The UK’s Cinematic Capitals: The most popular filming locations

The UK is a prime location for film crews, with significant production hubs in London, Bristol, and Manchester. Recently, the streets of Bristol were bustling with action as filmmakers worked on the new Young Sherlock series while the new Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, has been spotted filming recently in Cardiff. With over 200 movies filmed in 2023, the UK has a large capability to accommodate multiple sets at once. With a wide range of studio complexes available and miles of architectural diversity and breathtaking scenery, more producers are open to utilising the facilities.

Data experts at TITAN Containers, which regularly works with the film industry to provide sound barriers for filming, carried out research on 106 cities in the UK, to find out which city is the most in demand for film and show productions. The results were determined based on the number of movies and series that have been filmed in each of these locations, currently listed on IMDb.

The top filming locations in the UK

Manchester

The research reveals that Manchester, which has previously been transformed into a 1940s film set for Captain America, is the number one filming hotspot in the UK. The city has accommodated 22,204 productions over the years.

The top three most popular genres filmed in the city, which is rich with industrial heritage, are drama with 11,998 movies, 10,779 romance productions and 4,766 talk shows.

The metropolitan borough was home to the BAFTA-winning drama series Peaky Blinders. Cillian Murphy can be spotted throughout the series at Northern Quarter, Dale Street, Mangle Street and Back Piccadilly. The success of the drama series prompted multiple Peaky Blinders tours where fans can embark on an immersive journey and delve into the history of the Peaky Blinders.

A few of the scenes of a well-known romance movie, Everything I Know About Love were also filmed in Manchester, including the iconic opening scene where Maggie disembarks a train in London. The train station in that scene is actually Manchester Piccadilly.

Popular talk shows, including the Jeremy Kyle Show, were also filmed there. During its run, the talk show was one of ITV’s most popular daytime shows.

London

In second position is London, with over 16,000 productions filmed in the bustling capital city of England. Popular TV shows, including Killing Eve and One Day have been filmed in the city. It’s also the set of beloved movies such as Bridget Jones’s Diary and Harry Potter and then Philosophers Stone.

Dramas are the most popular genre to film in this city with over 9,000 productions filmed. It’s also a popular spot for comedies, where 5,587 productions have been filmed. Closely following comedies are talk shows. Just over 5,000 talk shows have been hosted in London.

Leeds

Taking third place for the most in-demand filming hotspot of the UK is Leeds, with 14,321 movies and series on the list. Its proximity to other major filming locations such as Manchester and the Peak District provides filmmakers with a haven of options where time and budget can be saved.

Drama (8,987) is the most filmed category in the city, including the award-winning period drama, Downtown Abbey.

Due to the wide range of architectural styles and landscapes available in and around the city, crime movies (8,760) are the second most popular category. Scenes from the successful Netflix limited series, Bodies were filmed in the city.

The most popular category is romance (8,280) with the likes of Upgraded filmed in the bustling city.

Birmingham

Taking fourth place is Birmingham, with 10,399 total productions being produced there. The most popular genre for this city is once again drama (8,094), followed by news (1,238) and short (332).

Salford

Rounding up the top five is Salford. Salford has seen 8,484 productions filmed in this city. Interestingly, the most popular genre filmed in this city is game shows, followed by drama and romance.

Methodology: 

A seed list of 75 cities was created. Next, each city’s IMDb location page was scraped using the Screaming Frog SEO Spider and the number of titles which listed each city as a filming location was recorded. We scraped the total number of productions filmed in each location and recorded the breakdown of genres for each location.

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