Now, I’m probably not the only film fan to do this, but I like to look up my local region to see what major films used the area as a shooting location. The North East of England has a long list of films that used our beautiful landscapes, cities, and other buildings to use in their projects.

28 Years Later

Let’s start off with the most recent title to use the region as part of its film. 28 Years Later spent a majority of 2024 shooting in various locations around the North East. The character’s main base was filmed on Holy Island and its causeway. While other locations used in the film are Kielder Forest, Hexham, Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, and Plankley Farm in Northumberland, as well as various locations in and around Tyne and Wear.

Harry Potter Franchise

This might be one of the most well-known film franchises to film in the region. Most notable was using Durham Cathedral as a location, which has been publicised by the cathedral decades after the filming has stopped.
Another notable location was Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, which can be seen the most in Philosopher’s Stone. David Bradley has said that the filming in the region is what made him fall in love with Northumberland, something which has shown him presenting TV shows about the region.

Get Carter

I couldn’t make a list without including this classic film. Set in and filmed around Newcastle Upon Tyne and starring Michael Caine as a Geordie native, ironically. The film uses many places in the city which are recognised by everyone who lives in or near the city.
A memorable moment was a foot chase which takes them down a set of stairs which a lot of people have recreated over the years and one which I went up and down before I even watched the film. They use the whole city so hard to list certain places.

Alien: Resurrection

I had no idea this film used locations in the North East for its prison location, and I had watched the film at least 5 times before I found out.
The inside of the prison camp was shot inside the Blyth Power Station. The film also used Blyth beach to shoot some scenes as well as Dawdon Beach in County Durham.

The Likely Lads

This one is pretty much a given. The benefit of the film over the sitcom is that it showcases more of the city than the show ever could. Like Get Carter, it’s a practical time capsule for buildings which don’t exist anymore.
It also shows what Newcastle City Centre used to look like when it had more road access. There are shops that don’t exist anymore, there’s a tower block which was later demolished, and the landscape of the city is completely different from what it looked like.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

You couldn’t escape 2021 without seeing Harrison Ford mulling about the Quayside or dining in a restaurant in the city centre on Facebook. I was surprised when I found out they would be using the North East as a location, but it brought a lot of publicity to the region in a time when we were recovering from Covid.
Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland was a major location for the opening of the film. They also used rail services in North Yorkshire.