*This article contains SPOILERS, so if you don't want to know anything about series 2 of Killing Eve, stop reading now. You have been warned.*
BBC Thriller series Killing Eve is back — and part of the second season is set in London (see also: Paris, Amsterdam, Rome). Wondering where that tie-in-an-elevator scene took place, or which Paddington hotel Villanelle is hiding out in? These are the London locations where the series was filmed.
The churchyard where Eve and Carolyn meet
When Eve (Sandra Oh) returns to London after stabbing Villanelle, her first meeting with her erstwhile boss Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) takes place in a churchyard in episode one. The church in question is St George in the East in Shadwell.
Seconds later, the pair are strolling through the Barbican estate:
The exterior of the same church is used in episode 2, as the office base of Eve and Carolyn's new team. We'll excuse you if you missed that bit though — you were probably distracted by dialogue about pig's placenta moisturiser ("costs a fortune, smells like arse, but it is exceedingly effective").
The launderette
Those washers and dryers from early in episode two belong to the timewarp-worthy Barbican Laundrette.
The bank where the Villanelle murders a man in a lift
At the opening of episode three, a subtitle leaves us in no doubt that we're in the City of London. A businessman strolls through a lavish banking hall, a young woman in pursuit. The young woman, it transpires, is Villanelle — Jodie Comer further showcasing her outstanding accent skills with a Scottish brogue — and within the space of two minutes, our businessman is dead, killed by a tie trapped in a lift door. And what beautiful lift doors they are.
With its distinctive chequerboard floor, you'd think a building like that would be easy to track down, but not so. It's the little-known interior of 71 Lombard Street, the Grade-II listed former headquarters of Lloyds (note the horse logo and year 1677 at one end of that striking floor), now known as Banking Hall, Cornhill.
Villanelle's hotel in Paddington
Moments later in episode three, we're back with Villanelle, this time outside a hotel supposedly in Paddington, where her new handler Raymond has found her accommodation. In reality, the exterior shot of the hotel is filmed on the corner of Cromwell Road and Collingham Road a bit south-west of Paddington, between South Kensington and Earls Court. The building doesn't appear to be a hotel in real life. Probably for the best, as it's a bit of a dive in the show.
The brick building that appears behind Villanelle in the opening of this scene is 147a Cromwell Road, an office block known as Oak House
Villanelle following Eve through a park
As Eve makes her way to the school where her husband works, an almost unrecognisable Villanelle follows her through a park — until her handler Raymond catches her. We think the large black statue behind this scene is the Duke of Bedford Monument, and have therefore deduced that this scene was filmed in Russell Square — but if you know differently, let us know.
Eve's husband's Nico's school
Acland Burghley School in Tufnell Park is where the fictional St Theobald's School is set in episode three. Eve sets off the fire alarm once she realises Villanelle must be in the building with her, but even with everyone outside, she fails to spot her nemesis slipping a little something into her handbag.
If you look closely on the windows on the right-hand side during the evacuation scene (filmed at the Burghley Road entrance to the school), sideways orange letters show the school's real name. A scene earlier in the episode where Villanelle spies on Eve's husband through the railings is filmed further down the same road.
Jenny's Cafe, Peckham
"I once got a handjob in here. Under this very table." So declares Hugo (Edward Bluemel) when he and Eve pop out for a post-1am spot of chicken in episode 4. The chicken shop is Jenny's Cafe, right outside Peckham Rye station — the scenes were apparently filmed in September 2018. The front of the station can be seen a couple of minutes later when the duo are smoking outside the cafe.
South Bank, outside Tate Modern
Early in episode 5, Villanelle and Konstantin are back in London and meet up outside Tate Modern on South Bank. They take a stroll, walking under Blackfriars Bridge, and bend reality slightly by walking back east towards Tate Modern, which they're supposedly walking away from.
Marchmont Street
In episode 6, Eve listens into an AA meeting from a cafe. An exterior shot shows Gay's The Word bookshop on Marchmont Street, and what appears as a cafe in the show is actually The Obeservatory photography gallery.
London locations from series one of Killing Eve
Of course, the first series of the show was also set partly in London:
- The scene where Bill is stabbed in a Berlin nightclub ("If anyone says it's murder on the dancefloor, I'll throw them out the window") was filmed in London's own Fabric nightclub.
- The gorgeous art deco Hornsey Town Hall was used for interior shots of Hotel Atlasov in Russia, where Eve and Carolyn stay while in pursuit of Villanelle.
- Stoke Newington's Mildmay Club is used for scenes of Eve visiting her husband at the club where he teaches cards.
- And of course Eve's series one office is located in a back street near Trafalgar Square, with Nelson looking on at the top of his column.
