Where was The Thursday Murder Club shot? Revisiting key filming locations of the Netflix crime comedy

The latest Netflix crime comedy, The Thursday Murder Club, has been shot across various locations in England.

Director Chris Columbus made the film adaptation of Richard Osman's bestselling novel in 2020. It stars an ensemble of the masters of acting in one film, which includes Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, and Celia Imrie in the lead.

The film explores a mysterious as well as a hilarious plot of how a group of four senior citizens gang up together to dissect unsolved crime cases. The group encompasses a spy, a psychiatrist, a former union leader, and a nurse, creating a community of power-packed, experienced people who can bring light to important criminal cases.

Let us explore the key filming locations of The Thursday Murder Club.

Primary filming locations of The Thursday Murder Club, explored

Right from reconstructing a whole village to exploring various old architectures in various nooks and corners of England, its filming has been an intricate process in itself. Shooting for The Thursday Murder Club took place last year, in 2024, commencing on June 27 and concluding by September 11, 2024, as illustrated by Digital Spy.

The locations have brought in a sense of enchantment, much like the helmer, Chris Columbus's Harry Potter films. In association with the ace production designer James Merifield, Columbus's vision for this film has been successfully brought to life.

1) Englefield Estate, Berkshire

A still from 'The Thursday Murder Club' | Image via @Youtube/Netflix

In order to recreate the retirement home for the detective squad, The Cooper's Chase, the Englefield Estate in Berkshire has been picked to showcase that. The exterior of the building, as well as the beautiful, lush garden surrounding it, replicated the house.

As per CNTraveller, the history of this house goes way back to the Elizabethan era, when the Englefield family had planned to execute Elizabeth I. Because of this, they had presumably dropped their ownership of this house. Since then, Francis Walsingham and his family have been the owners of this house.

The interiors of the house are not accessible to people, but its exteriors are. Films and series such as Cruella and The Crown have been shot here as well.

But filming the interiors of the Coopers' house was a daunting task. A set was created to fuse it with the existing building. In the film, a very crucial space named the Jigsaw Room, where the squad would come together to solve crimes, was built from the ground up. Even a graveyard in one of the scenes was built.

While speaking to TimeOut, James Merifield talked about its challenges by mentioning:

‘It's one thing building a set, but it's another to integrate it into existing architecture. We'd just finished building and dressing the set when we had this massive storm and it flooded. Our prop people were pulling out the furniture, and we had to send someone to B&Q to get an AquaVac.’

2) Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

This location was used in various scenes as a picturesque background, owing to the old Georgian architecture, beautiful meadows, and little shops. There is a high-stakes car chase sequence in the film, for which Beaconsfield was picked. The contrast between the quietness of its background and the fast-paced hot pursuit sounds like quite a scene!

3) Aldbury, Hertfordshire

The Aldbury village in Hertfordshire was actually converted into Fairhaven, an imaginary town in the film. For instance, the memorial hall of the village was mutated to replicate the town's police station. The quiet and quaint village had undergone some changes at that time to replicate Fairhaven in its own authentic way. Many elements, such as signs and white posts, were placed in the location.

The people of Aldbury village had a pleasant experience with the filming process and the team of The Thursday Murder Club as well.

"We didn't have a moment's problem with them," says the councillor of the village, Ray Warren, in an interview with the BBC.

Adding:

"I think generally speaking, most people in the village recognise that having them come in, spend money in the village with us, has been really, really helpful because we've ploughed all that back into the village."

4) Gaddesden Place, Hertfordshire

Gaddesden Place in Hertfordshire was used to recreate the interiors of the retirement home. The famous Halsey family used to live in and it was built by the English architect James Wyatt. It is a home for ornate woodwork, paintings, and a conservatory built in Victorian style.

We shall also witness Pierce Brosnan's character Ron engaging in a workout session at the pool in the film. That scene was shot here as well.

5) Shepperton Studios, Surrey

Scenes such as the inside of the Fairhaven police station, the retirement home were created at Shepperton Studios. The studio was used to replicate London, depicting the crucial murder scenes of the 1970s and the present time, including the one where the lady falls from the window of a building. These scenes have been shot in this film set as well.

The location of this studio is Studios Rd, Shepperton TW17 0QD, United Kingdom.

6) Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire

In Little Missenden, there is a pub called as Red Lion pub, which was used as an actual pub as the story demanded. The pub is a very important location of the film, as this was the place where the cops would meet up for interviews or small-time crooks would gather to most likely discuss criminal plans.

The Red Lion Pub suited the makers' vision perfectly, as James Merifield explains to Time Out:

"We wanted something quintessentially English, with oak beans and horse brasses etc, but so many of those spaces have low ceilings. It disables lighting and performance, because people have to duck and David Tennant is quite tall. We put in loads of flowers and hanging baskets and tubs and furniture and it worked well."

Apart from these key filming locations, in Berkshire, the Slough Ice Arena was used to film the scene where Jason Ritchie (played by Tom Ellis), the son of Pierce Ron, was taken in for imprisonment.

Have you watched The Thursday Murder Club yet? Tell us your experience in the comments!