Whether you live in the United Kingdom or not, every year there are thousands of people who flock to the streets of London. Tourists come from far and wide to experience the capital, visit world famous landmarks, and explore the city. London is full of well-known landmarks that pop up in both movies and television shows over the years. Whether the setting is historical, contemporary or futuristic, the English capital has been catering for the needs of film and TV. In recent times, London can claim to have hosted some of the most talked about movies on social media. Even popular British TV shows like Doctor Who have filmed all over the UK, including the capital. For fans who just cannot get enough of the show, a new immersive Doctor Who experience is also coming to London in early 2021.
For fans of Harry Potter
One of the most popular sites today, thanks to the Harry Potter movie franchise, has to be King’s Cross Station. Platforms 4, 5, and 9¾, and the exterior of St Pancras were all used in the Harry Potter films. Featuring in Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix, the filming location for 12 Grimmauld Place, home to Sirius Black, is a short distance away in Islington’s Claremont Square. Head into the city to find The Leaky Cauldron at Leadenhall Market or make for Borough Market as they both served as the entrance to Diagon Alley.
When the franchise first began, Australia House became the interior of Gringotts, while London Zoo allowed one of its pythons to talk to the aspiring wizard in its Reptile House, during Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Later on in the film series, the Millennium Bridge opposite the Tate Modern featured (and was ‘destroyed’) in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
For fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
For years now the MCU has taken the world by storm, has filmed in London and has had some incredibly successful films. In their guide on ‘Leading Movies Based On Merchandise Sales’, New Free Spins No Deposit outline some of the highest grossing movies, with Avengers Endgame (2019) top of the list by making almost $2.8b at the Worldwide Box Office. One of the greatest Marvel filming locations was in Greenwich for Thor: The Dark World. The last battle in the film played out at Greenwich’s Old Royal Naval College (ORNC), and the London Underground also features too (but unfortunately, Greenwich isn’t really just three stops from Charing Cross station!). St Pancras International itself was also the destination for a superhero in Spiderman: Far From Home, before our hero swung across Tower Bridge and visited other landmarks in his own distinctive manner.
For fans of everything else
Given that the year was 2012, and that Greenwich is a World Heritage Site, shooting had to be worked around the London Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee commemorations. Among its other movie credits, the stunning ORNC also featured in the carriage chase of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and doubled for Paris in the musical Les Misérables.
Of the diverse districts within London, Notting Hill has provided a feel-good factor for many dramas, including its self-titled one in 1999. BBC’s Sherlock was a popular TV show for many fans but, interestingly enough, 221b was not filmed on Baker Street! Instead, the exterior of his flat was actually filmed on North Gower Street. Trafalgar Square is a familiar backdrop on screen in Sherlock, and in movies like The Edge of Tomorrow and St Trinians. The masks worn by the crowd at the end of V for Vendetta as they moved across the square, bent on the destruction of the Houses of Parliament is also a memorable scene in the heart of the city too.
Train stations are popular with many film-makers, but they usually aren’t always what they seem (as with platform 9¾!). The Paddington bear film, for instance, was named after his point of arrival, but the external sequence was filmed at Marylebone Underground station, while back in the sixties, Marylebone doubled both as itself and as Liverpool Lime Street in the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night.
