Line #17 Main/DoublingForLondon


1	When British made shows are set in London, but filmed elsewhere.
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3	This can be due to cost, or lack of the right sort of architecture (much of the Victorian architecture in the East End was destroyed in the Second World War or subsequent slum clearance).
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5	Despite what the name would suggest [[AccentDepundent to those with a certain accent]], the city used is usually (but not always) somewhere in the UK - productions rarely, if ever, actually use Dublin for London.
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7	Compare CaliforniaDoubling.
8	----
9	!Cities that have doubled for London:
10	* Bucharest (The 2005 MadeForTVMovie version of ''Film/BBCSweeneyTodd'', although this used an outdoor set on a studio backlot rather than locations in the city itself.)
11	* Cardiff (''Series/DoctorWho'' and its spinoff ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'') [[note]]Ironically, one episode actually set in Cardiff, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]", had to be filmed in Swansea as the architecture was too modern to pass for Victorian era buildings.[[/note]]
12	** ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' is also filmed in Cardiff.
13	* [[UsefulNotes/FootballPopMusicAndFlatCaps Liverpool]] (''The Ruby in the Smoke'')
14	* [[UsefulNotes/FootballPopMusicAndFlatCaps Manchester]] (''Series/PrimeSuspect'', ''Series/RedDwarf'', ''[[Film/SherlockHolmes2009 Sherlock Holmes]]'', ''Series/ItsASin'')
15	** British regulations do not allow the Houses of Parliament to be used in television unless it is part of the news (and even then it can only be used in specific ways). The result of this is that Manchester Town Hall is used to double for the Houses of Parliament in basically any television programme which requires them. Very noticeable as the floors are covered with Manchester's [[AnimalMotifs bee emblem]], known worldwide after the Manchester terror attack in 2017.
16	** Upmarket suburbs of nearby Stockport have doubled as their counterparts in London, as filming in the North is cheaper and less vexatious. This has led to viewers who recognise the streets asking why the Hell they're pretending Heaton Moor and Bramhall are Islington[[note]]Even if their upmarket nature, AB professional classes in residence and above-average disposal incomes make them a pretty convincing substitute for London's smarter suburbs[[/note]]
17	* Prague (''Film/FromHell'', again using backlot sets rather than city streets.)
18	** The London parts of ''Film/PrinceCaspian'' were shot in Prague too.
19	* Shrewsbury (''Film/AChristmasCarol1984'')
20	** Scrooge's headstone can still be visited in the graveyard of St Chad's Church.
21	* Berlin (''Around the World in Eighty Days'', 2004)
22	* Despite the pun above UsefulNotes/{{Dublin}} ''has'' doubled for London in ''Series/TheTudors'', ''Series/PennyDreadful'', ''Series/{{Primeval}}'', ''Series/RipperStreet'' and the later seasons of ''Series/FoylesWar''
23	* Belfast, too.
24	* Brisbane, Australia (''Series/{{K9}}'')
25	* Vilnius, Lithuania (''Series/ThePalace'').
26	* Riga, Latvia (''Series/TheAdventuresOfSherlockHolmesAndDoctorWatson'')
27	* Hamburg, in the ''Film/EdgarWallaceFilms''.
28	* ''WebVideo/AshensAndTheQuestForTheGameChild'' inverts this: London doubles for Norwich.
29	* ''Theatre/{{Equus}}'' was filmed in Toronto, as was ''Film/{{Jumper}}''
30	* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, [[CaliforniaDoubling of course]], in productions ranging from ''Film/MrsMiniver'' to ''Film/AustinPowers'' (which hung the world's biggest [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] on it).
31	* Cambridge, Ontario, Canada for ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' and ''Series/DesignatedSurvivor''.
32	* Paris and Brussels doubled for Edwardian London in ''Series/{{Theodosia}}'' (2022).

Context Main / DoublingForLondon