Photographs: Richard Madden by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Keeley Hawes by Soccer Aid for UNICEF, CC BY 3.0 · Jed Mercurio by Thor Brødreskift / Nordiske Mediedager, CC BY-SA 2.0
The signature · interlocked
Set the road.
Nothing moves until a route is cleared. Pull a black route lever to set a road, then pull its red signals off one at a time: each lets a scene through to the place it was really filmed. To change road, put everything back first.
No road set. Pull a black route lever first; its red signals will come free.
No of ten let through
Block shelf
The first scene you let through will appear here, as the real place it was.
Episode one · January and February
Waterloo said no.
Planned
Waterloo
A train leaving the London terminus. Permission was revoked, and the whole sequence had to be reconceived with a new chain of events.
Filmed
Dereham
The Mid-Norfolk Railway, a heritage line run mostly by volunteers. Almost seven million people watched what was shot there.
Where we read it
Waterloo, the revoked permission and the rewrite; almost seven million viewers.
Dereham station on the Mid-Norfolk Railway in October 2021. Neith-Nabu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Station Road, Dereham, Norfolk
Dereham station, Mid-Norfolk Railway
The train scenes in episode one were filmed on the Mid-Norfolk Railway, at Dereham, in January and February.
The opening was first to be shot on a train leaving Waterloo. Jed Mercurio said permission was revoked, so the whole sequence was reconceived for a new place with a new chain of events.
Almost seven million people watched the opening. Afterwards the railway’s operations manager said film-makers were approaching it more and more.
The line runs about 11.5 miles from Dereham to Wymondham. Dereham station reopened to passengers on 26 July 1997.
A charitable trust runs it, mostly with volunteers, with steam and diesel trains on most weekends from February to December.
The railway’s address is The Railway Station, Station Road, Dereham NR19 1DF.
The heritage railway’s headquarters station, on Station Road, Dereham NR19 1DF. Trains run on timetabled days; the railway publishes its programme on its own site.
Where we read it
Mid-Norfolk Railway
Ride the Mid-Norfolk Railway
Dereham, Norfolk
The volunteer-run heritage line where the opening was filmed, from Dereham to Wymondham. Running days and fares are on the railway’s site.
Stoneleigh Terrace, one of the pedestrian streets of the Whittington Estate, in September 2021. The street, not any one home. Crookesmoor · CC BY-SA 4.0
Camden · where people live, not mapped
Whittington Estate
David Budd’s flat was filmed on the Whittington Estate.
The production filmed on the estate over four days in January, with a liaison for residents.
Peter Tábori and Ken Adie designed it for Camden Council. Built from 1972 to 1979, it has 273 homes in six stepped terraces with pedestrian streets between them.
A housing estate where people live. The photograph shows Stoneleigh Terrace, one of its pedestrian streets; no flat is identified and the estate is not mapped.
Where we read it
Bloomsbury and the City
One building, three faces.
Senate House from Malet Street, July 2022. Dylan Moore · CC BY-SA 2.0
Senate House from Malet Street, July 2022. Dylan Moore · CC BY-SA 2.0
Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London
Senate House
Bomb scenes in the last episode were shot around Senate House.
The film office’s account gives the building several roles: St Matthew’s College and government exteriors, among them Whitehall and Downing Street.
The University of London’s headquarters. See it from Malet Street and Russell Square; the library inside has its own access rules.
Where we read itWoburn Square garden in a snowstorm on 28 February 2018, the month the series was being filmed, seen from the SOAS library. Platdujour · CC BY-SA 4.0
Bloomsbury, Camden, London
Woburn Square
Last-episode bomb scenes were also shot around Woburn Square.
Thomas Cubitt designed it, and it was built from 1829 to 1847. It is named after Woburn Abbey, seat of the Dukes of Bedford, who developed much of Bloomsbury.
A garden square a short walk north of Senate House, among university buildings.
Where we read itThe open space outside CityPoint on Ropemaker Street, July 2014. Chris McKenna · CC BY-SA 4.0
1 Ropemaker Street, near Moorgate, London
CityPoint
Last-episode bomb scenes were shot around CityPoint, near Moorgate.
It was finished in 1967 as Britannic House, a headquarters for British Petroleum.
An office tower; the open space at its foot on Ropemaker Street is public.
Where we read it
South Place Hotel, with a cycle-hire dock outside, June 2016. Matt Brown · CC BY 2.0
Played: the hotel
South Place Hotel
The hotel was filmed in extensively.
It is at 3 South Place, five minutes’ walk from Liverpool Street and six from Moorgate.
Its restaurants are Angler, which has a Michelin star, and Bluebird City.
