, before you venture out to the manors in the countryside, make sure to see whether or not the estates are open to the public.