Lights, camera, action … Here’s our guide to London’s legendary film locations. WORDS: Daniel Landon
So you want to be in the movies? What better place to start than in London — the capital that’s played a leading role in so many of our favourite flicks from warm and fuzzy Bridget Jones’s Diary to menacing cult classic A Clockwork Orange. But it’s not just about visiting the sites immortalised in celluloid. Thanks to TNT’s guide, you can re-live your favourite scene on location.
Four Weddings And A Funeral
The scene: I’ve had 33 shags
Where: Café Rouge, Wellington St, Covent Garden, WC2
What: This is the place to go for bragging about sexual conquests. Hugh Grant is well used to playing a disrespectful cad, so it’s glorious when he gets his sexual come-uppance as Andie MacDowell describes in detail her 30-odd shags, a good 20 more than her floppy-haired companion.
Snatch
The scene: Doug ‘The Head’ Denovitz’s local
Where: Ye Olde Mitre Tavern, Ely Place (between 8 and 9 Hatton Gardens), Clerkenwell, EC1
What: Mike Reid, the legendary British actor who played mobster boss Doug ‘The Head’ in Snatch died earlier this year. But you can relive his gangster antics at the Ye Olde Mitre Tavern. It’s not the sort of place you’ll stumble across (it’s down an alley and claimed to be London’s most hidden pub), nor is it full of double-hard bastards plotting a diamond heist, but it’s a great place for an atmospheric pint.
Monty Python And The Holy Grail
The scenes: Arthur approaching the first castle and Lancelot’s running dash to Swamp Castle
Where: Hampstead Heath, NW3
What: Much of the Holy Grail was filmed at castles in Scotland, but the Python lads didn’t have to stray outside north London for some of the action. Who needs a horse when you can bang a couple of coconut halves together for that authentic clippetty-clop sound?
Love Actually
The scene: Rowan Atkinson spices things up for Alan Rickman
Where: Selfridges, Oxford St, WC1
What: The jewellery counter at Selfridges is a quality place to buy bling for that someone special at Christmas. You probably won’t get served by Atkinson doing his best Mr Bean impersonation, nor get a cinnamon stick and nutmeg thrown into the bag. But you’ll certainly impress your partner, or even your wannabe mistress.
A Clockwork Orange
The scenes: Alex’s grim neighbourhood
Where: Thamesmead Estate, south-east London, SE2
What: The Thamesmead Estate in far eastern London is classic territory for dysfunctional youth. You won’t have to beat people up, throw them in a lake or slice off a limb like Stanley Kubrick’s heroes do, but in this windswept concrete jungle it’s easy to imagine the onset of nihilism. Scary.
28 Days Later
The scene: London is empty
Where: Westminster Bridge looking towards the Houses of Parliament, SE1
What: Everyone who lives in London should check out Cillian Murphy wandering the city’s eerie, empty streets in a hospital gown at the start of 28 Days Later — it’s haunting stuff. To get a feel for it, head down to Westminster Bridge at first light on a Sunday. You’ll be on your own — except, that is, for the odd drunk staggering home.
Sliding Doors
The scene: Gwyneth Paltrow’s life-changing tube journey
Where: Waterloo station, SE1
What: Will your life change forever if you manage to squeeze onto a train carriage before it departs? Probably not. But in Gwynie’s parallel lives à la Sliding Doors, making it onto the Waterloo & City line at Waterloo, or not, was the difference between getting home in time to find her man shagging another woman, or carrying on in a miserable relationship.
A Fish Called Wanda
The scenes: John Cleese jumps in the sack with Jamie Lee Curtis then gets hung out the window by Kevin Kline
Where: Between Tower Bridge and Mill St, Bermondsey, SE1
What: The apartments alongside the Thames where these scenes were shot are apparently owned by some very rich and famous people (including one of the blokes from Bros). Have a peek around the area, sitting by the river discussing whether the London Underground is a political movement.
Bridget Jones’s Diary
The scene: Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fight dirty over Renée Zellweger
Where: The Globe Tavern, London Bridge, SE1
What: Got a dirty rat who’s been playing around with your partner? The Globe is the place to settle the score. The scenes in Bridget’s flat were filmed above the pub and the fight between her lovers happens in the street below.
Notting Hill
The scene: Hugh Grant spills juice over Julia Roberts in her pristine white T-shirt
Where: Coffee shop/ juice bar at 303 Westbourne Park Rd, Notting Hill, W11
What: Surely if a bog-standard punter spilt a garishly coloured drink over an uber-famous actress they’d be hit with a lawsuit, not a long-term lover. If things are a bit stale in your relationship, take your beloved here, pour Fanta on them and see if it rekindles the romance.