Hard Sun filmed London locations
Neil Cross’ pre-apocalyptic BBC crime drama Hard Sun filmed on location across London, with the production team seeking out lesser-known parts of the city.
The six-part series is produced by Euston Films and stars Agyness Deyn and Jim Sturgess as a pair of London detectives who discover during a murder investigation that the world will experience an apocalypse in five years.
“This was an extensive shoot between February and April last year, with cast and crew of up to 80 for the most complex scenes,” said Andrew Pavord, director of FilmFixer, which manages many of London’s film offices.
“The incredible hidden Highgate tunnels, connected to the abandoned Highgate Overground station were used. We see a life-or-death chase scene through West Norwood cemetery. Swiss Cottage Library features and the Camden Council office at 5 Pancras Square plays a newspaper office that’s raided by police. Even the real Guy’s at London Bridge was used for hospital scenes – it’s a rare location to see used.”
Euston Films kept crew numbers limited or indeed out of sight to avoid local disruption and the normal practice was followed of making donations to local residents’ associations to help compensate for any inconvenience.
“The cast and crew were regularly reminded to keep the noise down out of respect for residents,” said Pavord, referring to specific action scenes filmed in Camden.
“No sirens were allowed on the fake police cars and all the filming lights had to be switched off at a set time in the evening.”
London remains a popular filming location for both UK and international productions, but producers are becoming more emboldened to showcase parts of the city that are less familiar to audiences.
Image: BBC/Euston Films
Also on The Knowledge
Studios Spotlight – Behind the scenes at The Bottle Yard Studios
The latest spotlight in our Studios series shines on Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios, the largest film and TV studio in the west of England.
Ralph Fiennes, Jim Broadbent to film Alan Bennett feature in Yorkshire
A new film that reunites Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner will shoot in Yorkshire this May.
James Norton leads starry cast on period drama King & Conqueror
Filming is underway in Iceland on UK period drama King & Conqueror, starring James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
Saoirse Ronan begins filming Bad Apples
Filming is due to get underway this week (w/c 18 March) on Bad Apples, a satirical thriller starring Saoirse Ronan.
Martin Compston, Anjli Mohindra film thriller in Glasgow for Prime Video
Filming is underway in Glasgow on Fear, a new, three-part thriller for Prime Video.
Netflix UK agrees writers remuneration deal
Netflix UK has reached a landmark remuneration agreement with the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) and agency body the Personal Managers Association (PMA) for writers on live-action scripted series, Broadcast reports.