From royal residences to sports stadiums and iconic skylines, Ben Walsh reveals the real-life London locations behind your favourite dramas, thrillers and action hits.
Ready for your close-up, London? The capital has long been a magnet for film and TV crews. Its renowned streets and stately buildings offer the perfect backdrop for everything from high-speed action films such as Mission: Impossible 8 – The Final Reckoning to period dramas such as Bridgerton. Here’s how to explore London through the lens of your favourite films and TV shows…
Action-packed London
With its striking blend of modern infrastructure, bustling urban streets and historic landmarks, London has become the ideal setting for big budget action blockbusters. The Mission Impossible franchise has certainly made the most of the capital. Channel your inner Tom Cruise at St Paul’s Cathedral, where superspy Ethan Hunt slides down Sir Christopher Wren’s majestic dome in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. The cathedral also features in The Diplomat 2, the compelling Netflix thriller starring Keri Russell as a high-profile American ambassador to the UK. Visitors can climb up the dome past the Whispering Gallery and a further 271 steps to the Golden Gallery for a dazzling London panorama.
Tower Bridge is another favourite with filmmakers: it’s where Spidey swings into action in Spider-Man: Far from Home and where Mark Wahlberg’s construction worker undergoes spy training in Netflix’s The Union. Speed past landmarks on a Thames RIB Experience or scale The O2 arena for Thames views. For thrills, try the DARE Skywalk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium or head up The Shard, seen in Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and Spider-Man: Far from Home.
Another box-office titan, the Fast & Furious series, has also harnessed London’s dramatic landscape. In Fast & Furious 6, Wembley Stadium plays a starring role during a thrilling car sequence, while a tense convoy attack unfolds at Lambeth Bridge. Football fans can take a Wembley Stadium Tour to go behind the scenes at this 90,000-capacity venue.
No list would be complete without the mightiest franchise of them all: James Bond. The courtyard at Somerset House features in GoldenEye, when Jack Wade’s car breaks down, while The National Gallery (which provides a backdrop in the new Mission: Impossible film and features in The Da Vinci Code) in Trafalgar Square is where 007 first meets Q in Skyfall as they discuss JMW Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire painting.
Trafalgar Square also plays host to epic scenes in Captain America: The First Avenger, Edge of Tomorrow and Mission: Impossible 8: The Final Reckoning. Meanwhile, the Old Royal Naval College has doubled for settings in Skyfall, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and the latest Jurassic, World installment Rebirth (released on 2 July). For more dinosaur capers, visit Jurassic World: The Experience at NEON at Battersea Power Station, where you’ll come face to face with life-size predators.
Harry Potter and more magic
Several iconic locations have been used for scenes in the Harry Potter films, including King’s Cross Station, where the wizard boards the Hogwarts Express; Leadenhall Market, which served as inspiration for Diagon Alley and the Millennium Bridge, which is ‘destroyed’ in the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The Reptile House at ZSL London Zoo features in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Hugh Grant’s exquisite comedy About a Boy was also filmed here.
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron was filmed at Borough Market (which also houses Bridget’s flat in the hit comedy Bridget Jones’s Diary). To experience the magic, visit The Harry Potter Shop at Platform 93/4 in King’s Cross Station, or explore the legendary sets at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.
Fans of Paddington can follow in the bear’s pawsteps to Portobello Road, Notting Hill (home to Hugh Grant’s bookshop in 1999’s Notting Hill too, of course) and the Natural History Museum. Throughout June and July, tuck into the Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus Tour, with Brigit’s Bakery’s Bus Tours. And for immersive storytelling, take the kids to the Frameless Immersive Art Experience near Marble Arch.
Do London like a duchess
Few cities rival London for recreating the grandeur of Britain’s royal past. Celebrated TV dramas Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte, The Crown and Downton Abbey have all used London’s opulent landmarks to bring their lavish worlds to life. The Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, with its baroque architecture, has appeared in a wealth of productions, including Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon, the charming Enola Holmes (starring Millie Bobby Brown), the Oscar-winning The King’s Speech, The Crown and Bridgerton. Indulge in a Bridgerton Afternoon Tea on the Colonnades on 13 July (and other dates).
Hampton Court Palace has been transformed into regal residences for productions such as Queen Charlotte, Napoleon, Wolf Hall and 2018 Oscar winner The Favourite, in which Olivia Colman dazzles as Queen Anne. Another architectural gem, Somerset House has doubled as everything from a Georgian ballroom in 2008’s The Duchess, with Keira Knightley, to a stately setting in TV goliath Downton Abbey. (It has also starred in modern classics like X-Men: First Class, Love Actually and GoldenEye.) Head to Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House for the Abstract Erotic exhibition, featuring groundbreaking sculptures by 20th-century artists Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and Alice Adams.
Alternatively, there’s Buckingham Palace, which features in 2006’s The Queen, the Houses of Parliament, seen in Guy Ritchie’s perky Sherlock Holmes (2009), and the Churchill War Rooms that appear in Darkest Hour (2017), starring an Oscar-winning Gary Oldman as the wartime prime minister, Winston Churchill. You can enjoy an afternoon tea there on 18 July (and more dates) in the Harmsworth Room.
Lastly, while The Mummy Returns may not be a traditional period film — despite its classic romance — it does feature the iconic British Museum, which also appears in Night at the Museum: Secrets of the Tomb. This summer, explore the museum, with exhibitions such as Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies (14 Jul-25 Aug) and Ancient Living Traditions (to 19 Oct).
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