Film & TV Set Information
Locations | Britains Favourite Film
You can drive four hours in say Utah or Texas without the scenery changing. Drive four hours in Britain and you can cross the country east to west, go from mountains to marshland, capital city to the quietest countryside. Thus directors have exploited the richness of British scenery as backdrops in thousands of movies. In some the landscape itself becomes a character.
London of course has long attracted film-makers. The less creative drop in a few shots of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and London Bridge as unsubtle location reminders. More skilful hands bring out the character of the capital's components: take Notting Hill, where the W11 scene wraps itself round the characters; and Guy Ritchie, not always praised for his deftness, uses the bustle of Borough and Camden Markets to great effect in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Contrary to what some tourists believe, there is more to Britain than London. From the Cobb in Lyme Regis in the South to Ben Nevis in Braveheart in the North; from the East Coast beach at St Andrews in Chariots of Fire to the startling Portmeirion of The Prisoner on the Welsh Coast, directors have taken inspiration from the beauty of Britain's regions.
The temptation to use iconic locations can be too much for some directors, however - in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves Robin lands near Dover's white cliffs and expects to be in Nottingham by nightfall - only on ye high speed train.
Much can be done with special effects and studios, but there is no substitute for the real thing: would the Harry Potter films be as atmospheric without Alnwick Castle in Northumberland? Would Hot Fuzz have the same sleepy-creepy feel without Wells as Sandford? Explore the movies on our guide, then explore the locations in our country.
- 101 Dalmations
- A Man for all Seasons
- All Creatures Great and Small
- An American Werewolf in London
- Batman
- Braveheart
- Brideshead Revisited
- Brief Encounter
- Carrington
- Chariots of Fire
- Chocolat
- Die Another Day
- Elizabeth
- Entrapment
- First Knight
- Four Weddings and a Funeral
- Foyle's War
- French Lieutenant's Woman
- Full Metal Jacket
- Gladiator
- Gorky Park
- Hamlet
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Highlander
- Hot Fuzz
- Howard's End
- Lawrence of Arabia
- Little Voice
- Loch Ness
- Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
- Middlemarch
- Mission Impossible
- Mr.
- Mr.
- Mr.
- Mr.
- Mr.
- Mr.
- Mr.
- Mrs Brown
- My Fair Lady
- Notting Hill
- Patriot Games
- Rob Roy
- Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves
- Saving Private Ryan
- Sense and Sensibility
- Shackleton
- Shadowlands
- Shakespeare in Love
- Superman
- The Da Vinci Code
- The Full Monty
- The Hunt For Red October
- The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
- The Madness of King George
- The Prisoner
- Tomb Raider 2
- Trainspotting
- Under Milkwood
- Vanity Fair
- Withnail and I
Tours
For private tours of Britain's film locations click here
For private tours of Harry Potter film locations click here
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