Countless films shot in London feature its famous and instantly recognisable underground stations be it the corridors, carriages, ticket halls, exits or familiar London transport signs. Such scenes, no matter how brief they may be, allow the spectators to relate to those familiar sitesand at the same time act as ‘establishing shots’: in a blink of an eye, we know where we are.
I am pleased to say that Islington’s tube and train stations have enjoyed their fair share of spotlight.
In the science-fiction thriller V for Vendetta (2005), by the late 2020s Great Britain is a fascist state. One freedom fighter known as V (Hugo Weaving) fights this oppressive society and threatens to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5th November, as attempted by Guy Fawkes in 1605. In doing this, he meets a young woman called Evey (Natalie Portman).
Before Islington appears on the screen, the borough is mentioned at the very beginning of the movie. While Evey is getting ready to go out, the TV is on and presenter Lewis Prothero (Roger Allam) warns his viewers about the situation in the USA and how similar it is to the one faced by Great Britain years ago “(…) Islington, Enfield, I was there, I have seen it all (…)”.
However, the first time we get to properly spot Islington is later on when Evey tells V about her childhood. While she talks about the death of her brother, her parents’ political engagement, we can see her as a young Evey (Madeleine Rakic-Platt) handing leaflets out outside Farringdon Station.
Since many scenes of V for Vendetta were shot across Islington we will have the opportunity to get back to it!
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?
Farringdon Station (Zone 1)
Many buses to Farringdon Road
Lights, Camera…Islington! 