Starring UCL
A journey through UCL’s appearances on the big and small screen
Feature | Portico Magazine | Spring 2025
Over the decades, UCL’s Bloomsbury grounds have taken centre stage in films, television series and music videos as a filming location.
With its rich history, architectural diversity and central London location, our Bloomsbury campus has become a sought-after destination for film crews – from Hollywood to Bollywood – bringing a wide range of genres and stories to screen.
Embark on a cinematic journey through campus and explore just some of the iconic locations that have appeared on film, doubling as everything from university campuses to Ancient Rome, Gotham City and beyond.
Flaxman Gallery
One of the most notable moments in UCL’s silver screen history appears in Inception (2010), the mind-bending, Oscar-winning science fiction action thriller.
The film’s connection to UCL goes beyond its use as a filming location. It was directed by master filmmaker and UCL alumnus Sir Christopher Nolan (UCL English BA 1993), and produced alongside his wife and fellow UCL graduate, Dame Emma Thomas (UCL History BA 1993).
Christopher returned to UCL on 15 July 2009 to film a sequence set at the École d'Architecture in Paris, with UCL spaces bringing the fictional architecture school to life.
Elliot Page, Michael Caine, Leonardo DiCaprio, director of photography Wally Pfister, and director Christopher Nolan on the set of Inception at UCL. Image: Warner Bros.
Elliot Page, Michael Caine, Leonardo DiCaprio, director of photography Wally Pfister, and director Christopher Nolan on the set of Inception at UCL. Image: Warner Bros.
One scene, shot in the Flaxman Gallery, features the first meeting between two central characters, Cobb and Ariadne (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Elliot Page, respectively), who are introduced by Michael Caine’s character.
Image: Inception (2010), Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures / Syncopy
Image: Inception (2010), Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures / Syncopy
Main Library
Filming for Inception also took place in the corridors of the Main Library. Leonardo DiCaprio’s presence on campus reportedly came as a welcome surprise to many students who unexpectedly encountered him on their way to lectures!
Image: Inception (2010), Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures / Syncopy
Image: Inception (2010), Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures / Syncopy
A scene from an Agatha Christie’s Poirot episode titled 'Hickory Dickory Dock', broadcast in February 1995, was filmed in the Main Library, including the Donaldson Reading Room (UCL’s original library).
In the scene, the Belgian detective, played by David Suchet, arrives at a fictional university to interview a student who is a potential suspect in a murder case.
Images: Agatha Christie's Poirot: Hickory Dickory Dock (1995), ITV Studios
Images: Agatha Christie's Poirot: Hickory Dickory Dock (1995), ITV Studios
Main Quad and the Wilkins Building Portico
The iconic heart of our Bloomsbury campus, the Main Quad and the Wilkins Building Portico have appeared on celluloid more than any other UCL location, earning a long list of impressive screen credits.
One of the first films to be shot on campus, the 1954 comedy Doctor in the House follows a group of students through medical school. UCL’s Gower Street entrance and Main Quad were used to represent the exterior of the fictional St. Swithin's Hospital in London.
Image: Doctor in the House (1954), Rank Organisation / General Film Distributors
Image: Doctor in the House (1954), Rank Organisation / General Film Distributors
Although not filmed at UCL, Ridley Scott’s 2000 historical epic Gladiator drew inspiration from the Main Quad and the neo-classical portico of the Wilkins Building, using them as models for ancient Rome.
In The Mummy Returns, the 2001 sequel to the 1999 blockbuster The Mummy, the façade of the Wilkins Building stood in for the British Museum, which was unavailable at the time for filming due to renovation works.
The 2004 film adaptation of the classic 1960s puppet television series Thunderbirds used UCL to portray the exterior of the fictional Bank of London, which serves as the setting for the villain The Hood's attempted bank heist.
