The UK's Most Popular Films and Film Locations

From stately manors and landscaped parks, to wild coasts and unique historic sites, we used IMDB data to find the most popular filming locations in the UK. 

We also explored which places were the best for making films, taking into account their IMDB ratings to find the top and worst county for filming.

Scroll through our page to discover the most popular films and filming locations in the UK.

Rank
Film
Metascore
1
Lawrence of Arabia
100
2
A Hard Day’s Night
96
3
The Social Network
95
4
Mr Turner
94
5
Durkirk
94
6
45 Years
94
7
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
93
8
Threads
92
9
The Queen
91
10
Patton
91
11
Saving Private Ryan
91
12
Frenzy
91
13
Repulsion
91
14
Secrets and Lies
91
15
The Ladykillers
91
16
The Souvenir
91
17
Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope
90
18
Being John Malkovich
90
19
Gosford Park
90
20
The Crying Game
90
21
United 93
90
22
The Favourite
90
23
Topsy-Turvy
90
24
Phantom Thread
90
25
The Passenger
90
Rank
Film
Metascore
1
May I Kill U?
7
2
The Avengers (1998)
12
3
Time Traveller
19
4
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
20
5
Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj
21
6
Revolution
22
7
Summer in February
22
8
Spies Like Us
22
9
The 51st State
23
10
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
24
11
Highlander
24
12
Holmes & Watson
24
13
The Black Prince
26
14
Basic Instinct 2
26
15
Transformers: The Last Knight
27
16
Dolittle
27
17
Mortdecai
27
18
All The Devil’s Men
27
19
Patrick
28
20
London Has Fallen
28
21
Survivor
28
22
Hector and the Search for Happiness
29
23
Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism
30
24
The Legacy
31
25
Vampire Academy
31
26
Your Highness
31

England's top films by county

The map below shows the most popular film made in each county, based on the metascores* ascribed on IMDB.

Bedfordshire: Mr Turner

Berkshire: The Social Network

Bristol: Being John Malkovich

Buckinghamshire: The Queen

Cambridgeshire: The King’s Speech 

Cheshire: Patton

Cornwall: Mr Turner

County Durham: Avengers Endgame

Cumbria: Paddington 2/Brazil

Derbyshire: Threads

Devon: A Hard Day’s Night

Dorset: Dunkirk

East Midlands: Oranges and Sunshine

East Sussex: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

East Yorkshire: The Personal History of David Copperfield

Essex: Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Gloucestershire: Barry Lyndon

Greater Manchester: 24 Hour Party People

Hampshire: Dunkirk

Herefordshire: Howards End

Hertfordshire: Mr Turner

Isle of Wight: Mrs Brown

Kent: Mr Turner

Lancashire: Phantom Thread

Leicestershire: A Cock & Bull Story/The Hours

Lincolnshire: This is England

London: A Hard Day’s Night

Merseyside: Distant Voices, Still Lives

Middlesex: A Hard Day’s Night

Norfolk: 45 Years

North Yorkshire: Phantom Thread

Northamptonshire: Pride and Prejudice

Northumberland: Atonement

Nottinghamshire: This is England

Oxfordshire: Saving Private Ryan

Shropshire: Atonement

Somerset: Barry Lyndon

South Yorkshire: Mr Turner

Staffordshire: The Girl With All The Gifts

Suffolk: Mr Turner

Surrey: Lawrence of Arabia

Tyne and Wear: Sorry We Missed You

Warwickshire: A Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake

West Midlands: Felicia’s Journey

West Sussex: A Hard Day’s Night

West Yorkshire: The Arbor

Wiltshire: The Madness of King George/Barry Lyndon

Worcestershire: Howards End

Across England, South Yorkshire had the highest average metascore*, making it the county that produced the most popular films. Worcestershire came out at the other end of the spectrum, being the county with the lowest average metascore* and therefore the county with the lowest-ranking films. 

The best English counties for films

Rank
County
1
South Yorkshire
2
Nottinghamshire
3
County Durham
4
Bristol
5
Derbyshire
6
Lancashire
7
Bedfordshire
8
Devon
9
Shropshire
10
Norfolk

The worst English counties for films

Rank
County
1
Worcestershire
2
Gloucestershire
3
Herefordshire
4
East Yorkshire
5
Surrey
6
Cornwall
7
Warwickshire
8
West Midlands
9
Northumberland
10
Buckinghamshire

The most popular film locations outside of London

Across different genres, these English sites were the most frequently used to shoot films. Scroll through our gallery to find the top 10 most popular film locations.

10. Stansted Airport, Essex
Seen in the likes of: Last Chance Harvey (2008), Get Him to the Greek (2010) and The Shining (1980)
9. Hampton Court Palace, Surrey
Seen in the likes of: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Vanity Fair (2004) and The Favourite (2018)
8. Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
Seen in the likes of: Transformers: The Last Knight (2017), Entrapment (1999) and Spectre (2015)
7. Bourne Woods, Surrey
Seen in the likes of: Thor: The Dark World (2013), Robin Hood (2010) and Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
6. Burnham Beeches, Bedfordshire
Seen in the likes of: Spiceworld (1997), Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
5. Luton Hoo Estate, Bedfordshire
Seen in the likes of: The World is Not Enough (1999), Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and War Horse(2011)
4. West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire
Seen in the likes of: The Counsellor (2013), The Labyrinth (1986) and Victoria and Abdul (2017)
3. Black Park, Buckinghamshire
Seen in the likes of: Dark Shadows (2015), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Stardust (2007)
2. Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
Seen in the likes of: Victor Frankenstein (2015), Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit (2014) and V for Vendetta (2005)
1. Chatham Historic Dockyard, Kent
Seen in the likes of: The Mummy (1999), Les Miserables (2012) and Children of Men (2006)
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London in Film