A working hotel, a few minutes’ walk from Liverpool Street and Moorgate stations, with the Angler and Bluebird City restaurants.
Where we read it
South Place Hotel
South Place Hotel
Moorgate, London EC2
The City hotel the series filmed in, at 3 South Place: rooms from studios to a Presidential Suite, the Angler and Bluebird City restaurants, five minutes from Liverpool Street.
A red bridge for a cavalcade, a Bankside lane for an abandoned car, armed patrols in the streets of Bankside, and London seen from a hill in New Cross.
Lambeth Bridge, with Millbank Tower and the London Eye, from Vauxhall Bridge in June 2019. Ввласенко · CC BY-SA 3.0
Played: The cavalcade
Lambeth Bridge
An official cavalcade crosses the bridge.
The bridge opened on 19 July 1932. It is painted red to match the benches in the House of Lords, the end of Parliament nearest to it.
Open to walkers and traffic. The Palace of Westminster is just downstream on the west bank.
Where we read itBear Gardens from the riverside at Bankside, August 2017. Robert Lamb · CC BY-SA 2.0
Played: The abandoned car
Bear Gardens
A car is found abandoned here.
A narrow lane running south from the Bankside riverside walk.
Where we read itSumner Street, Bankside, April 2024. Bex Walton · CC BY 2.0
Played: Armed patrol
Sumner Street
Armed police street scenes were filmed around Sumner Street, the Cut and Bankside.
A Bankside street, close to the Cut and the riverside walk.
Where we read itThe view north over London from Telegraph Hill Park, July 2016. Shazz · CC BY-SA 2.0
Played: London from the hill
Telegraph Hill Park
A background plate of London was filmed from here: a view, not a scene with the cast.
The hill is named after a semaphore telegraph station built on the top around 1795.
A public park in two halves split by Kitto Road. The upper park looks north over the city.
Where we read it
Viator · Ad / affiliate
Westminster walks
Westminster, London
Live marketplace results for walking tours of Westminster and Whitehall. None is built round the series; check each route for Lambeth Bridge.
Keeley Hawes in Sierra Leone in June 2018, a few months after filming and ten weeks before the first episode aired. A frame from a Unicef film. Soccer Aid for UNICEF · CC BY 3.0Keeley HawesJulia Montague · 2018
Jed Mercurio talking about Bodyguard at Nordiske Mediedager in Bergen, May 2019. Thor Brødreskift / Nordiske Mediedager · CC BY-SA 2.0Jed MercurioCreator and writer · 2019
Six episodes, made by World Productions for BBC One. Thomas Vincent directed the first three and John Strickland the last three. The first episode drew 6.8 million viewers on the night; the finale averaged 10.4 million, the BBC’s most-watched drama since a 2008 Doctor Who Christmas special. Richard Madden won a Golden Globe for playing Budd.
Where we read it
Production, directors, viewing figures and the Golden Globe.
9 places you can visit: 1 in Norfolk, 4 in Bloomsbury and the City and 4 along the river and south. The Whittington Estate is where people live and is not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The heritage railway’s headquarters station, on Station Road, Dereham NR19 1DF. Trains run on timetabled days; the railway publishes its programme on its own site.
1Dereham station on the Mid-Norfolk Railway in October 2021. Neith-Nabu · CC BY-SA 4.0
Station Road, Dereham, Norfolk
Dereham station, Mid-Norfolk Railway
The train scenes in episode one were filmed on the Mid-Norfolk Railway, at Dereham, in January and February.
The heritage railway’s headquarters station, on Station Road, Dereham NR19 1DF. Trains run on timetabled days; the railway publishes its programme on its own site.
Where we read it
Stay
A room in the hotel.
The City hotel the production filmed in.
South Place Hotel
South Place Hotel
Moorgate, London EC2
The City hotel the series filmed in, at 3 South Place: rooms from studios to a Presidential Suite, the Angler and Bluebird City restaurants, five minutes from Liverpool Street.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
The box book
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
10 of 10 places · 10 of 10 Moments
Dereham station, Mid-Norfolk Railway
Station Road, Dereham, Norfolk
The train to London
Episode one’s opening on a train, filmed at Dereham after permission at Waterloo was revoked.
Whittington Estate
Dartmouth Park, Camden, north London
Budd’s flat
The estate plays the flat where Budd lives.
Senate House
Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London
St Matthew’s College
Senate House plays a college and government exteriors.
Woburn Square
Bloomsbury, Camden, London
The last episode, Bloomsbury
Bomb scenes in the final episode.
CityPoint
1 Ropemaker Street, near Moorgate, London
The last episode, Moorgate
More of the final episode, round the foot of the tower.
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