Image: Thunderbirds (2004), Universal Pictures / Working Title Films / StudioCanal
Image: Thunderbirds (2004), Universal Pictures / Working Title Films / StudioCanal
A bustling Main Quad features prominently in Starter for 10, representing campus life at the University of Bristol. The 2006 British comedy-drama follows Brian Jackson (played by James McAvoy), a young man navigating his academic and romantic pursuits while competing on the quiz show University Challenge.
Image: Starter for 10 (2006), BBC Films / HBO Films / Icon Film Distribution
Image: Starter for 10 (2006), BBC Films / HBO Films / Icon Film Distribution
Bollywood came to UCL in 2011 to film Desi Boyz, a Hindi-language romantic comedy. Set between Oxford and London, the quad and the exterior of the Wilkins Building play the part of a London courthouse in the film.
Image: Desi Boyz (2011), Eros International / Hari Om Entertainment
Image: Desi Boyz (2011), Eros International / Hari Om Entertainment
The quad and surrounding buildings have become a go-to filming spot for crime and espionage television dramas, clearly the perfect setting for all sorts of shady goings-on and mysterious plots!
The 2019 British crime thriller Giri/Haji features scenes shot in the Main Quad, as Tokyo detective Kenzo Mori searches for his allegedly deceased brother in London's underworld. Filming also took place at other UCL places, including Campbell House and the Darwin Lecture Theatre.
The BBC spy series Spooks also uses the quad as a backdrop for its storyline in series three, episode two, which aired in 2004.
Top image: Spooks (2002-2011), Kudos Film & Television / BBC. Bottom image: Kelly Macdonald and Takehiro Hira in Giri/Haji; Photograph: Ludovic Robert/BBC/Sister Pictures
Top image: Spooks (2002-2011), Kudos Film & Television / BBC. Bottom image: Kelly Macdonald and Takehiro Hira in Giri/Haji; Photograph: Ludovic Robert/BBC/Sister Pictures
From TV to music videos, the portico even hosted Take That for their 2015 music video ‘Get Ready for It’, which was featured on the soundtrack of the spy action-comedy Kingsman, directed by former UCL student Matthew Vaughn.
Medawar Building
Another UCL location featured in Christopher Nolan’s oeuvre is the Medawar Building, which houses UCL's Faculty of Life Sciences. The building’s exterior appears in his 2005 film Batman Begins, the first instalment of The Dark Knight Trilogy – and the first film in Nolan's illustrious career to use UCL as a filming location – starring Christian Bale as Batman (/Bruce Wayne).
In the film, the building stands in for the Gotham City Police Headquarters, where Gary Oldman’s character, Commissioner Gordon, works.
Grant Museum of Zoology, Rockefeller Building
Before becoming home to the Grant Museum of Zoology, the space in UCL’s Rockefeller Building at 21 University Street, then known as the Thomas Lewis Room (the Medical School library), appears in Batman Begins, dressed up as a Gotham City courtroom.
This setting hosts a pivotal moment in which Bruce seeks vengeance against the man who killed his parents.
Spotlight on Sir Christopher Nolan and Dame Emma Thomas
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas visiting the UCL Film Society in 2017. Image: UCL Film Society.
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas visited the UCL Film Society in 2017. Image: UCL Film Society.
Christopher Nolan’s continued use of his alma mater as a filming location is a testament to the lasting impact UCL has had on him – a place where he was able to grow his talent for the art and craft of filmmaking.
Christopher's interest in filmmaking began at an early age. At just seven, he was already making his own movies, using his father’s camera to shoot action figure scenes. Though his love for cinema could have led him to pursue a degree in filmmaking, he chose instead to study English and arrived at UCL in 1990.
In an interview for The Telegraph with his former tutor, Philip Horne, Professor of English Language & Literature who recently celebrated his 40th year of teaching at UCL, Christopher reflected: “Doing English literature was great. Being forced to think more about how we read books, analyse books, was very useful. I think I learnt a lot more than I would have done at film school, for example, because I was getting to make films at the same time.”
