Tag Archives: Filming Location

At St John’s Gate, the clues you’ll get

10 Jul

This week, Lights, Camera…Islington! is back in Clerkenwell on the lookout for the A Fish Called Wanda (1988) gang.

We already saw that while the robbery was going on in Hatton Garden Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) was waiting for the gang in a getaway car on Clerkenwell Green, and how shortly afterwards they swapped cars on Clerkenwell Close before vanishing.

However, to make it the perfect robbery our culprits had to make sure that no clues remained behind them, in particular Wanda’s fake moustache! And this is where Ken (Michael Palin) came in. When Wanda & Co. leave Clerkenwell Close in a car, Ken gets on a motorbike and with the bin bag to get rid of.

Before you know it, he rides under St John’s Gate and throws the bag into a skip.

A Fish Called Wanda - Moto Escape - FILM

Originally built in 1504, the Gate was the south entrance to the inner precinct of the Priory of the Knights of Saint John. Quite a stunning structure, St John’s Gate was selected to represent Islington for the London 2012 Games.

Since you are there you might as well visit the Museum of the Order of St John.

A Fish Called Wanda - Moto Escape - MRX

As you can see, the 3 sequences we talked about were all shot within yards of each other, and probably on the same day!

That’s the Wrap!

With this post we say goodbye to A Fish Called Wanda in Islington, unless you do happened to know otherwise. In which case feel free to let us know!

Fade Out

 

Related A Fish Called Wanda posts

Clerkenwell Green: Fishy Wanda on the Run

Clerkenwell Close: A Fish Called Wanda Returns

How to get there?

Islington Film Locations Map

St John’s Gate EC1M 4DN

Farringdon Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon Road and St John’s Street

 

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

Islington Film Locations: The Story so Far

5 Jun

As you get to read this post, yours truly is…

@Come_September PHOTO O

 

Although a film location, I am afraid to report that, as some of you may have noticed, it is not an Islington one. Indeed, I am enjoying a few days on the Italian Riviera, and San Fruttuoso in particular: the very same spot where Colin Firth had (another) swim in A Summer in Genova (2008).

Since this is the first break since launching Lights, Camera…Islington!, I thought it would be a good time to look back at the last few months.

So far we have talked about:

From comedies like Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Ladykillers and Happy Go Lucky to dramas such as Closer, Notes on a Scandal or V for Vendetta as well as documentaries, The London Nobody Knows, TV series and adverts, Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Mc Donald’s. Even Harry Potter stopped by!

  • 2 Filming in Progress Suffragette with Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter and Carrey Mulligan, and Absolutely Anything directed by Terry Jones with Simon Pegg in the lead role.
  • Awards Winners and Nominees ‘Made in Islington’: Golden Globes, BAFTA, Oscars, Berlin Film Festival you name them, we have them: Islington can be proud of its filmography.
  • A plethora of movie stars: Cate Blanchett, Dame Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Liam Neeson, Joan Collins, David Suchet, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, James Mason to name but a few.

I want to acknowledge here the collaboration of many of the blog’s followers who, by email, tweets, pictures, tips or spreading the word have and are contributing to Lights, Camera…Islington! Needless to say that the same goes for the public and private venues that have opened their doors to us.

Thank you as well to the follower who presented us recently with a very kind little detail.

MrX - iPhone Cover I

And there I was, hoping to remain anonymous when walking around the borough!

 

Usherettes 1

 

Fade Out

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

 

Monty Python’s Terry Jones filming in Campdale Road

1 May

Barely less than a month after Meryl Street, Helena Bonham Carter and Carrey Mulligan where spotted filming Suffragette in Myddelton Square, and more Action! is taking place in Islington.

Icing on the cake, this is taking place in Tufnell Park, an area I have struggled to find movie locations so far. Having said this, thanks to a few Tufnell Park readers and followers, I do now have a ‘Tufnell Park to watch list’ and it is thanks to one of them that we have this post and pictures. She prefers to remain anonymous unless of course you want to purchase (for an insane amount of money) her photos!

A few weeks ago Simon Pegg and Sanjeed Bhaskar were already spotted filming in Campdale Road: Monty Python’s Terry Jones was in the borough filming his first movie in 18 years, Absolutely Anything. Simon Pegg plays a disillusioned school teacher who discovers that he has the ability to do anything he wishes, that is Absolutely Anything!

On Sunday 27th, crews took over Campdale Road once again to shoot another scene…and shooting there was!

Thanks to our Tufnell Park photographer, we are proud to present, ‘exclusively for the readers of Lights, Camera Islington!’ some behind the scenes pictures of what went on in Campdale Road this week. Absolutely Anything is due to be released in 2015.

06 lci

Crew members and passers-by

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The Baddies not looking that scary actually

And…Action!

01 lci

We need to get him in the car…NOW!