The map below shows the films that were made in each London borough

Barking and Dagenham: Doctor Strange

Barnet: Tomorrow Never Dies

Bexley: London Road

Brent: Shaun of the Dead

Bromley: The Italian Job

Camden: Wonder Woman

City of London: Dorian Grey

Croydon: The Dark Knight Rises

Ealing: About a Boy

Enfield: The Conjuring 2

Greenwich: The Young Victoria

Hackney:  Die Another Day

Hammersmith and Fulham: Bohemian Rhapsody

Haringey: Four Weddings and a Funeral

Harrow: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Havering: Fisk Tank

Hillingdon: The Imitation Game 

Hounslow: Vanity Fair

Islington: V for Vendetta

Kensington and Chelsea: Notting Hill

Kingston upon Thames: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Lambeth: Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Lewisham: Babylon

Merton: Wimbledon

Newham: Kick Ass 

Redbridge: Lost Paradise

Richmond upon Thames: Finding Neverland

Southwark: Love Actually

Sutton: Black Sea

Tower Hamlets: Mission Impossible: Rogue One

Waltham Forest: The Intent

Wandsworth: A Clockwork Orange

Westminster: Skyfall 

Top films filmed in London by metascore*

Rank
Film
Metascore
1
A Hard Day's Night
96
2
Frenzy
91
3
Repulsion
91
4
Secrets and Lies
91
5
The Ladykillers
91
6
The Crying Game
90
7
The Passenger
90
8
Howards End
89
9
Paddington 2
88
10
The Death of Stalin
88

The Fallen Idol and The King’s Speech also had metascores of 88

Worst films filmed in London by metascore*

Rank
Film
Metascore
1
The Avengers (1998)
12
2
London Has Fallen
28
3
Survivor
28
4
Hector and the Search for Happiness
29
5
Vampire Academy
31
6
Gulliver's Travels
33
7
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
33
8
The Other Man
34
9
Criminal
36
10
Shanghai
36

Iconic locations around London seen in films

Scroll through our gallery to find the London landmarks commonly used as film locations. 

Houses of Parliament
Seen in the likes of Casino Royale (2006), Match Point (2005) and Die Another Day (2002)
Old Royal Naval College
Seen in the likes of Vanity Fair (2004), The Young Victoria (2009) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
St Pancras Station
Seen in the likes of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)
Heathrow Airport
Seen in the likes of Love Actually (2003), Die Another Day (2002) and Closer (2004)
River Thames
Seen in the likes of A Hard Day's Night (1964), 28 Weeks Later (2007) and Fast and Furious 6 (2013)
Kings Cross Station
Seen in the likes of The Ladykillers (1995), Wonder Woman (2017) and The Imitation Game (2014)
Hyde Park
Seen in the likes of 28 Weeks Later (2007), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) and The Fourth Protocol (1987)
St Paul's Catherdral
Seen in the likes of Paddington 2 (2017), Men in Black: International (2019) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Buckingham Palace
Seen in the likes of Johnny English (2003), Gandhi (1982) and The Iron Lady (2011)
Lambeth Bridge
Seen in the likes of Fast and Furious 6 (2013), Cloesd Circuit (2013) and Spectre (2015)
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Film map of the UK and Ireland

The map below shows some of the most popular films that were set (or partially set) in each part of the UK and Ireland. 

Comparing films ratings for each country showed English films  had lower rankings than the rest of the region. Figures show that English films had an average metascore* of 62.19, compared to 63.48 for Scotland, Ireland and Wales combined. 

The best film made outside of England was Saving Private Ryan (1998), filmed in County Wexford, Ireland, and The Queen (2006), in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Closely following, Barry Lyndon was the highest-ranking film that was set largely in Ireland across 8 different counties. 

The UK and Ireland have generally attracted a wealth of talent to every corner, some we all know about (Mel Gibson’s Braveheart (1995) was filmed in Scotland…duh) and some we perhaps wouldn’t have guessed (Brad Pitt rocking up on the southern English coast in World War Z (2013)).

There’s some we may have forgotten were filmed here (Bradley Cooper singing at Glastonbury in A Star is Born (2018)), while some were simply filmed all over that you were probably an unknown extra (Harry Potters, James Bonds, Star Wars’…Stardust (2007))!

Popular film locations around the UK and Ireland

Across the sample of films used to analyse Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland, these villages, castles and rural landscapes were the most popular locations for films.

Cliffs of Moher
Seen in the likes of The Princess Bride (1987) and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Eilean Donan Castle
Seen in the likes of Made of Honor (2008), Entrapment (1999) and The World is Not Enough (1999)
Dunnottar Castle
Seen in the likes of Hamlet (1996) and Victor Frankenstein (2015)
Glen Coe
Seen in the likes of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Prometheus (2012) and Braveheart (1995)
Freshwater West
Seen in the likes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (2010) and Part Two (2011), and Robin Hood (2010)
Snowdonia
Seen in the likes of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003), King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) and Clash of the Titans (2010)
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Methodology

Using IMDB, TickX analysed all the most popular films that were set or partially set in the UK and Ireland to find the most common filming locations, excluding studios. The most popular films were determined by those with a metascore* rating. 

For Greater London, a representative sample of 200 films with the highest number of locations in that county was used. For the rest of the UK and Ireland, a smaller representative sample was used to determine average genre and metascore*.

The average metascore* for each English county was used to determine the best and worst counties for films. Films with the highest metascores* and lowest metascores* were used to establish the top and worst films of each region.

You can access the raw data here.

*Metascores on IMDB are scores from movie critics combined with weighted scores, based on the fame of the critic, to assign values for films.

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