As a student, he spent most of his extracurricular time at the UCL Film Society, working in UCL’s Bloomsbury Theatre making short films and his first feature-length film.
It was at UCL that Christopher met Emma Thomas on his first day in Ramsay Hall. Emma was also involved with the Film Society during her student days while studying History. The pair later married and became filmmaking partners, co-founding Syncopy, their production company, which has been behind nearly all of Christopher’s films.
The impact of the UCL Film Society on the couple was highlighted when Emma, in her acceptance speech for winning Best Film at the BAFTAs for Oppenheimer, gave a shoutout to the society.
Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre
Further scenes for both Inception and Starter for 10 were shot in the Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, located on the second floor of the Wilkins Building.
Top image: Inception (2010), Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures / Syncopy. Bottom image: Starter for 10 (2006), BBC Films / HBO Films / Icon Film Distribution
Top image: Inception (2010), Warner Bros. / Legendary Pictures / Syncopy. Bottom image: Starter for 10 (2006), BBC Films / HBO Films / Icon Film Distribution
The 2016 British spy thriller Our Kind of Traitor, based on John le Carré's 2010 novel of the same name, also utilised the theatre to portray a lecture scene featuring actors Ewan McGregor and Damian Lewis.
In series four, episode five of Killing Eve (‘Don't Get Attached’ 2022), the storyline follows protagonist Eve as she attends a lecture - filmed in the Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre - on a mission to speak with a lecturer.
Image: Killing Eve (2022), Sid Gentle Films / BBC
Killing Eve (2022), Sid Gentle Films / BBC
Incidentally, the series has a further connection to UCL, as earlier episodes were directed by UCL alumnus Harry Bradbeer (UCL History BA 1989), the Emmy-award-winning director of Fleabag and Enola Holmes.
Gower Court
In the 2007 film Atonement, directed by Joe Wright and based on Ian McEwan's novel, Gower Court, outside UCL's Physics Building, depicts a casualty clearing station for Dunkirk soldiers outside the London hospital where the protagonist, Briony, works as a nurse.
Bottom image: Atonement (2007), Working Title Films / StudioCanal / Focus Features
Bottom image: Atonement (2007), Working Title Films / StudioCanal / Focus Features
IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society
The IOE's Bedford Way building has become a popular filming location for hit BBC dramas.
It provided the backdrop for the high-adrenaline park scene in the final episode of Bodyguard (2018) and was used to represent the Polytechnic of Greater London in the adaptation of John le Carré’s The Little Drummer Girl (2018).
The Little Drummer Girl
Around UCL
Christopher Nolan's longstanding connection to the area also saw him head to nearby Senate House – the heart of the University of London, of which UCL is a founding member – to film several other scenes in The Dark Knight Trilogy.
The Art Deco building was transformed into the exterior lobby of Gotham Courthouse in Batman Begins, complete with New York-style taxis and Gotham Police Department cars.
It was later reimagined as the venue for the masquerade ball in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
In No Time to Die (2021), Senate House's Macmillan Hall was transformed into the MI6 reception in the final Bond film starring Daniel Craig.
Image: Birkbeck, University of London
Image: Birkbeck, University of London
Nearby, Woburn Walk, a beautifully preserved Georgian pedestrian street just a stone’s throw from UCL’s campus, made a cameo as the location of a dog groomer’s parlour in Cruella, Disney's 2021 origin story for its iconic puppy-hating villain starring Emma Stone as the title character.
Image: Cruella (2021), Walt Disney Pictures / Marc Platt Productions / Gunn Films
Image: Cruella (2021), Walt Disney Pictures / Marc Platt Productions / Gunn Films
With an impressive on-screen legacy, UCL – encompassing both our Bloomsbury and East campuses, the latter of which is already hosting film crews – will remain a coveted filming location, continuing to shine in the spotlight for years to come.
Stay tuned to your screens – you never know when we'll make our next appearance!
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