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The chase is on…

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?

Campdale Road N7 0EA

Islington Film Locations Map

Tufnell Park Station (Zone 2)

Many buses to Tufnell Park Road and Tufnell Park Station

Myddelton Square’s Week with Meryl Streep

27 Mar

Today I was due to talk to you about a film shot in Myddelton Square and outside St Mark’s Church. I had it all planned for months, set in stone in my blog calendar: Thursday 27th March, Myddelton Square, The End of the Affair (1999) with Julianne Moore and Ralf Fiennes.

Hummm… maybe not. Let’s put it this way, we will still visit Myddelton Square and St Mark’s Church but for the time being we’ll forget about Julianne More and Ralf Fiennes. All this because I realised a few weeks ago that although I had drafted the text, selected the pictures from the movie, I was actually missing those from the location itself! As a result, making the most of a sunny afternoon, I made my way to yet another beautiful square of our borough.

As I arrived Myddelton Square some familiar yellow signs grabbed my attention.

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 01

Well, well, well…Parking spaces booked …for Filming…24 to 26 March… How interesting…

Back home, I started searching the Internet for any information I could possibly get. Eventually, some light at the end of the tunnel:  Suffragette…Biopic on Emmeline Pankhurst… First film to get permission to shoot inside Houses of Parliament…Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, not bad, not bad…MERYL STREEP? Oh oh oh…Now we’re talking.

Islington has had its fair share of Oscar and BAFTA winning movies and stars as we have seen on our blog, but this was different: filming was taking place on our doorsteps within days!

Another cause for celebration maybe is not only the fact that the shooting and such cast were coming to Islington this week, but also that Ruby Film and Television, an Islington based production company, based a stone’s throw from Myddelton Square, is behind such project. Although Islington Film Studios (later Gainsborough Studios) and Highbury Studios have long gone, Islington’s cinema industry is still going strong!

Ruby Film & TV Offices

Ruby Film & Television Offices

My initial excitement was short lived. The 24th, 25th and 26th March were all weekdays, i.e. workdays. I enlisted the help (and camera) of LadyPinkLondon who already contributes to this blog and who went to Myddelton Square during her spare time.

We are proud to present, ‘exclusively for the readers of Lights, Camera Islington!’ some behind the scenes pictures of what has been going on this week in Islington. This should keep you going until the release of Suffragette in 2015.

 

Before

Myddelton Square Before…

 and After!

and After!

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 02

Setting the scene

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 06

Banners for the Suffragettes being delivered

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 09

A few vintage cars

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 08

a Police van

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 07

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 04

Lights ready and THE balcony…

And the Oscar goes to…

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 10

An Oscar ‘Made in Islington’ for Meryl?

Finally, some cast and suffragettes having a well deserved break between scenes

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 13

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 11

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 18

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 14 15 16

Selfie Time - Sadly no Meryl on this one!

Selfie Time – Sadly no Meryl on this one!

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 20

Extras outside St Mark’s Church

 

Suffragette - Myddelton Square - MRX 19

St Mark’s Church

CALL OUT: You live or work on Myddelton Square or nearby? You got involved in the shooting in one way or another? Maybe as an Extra or as a location? Was Meryl standing on your balcony? Carey outside your house? Should you be happy to share your experience with Lights, Camera…Islington!, we would LOVE to hear from you!

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?

Islington Film Locations Map

Myddelton Square EC1R 1XP

Angel Tube Station (Zone 1)

King’s Cross Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel, Pentonville Road, Rosebery Avenue and St John’s Street

 

Chapel Market: The London Nobody Knows

31 Oct

Located in the heart of Angel, between Penton Street and Liverpool Road is Chapel Market. Known as Chapel Street until 1936, it changed its name after the busy market that had established itself well in the second part of the nineteenth century.

Chapel market 1906

Chapel Market in 1906

Chapel Market survived the twentieth century without any major changes. It is therefore probably unsurprising that it has appeared time and time again on our screens as we will have the opportunity to see in future posts.

Based on an earlier book of the same name, the documentary The London Nobody Knows (1967) follows British actor James Mason around non-touristy areas of 1960s London. The film encapsulates the real life of those years and is definitely worth seeing for anyone interested in the history of the capital.

It is in this context that Mason introduces the spectators to “Chapel Market, Islington” and its array of stalls in a rather psychedelic visit! 

London Nobody Knows - Chapel Market - FILM

Chapel Market MRX v

As mentioned above, I will come back to Chapel Market in the future. In fact, no later than Monday, only non-trading day of the week, a crew had invaded the street. Watch out for something (an advert?) involving a Christmas market, snow and a world famous fast food restaurant chain…To be continued

Chapel Market Advert 2013

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?

Islington Film Locations Map

Chapel Market N1 1UP

Angle Tube Station (Zone 1)

Many buses to Angel

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