Legends may look like a globe-trotting drug thriller, but Netflix got crafty with the filming locations – and the show only filmed in one country outside the UK.
The new Netflix series is set in the ’90s, against the backdrop of Margaret Thatcher’s final days in power and rising heroin deaths across Britain.
Rather than relying on police or intelligence agents, the government recruits ordinary Customs officers to go undercover. Their mission is to infiltrate and disrupt some of the most dangerous drug gangs operating in the country.
That story takes them across England and much further afield. But not every location is exactly what it seems.
Where was Legends filmed?
Legends was primarily filmed in the UK, across London, Liverpool, Portsmouth, and St Albans.
Scenes were also shot in Bedford, East Sussex, Reading, and several other locations across England.
Yes, that means when the show appears to send a drug dealer to Glasgow, it wasn’t actually filmed in Scotland.
A few locations stand out. The tense tube scene with Guy (Tom Burke) late in the series was filmed at Acton’s Museum Depot, which houses more than 320,000 objects from London transport history.
In episode 1, Guy is sent to find drug dealers at a nightclub. That scene was filmed at Fabric in Farringdon.
Other locations include the Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory in Welwyn Garden City, Custom House in London, and the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.
There’s also a sequence set in Germany later in the series, but that was filmed at Winterfold Forest in Cranleigh.
Why Legends’ filming locations were such an ‘enormous challenge’
Legends feels grounded and immersive, partly because it relies so heavily on real locations.
Even when the show cheats by using one place to stand in for another, its practical, lived-in feel is one of its biggest strengths.
Creator Neil Forsyth wanted the series to “look cinematic and feel authentic”.
“We shot almost exclusively in practical locations, for example. The enormous amount of locations was a challenge for us, production-wise, but gives the viewer that sense of constantly moving into surprising new worlds,” he told Netflix.
“You never know where the story’s going to go, which is very exciting narratively for the audience, but can make production people tear their hair out! We’ve just been on the move constantly, like a travelling circus.”
How Legends made its locations look like the 1990s
Legends doesn’t just dress its characters in ’90s clothes. It also makes its locations feel convincingly period-specific without overdoing it.
According to director Brady Hood, the team wanted the “look and feel of the show” to feel truthful.
“We did extensive research and did what we could to capture 1990s-era Britain in contemporary London and Liverpool,” he said.
“I feel sometimes people get hung up on shooting ‘period’ shows, and needing to make a mark of that fact. Whereas I don’t think human beings walking around in the moment really see the period; we’re just living it.
“It was important to me that the period aspect was all correct, but we never captured shots just to show the period, if you will. We’re interacting with the era, but we’re not necessarily making a deal of it. It’s just part of everyday life.”
Why Legends was filmed in Morocco
Legends may revolve around British Customs officers, but its story also follows drug dealers and international smugglers.
That means some scenes are set far beyond the UK, including Karachi and Khyber in Pakistan.
However, the production didn’t film in Pakistan. Instead, Morocco doubled for those locations.
Morocco is more than 1,500 miles from the UK, while Marrakech is around 4,500 miles from Karachi.
As the credits say, Legends “benefited from the support of Morocco for production”.
That suggests the series may have been eligible for Marrakech Film Commission incentives, which help attract international film and TV productions.
“It’s like a miniature continent with diverse landscapes, geographic positions, exceptional 365 days-a-year climate, and great tax breaks that make it an ideal location,” the website reads.
The former convent that appears in Legends
In episode 1, Don (Steve Coogan) takes the aspiring undercover officers to a secret training centre supposedly used by the “spooks”.
In reality, that building is All Saints Pastoral Centre in St Albans.
Completed around the turn of the 20th century, it was originally built as a convent for the Society of All Saints Sisters of the Poor.
The order was founded in 1852 and later became known for its care work. Its sisters run Helen House, the world’s first children’s hospice.
The All Saints Pastoral Centre was acquired by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster in 1973 and converted into a conference centre and retreat.
It was later sold to a property developer in the early 2010s.
Full list of Legends filming locations
Area
Locations / Venues
Acton, London
Market Place
The Talbot Inn
The Museum Depot
Amersham
Barking, London
Bedford
Cranleigh
Dagenham, London
London East UK Business and Technical Park
Farringdon, London
Harlow
High Wycombe
Hounslow, London
The Forces, Royal Cavalry Barracks
Liverpool
Adelphi Hotel
Tobacco Docks
Brunswick Place
Goldsmith Street
Love Lane
Southern Area Memorial
London
Manor Park, London
Muswell Hill, London
Carlton Cleaners & Launderers
Newhaven
Pinner, London
Reading
Seaford
St James’s, London
Stanford-le-Hope
Watford
Watford Police Station and Magistrate’s Court
Welwyn Garden City
Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory
Read more: Unpacking the ending of Netflix’s Legends and if fans can expect to see season 2
Legends is available to stream on Netflix now.
