Reeling around Britain
Setjetters rejoice - Britain is one glorious, gorgeous movie set. Don't just take our word for it: filmmakers, cast and crew have filmed some true classics here. Here's ten top Brit flicks, complete with great British locations. See Film Britain for more.
Brief Encounter
Fans of this classic love story can still find the café at Carnforth Station in Lancashire, where Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson found love over cups of tea. The tearoom has a convincing claim, following a recent refurbishment, as the only café in the world to be lovingly restored with the aid of a David Lean film.
Trainspotting
Glasgow and Edinburgh share the rough, tough settings in the film version of Irvine Welsh's novel of young Scottish junkies, but when it comes to scenery Rannoch Moor steals the show. In a classic scene, Renton, Spud and Sickboy head to the hills by train, getting off at Corrour on the West Highland Line. It's easy to follow in their footsteps to this magnificently wild station, only reachable by rail or on foot.
Four Weddings & A Funeral
Hugh Grant and his floppy-fringed friends larked all over London and the Home Counties while making this 1992 comedy. As well as capital locations like the Royal Naval College at Greenwich and the National Film Theatre on South Bank, the film shows off some of England's hidden gems, especially the jaw-dropping medieval church of St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfields. Some say if you listen carefully you can still hear a lovestruck Hugh flustering his lines.
Pride & Prejudice
Searching for the Full Darcy? While Britain is packed with grand houses that'll have you reaching for your riding whip and tight trousers, the actual locations in the 2005 film with Keira Knightly are concentrated in the north of England. In this version, Chatsworth in Derbyshire stands in for Mr Darcy's home of Pemberley, while the Bennet family call Stamford in Lincolnshire home. And if you're keen to see where Colin Firth emerged from the lake in the 1995 BBC adaptation, aim for Lyme Park in Cheshire.
Alfie
Let Michael Caine, playing the eponymous layabout lothario, guide you through Swinging London. The handsome streets of Bayswater and Notting Hill feature prominently in the film, as do the canal towpaths and station arches of Kings Cross - which today are regenerated, newly hip and well worth a stroll. For sharp '60s suits and mod clobber aim for Merc on Carnaby Street.
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Guy Ritchie's take on gangland London was shot all over the city. The gang's hideout in the backstreets near Borough Market offer more sedate pleasures today - tie in a visit to the market with picking up an organic picnic. No Lock Stock tour is complete without a drink at Vic Naylor's in Smithfields. This cool, classic bar is where the principal characters celebrate their triumph.
The Queen
Helen Mirren's Oscar-winning portrayal of Her Majesty in the day's after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, also made a star of several Scottish houses. You can practise your royal wave at Culzean Castle, Castle Fraser in Aberdeenshire and the Royal residence at Balmoral. The wonderfully wild Glenfeshie Estate also features, as do London's most famous royal and political sights.
Billy Elliot
Gritty, magical yet realistic, Billy Elliot snapshots the northeast of England during the 1984 Miner's Strike - one of the most pivotal events of the decade. Billy's ballet plays out against the backdrop of the real-life village of Easington in County Durham, with cameo roles for Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Middlesbrough's Transporter Bridge. The imposing moving platform of the bridge is one of only two such structures in Britain.
Braveheart
Cry 'Freedom!' on Mel Gibson's trail in the Highlands. To experience Braveheart country at its best, grab hiking boots or a mountain bike and head out into Glencoe, Glen Nevis (the wettest valley in Europe) and around Loch Leven: all a short journey from highland HQ, Fort William.
Control
Control may be filmed mostly in Nottingham but you'll feel Ian Curtis' ghost the more on the streets of Manchester. The city was where the band formed and their music remains part of the Mancunian cultural texture to this day. Curtis' grave, marked with his name and the inscription 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', is in Macclesfield Cemetery, his home town.