Written by Joe Jackson on Apr 25, 2022. Posted in Production News

Apple TV+’s new series Slow Horses filmed across London

Slow Horses - a new spy thriller series currently airing on Apple TV+ - was shot across England’s capital city. Filming took place in a variety of London areas thanks to location experts FilmFixer, including Walworth Road, St. George’s Road, Westminster Bridge Road and Waterloo Road. Slow Horses is based on a novel of the same name by Mick Herron. The adaptation stars Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden and Kristin Scott Thomas.

 

“We helped the location department secure permission to film in many iconic London locations,” explains Andrew Pavord, FilmFixer’s chairman and founder. “One that proved difficult to arrange was Rheidol Terrace near Upper Street. It’s a small corner cafe where a stakeout takes place. The location worked because of the two big plate glass windows (and all the reflections), looking onto a busy junction in the rain. Though this made continuity and traffic control rather difficult, all the interior and exterior scenes looked wonderful.”

 

 

The shows commences with an intense chase sequence around Stanstead Airport. However, thanks to skilful work from the location team, viewers are unable to tell that several scenes were in fact shot in Wembley, around 44 miles away.

 

Up in north London, the borough of Islington’s Caledonian Estate was used for filming sequences shot from multiple balconies. A crane was used on-site on the estate to facilitate the process, and generous donations were made to the Caledonian Estate Residents Association as a gesture of gratitude.

 

 

In the same borough, Handa Walk made clever use of one of the estate’s underground car parks, which doubled-up as a bunker-style HQ.  A fake glass wall was built to enhance the scene, and the footways above ground were used for lighting rigs to illuminate the subterranean set.

 

“The location for Slough House, the backstreet office where Gary Oldman and his team are based, was situated right on the border between Islington and The City, requiring two sets of permissions each time it was used,” details Pavord. “The street scenes shot in and around this area looked great, all rainy and grey, London at its gritty best.”

 

 

Still in Islington, the production team used Domingo Street, St John’s Street, and Goswell Road. Cars were filmed pulling up inside Bunhill Cemetery, and Rheidol Terrace, City Road and Tabernacle Street also featured.

 

Southwark Park provided the unit base for scenes shot at the Shard, all in the London borough of Southwark. Location filming took place at Blackfriars Bridge, Blackfriars Road, Stamford Street, Cornwall Road, and Upper Ground at Waterloo Road. Elephant Road features in a scene where a parked car is hot-wired and then driven away.

 

 

The London theme continued with shoots at St Georges Circus, London Road, Elephant and Castle, New Kent Road, Walworth Road, Newington Butts, John Ruskin Street, and Camberwell New Road.

 

Across in the London Borough of Lee Valley, Walthamstow Marshes feature as Andy Smith-Williams takes a walk across marshland before having a short interview. In this instance, East India Dock Basin was used as a unit base.

 

 

To cap off a successful project in the city, a special screening was arranged at a quintessentially London destination: the British museum.

 

“It was a real pleasure to be invited to the Slow Horses cast and crew screening at the British museum,” adds Pavord. “Many thanks to Apple TV and especially the superb location department - who have pulled off a blinder.” Slow Horses is now available to view on Apple TV+.

 

Images courtesy of FilmFixer