Exploring the Real London Locations Featured in ‘Slow Horses’

Ask any fan where ‘Slow Horses’ was filmed, and the answer is refreshingly straightforward. Much of it unfolds in plain sight. The Apple TV+ sensation, based on Mick Herron’s novels, showcases a very real city, frequently utilizing cafes, streets, and businesses without altering their names.

This dedication to authenticity transforms the ‘Slow Horses’ filming locations into a treasure map for spy enthusiasts. From a shabby office above a restaurant to a parking lot masquerading as a secret bunker, the show turns London’s less glamorous corners into a character of its own. Here is where MI5’s misfits truly spend their days.

The most significant address in the series is also the easiest to locate. The team’s rundown headquarters has remained unchanged since the first season and is situated on Aldersgate Street, close to Barbican station. The exterior of the fictional Slough House is represented by 123 to 129 Aldersgate Street in Barbican.

The building carries a delicious irony for a group of disgraced agents. The office windows overlook the Vecchio Parioli restaurant, which has appeared in previous seasons, and Lamb’s crew accesses the premises through a gated courtyard beyond a phone box. It’s as far from a glamorous spy lair as one can get.

The production also employs a few tricks with the surrounding streets. The nearby 16 St John Street serves as the alley behind the building, with CGI enhancing the quieter street to appear busier. Fans visiting in person may find that the real location feels a bit more subdued than it does on screen.

If Slough House is the show’s gritty heart, then ‘The Park’ is its polished, intimidating brain. In ‘Slow Horses’, Regent’s Park represents the MI5 headquarters, known as The Park, with parts of the set filmed at Greenwich’s Old Naval College while exterior shots were enhanced with CGI on the northern side of the park. Essentially, one of the show’s grandest locations is a product of cinematic magic.

The actual MI5 headquarters, Thames House at 12 Millbank, located on the west side of the Thames near Lambeth Bridge, is not open for tours. Thus, the closest fans can get to the world of ‘The Park’ is a stroll around Greenwich.

Then there’s the underground base that fans often inquire about. Handa Walk underground car park is a real parking lot, and set designers transformed it with a glass wall and lighting rigs to create a subterranean headquarters. It serves as a neat reminder that the show’s budget prioritizes atmosphere over gadgets.

Once the action moves away from the office, the series continues to explore the capital. In Season 2, Marylebone Station takes center stage during a tense chase involving former spy Dickie Bow, while 1 Cornhill becomes the focal point of a chaotic protest orchestrated by Slough House. The anti-capitalist protest scenes were filmed at Lothbury, and Throgmorton Street is where Catherine Standish gets lost in the crowd.

Later seasons delve even deeper into London’s landmarks. Production teams filmed Episode 5’s ambush scene on Gresham Street in Season 4, while King’s Cross and St Pancras International feature prominently, and Granary Square plays a significant role in Episode 6. The Lighterman, a pub right on Regent’s Canal, set the stage for the season’s climactic showdown.

Fans who enjoy their spy stories with a side of café culture have options as well. Jackson Lamb covertly meets an old informant at the Barbican Launderette several times throughout the series. It’s precisely the type of everyday setting that adds to the show’s authentic feel.

Not everything that resembles London is actually London. In Season 5, the opening shooting spree occurs on the fictional Abbotsfield Estate, filmed outside London on Harlow’s Bush Fair estate, with the towers of Canary Wharf visible in the background. Time Out notes that this sequence features two gunmen, an election campaigner, and an otherwise unremarkable suburban shopping arcade.

Other filming locations extend further afield. IMDb lists sites including Stroud in Gloucestershire and Dunstable in Bedfordshire, alongside London locations like the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. The production has also utilized sound stages at 3 Mills Studios in London, with locations across Oxford and the Cotswolds appearing as well.

The show shows no signs of abandoning its home turf. Season 6 continues to leverage London as a vital part of its visual identity, blending studio work with recognizable locations across the capital and surrounding areas. With Aldersgate Street still central to the narrative, the misfits are clearly staying put. Have you ever stood outside Slough House trying to spot Jackson Lamb through the window, and which real London corner would you most want to see the slow horses navigate next?