In a similar way than Chapel Market, this week’s Islington Film Location survived the upheavals of the 20th century without any major changes. Similarly, it features regularly on our screens and you can be sure that “we’ll be back”. This is where the similarity ends.
Agatha Christie’s crime novels have been adapted time and time again for the big screen, the television or the stage. It is for an episode of ITV’s Agatha Christie’s Poirot, that Belgium detective Hercule Poirot (David Suchet), graces us with his presence.
In The Clocks (Season 12 – 2009), Hercule Poirot investigates a murder in Wilbraham Crescent. Wilbraham Crescent? No such crescent in Islington my dear Monsieur X, non, non, non!
In fact, there is no reason why one should think or realise that we are in the heart of Islington. The whole episode is set in Dover, as the regular views of the Castle and the sea remind us, not to mention the seagulls we hear on most outdoor scenes. Furthermore, when Lt Colin Race (Tom Burke) presents the case to Poirot he refers to Wilbraham Crescent as “a quiet street away from the seafront”. How could you possibly guess you are in Thornhill Crescent?
Since Wilbraham Crescent is the crime scene, Poirot keeps coming back to it: to visit the house where the body was found, talk to the neighbours, once, twice…
The first time we get to spot Thornhill Crescent is when typist-for-hire Sheila Webb (Jaime Winstone) arrives to the house of Ms Pebmarsh (Anna Massey). She arrives from Crescent Street and turns left.
Later on Poirot and Lt Race go back to ask the neighbours a few questions. We can see them arriving by car from Bridgeman Road (east side) and turning right onto Thornhill Crescent.
After their visit, they stop on the pavement to discuss progress with Inspector Hardcastle (Phil Daniels) who has joined them.
Finally, when our Belgium detective has all the evidences he needed, he rings Inspector Hardcastle. The red phone box used was a prop but St Andrew’s Church can be seen in the background.
A particular Thank You to our Twitter friends @thecallyroad and Jan in particular for pointing us in the right direction us!
We will come back to Thornhill Square for more Islington Film Locations adventures…
Fade Out
Enjoyed this post? Feel free to comment, share it with your friends and come to Islington to discover our locations! Don’t forget to send me your pictures.
And if you do know any Islington location used for Film, TV, photo shoot or have been involved in the process, drop me a line at TheUnbelievableMrX(at)gmail.com or via Twitter
How to get there?
Thornhill Crescent N1 1BJ
Caledonian Road Tube Station (Zone 2)
Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Overground (Zone 2)
Many buses to Caledonian Road
Lights, Camera…Islington! 
Fabulous! Will seek out that film to watch & see who else notices the islington connection! I also think you have a snap of Islington’s famous black poplar in that last pic – it’s the tree with the distinctive lean at the front of the churchyard. Years ago that whole area was used for shooting snipe (or some other marshy game bird). I think i heard this gem on the Caledonian Road TV programme – so was obviously v boggy which I assume is why the black poplar manages/managed to thrive there. Nicola http://islingtonfacesblog.com
Glad you enjoyed it Nicola. Thanks a lot for all this information on Islington and the black poplar, had no idea at all about this. Another piece of Islington history!