Forget whodunnit, if you’re anything like me, you might be watching this cosy crime caper unfold and can’t help thinking whereisit? The filming locations of The Thursday Murder Club are pretty close to home (if you live in London or nearby, that is), with shoots in Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Surrey. So, basically very shire heavy – though no hobbits to be found.
To ensure you don’t spend half the film glancing down at your phone and googling where each scene was filmed, we’ve done the legwork for you. From the heartwarming story of the village that took on the role of the fictional Fairhaven, to the storied estate serving as the home where the senior sleuths reside, here’s your guide to the filming locations of The Thursday Murder Club…
What is The Thursday Murder Club?
First things first, The Thursday Murder Club is a bestselling novel by author, television producer and presenter Richard Osman, which hit the bookshelves in September 2020. It became a hit, and like all good stories, was picked up to be made into a film, directed by Chris Columbus (the man behind Home Alone and Harry Potter films 1-3).
The cast is pretty bonkers, with Helen Mirren as retired spy Elizabeth, Pierce Brosnan as retired union leader Ron, Ben Kingsley as retired psychiatrist Ibrahim and Celia Imrie as retired nurse Joyce. If you hadn’t already guessed, the retired part is a pretty significant detail.
That is because the story follows these four retirees who are part of a – you guessed it – murder club, which funnily enough takes place on a Thursday. The grey-haired gumshoes investigate cold case murders for fun, but suddenly the stakes are upped when an unexplained death happens at their retirement village. Unable to resist, they start to dig for answers…
So where did they film The Thursday Murder Club?
Aldbury aka Fairhaven
It’s not every day you spot some of the best British actors to grace the stage and screen down your local town shop, see your humble village hall transformed into a police station and watch film crews filing in and out of your neighbours home. But that is exactly what happened in the Hertfordshire village of Aldbury, which doubled for Osman’s fictional seaside town of Fairhaven, which, in the book, is said to be on the Sussex coastline about ’30 minutes from Tunbridge Wells’.
Aldbury is no stranger to the screen, having appeared in the likes of Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason, Midsomer Murders and The Dirty Dozen. Found in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty it’s no surprise it has been a favourite filming location, with a picturesque treasure trove of features including a duck pond, timber-framed cottages and a surrounding expanse of emerald fields.
The Netflix production was apparently a welcome guest to the village, with the Aldbury Parish Council telling the BBC that the funds from the filming went towards improvements for the community, including refurbishing their school playground, adding a duck house to the much-loved pond and work on the common. Additionally, while most transformations made for the film were removed at the end, the villagers became fans of over 40 white posts that were installed around the common, and so the crew left them behind as a gift. A lasting memento of Aldbury’s time in the spotlight.
Englefield Estate aka Coopers Chase Retirement Village
What better place to play the role of the luxurious Coopers Chase, or as director Chris Columbus puts it “the Hogwarts version of the retirement community“, than a stately home that was once the residence of someone involved in a plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. That is, before it was seized and given to one of the Queen’s advisors. With a dark storied history (that has a dash of murderous intent), grand 16th-century architecture and sprawling gardens, Englefield Estate was a fitting choice for the home of The Thursday Murder Club.
Although, when it came to the Jigsaw Room, the club’s investigation centre, there was come cinematic diversion required as a four-walled room did not necessarily make for gripping visuals. Instead, production designer James Merifield decided to have the crime-solving take place in an Orangery, where you can still see the world turning outside their sleuthing bubble. One problem – Englefield hadn’t had an Orangery since the 19th century. So of course, one was created especially.
The estate is located in West Berkshire, and, while you can’t visit the house itself as it is a private residence, the gardens are open to the public every Monday throughout the year, from 10am to 6pm. You will be able to explore 12-acres of carefully tended grounds, which range from ancient woodland and a holly glade, to vibrant flower beds, a babbling stream and a children’s garden.
Gaddesden Place aka Coopers Chase (Interiors)
Of course, Englefield can’t take all the limelight, as there was a second spot for filming some of the deluxe interiors of Coopers Chase. This one takes us back to Hertfordshire, to an 18th-century country house called Gaddesden Place. Used day to day as a private house and offices – and located on a hilltop with enviable views across lush parkland – Gaddesden Place is a popular filming location that has featured in Holby City, The Current War (2018), The Good Liar (also starring Helen Mirren) and The Legend Of Tarzan (2016).
As if plucked from the pages of an Austen novel, the home’s wood-panelled rooms, marble floors, old-world paintings and foliage-filled indoor pool tick all the boxes to be the sumptuous interiors of Coopers Chase. You’ll be able to see the pool, for example, during Ron’s (Pierce Brosnan) aqua aerobics class.
Red Lion Pub in Berkshire aka a pivotal meeting point
This quintessential English boozer is the site of an important moment in the film, a scheming meeting between David Tennant’s Ian Ventham and Henry Lloyd-Hughes’ Bognan. Serving as the book’s Le Pont Noir, a gastro-pub, the Red Lion Pub is found in Little Missenden. It’s old-school pub interiors, think pastoral paintings, wooden beams and copper kettles, make for a distinctly British backdrop.
