EPISODE ONE

Aldgate East Tube Station

One of the first scenes of the opening episode of Career of Evil features a young woman, who we later find out is Kelsey Platt, exiting Aldgate East Tube Station onto Whitechapel High Street. We see Robin driving Strike to the same location in the Land Rover and dropping him off round the corner.

133 Whitechapel High Street

We see Kelsey and Strike in the lobby of the same building and entering the same lift, but not at the same time. These shots were filmed at 133 Whitechapel High Street, which is a multi-occupier office building and business centre. In later scenes, after Kelsey’s body has been found, we see Wardle and other policemen walking along the street outside the building.

Denmark Street

As we saw in Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm, the agency’s office is located on Denmark Street. Number 6 Denmark Street (above the No. Tom Vintage & Classic Guitars shop) is used in place of the office location featured in the books, which is at 26 Denmark Street.

Robin arrives at the office to be met by a courier delivering a grisly parcel. As with the previous series, interior shots of the office and Strike’s flat were filmed in a studio.

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park

Leda’s final resting place is visited by Strike twice in Career of Evil. The first visit is in the evening with Shanker, and the second one is during the day when he notices the pot of sea holly placed there by a friend of Uncle Ted’s at his request. Strike says his mother is buried at Whitechapel Cemetery, which is a fictitious place. These scenes were shot at Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

Whitfield Gardens, Tottenham Court Road

The morning after Matthew’s revelations about Sarah, a miserable Robin is shown sitting on a bench and deleting her voicemails. This scene was shot in Whitfield Gardens, a small garden square on Tottenham Court Road that features the large Fitzrovia mural.  

Since Career of Evil was filmed here, the gardens have been renovated and the mural restored.

Tottenham Court Road

Robin is then seen following Platinum north on Tottenham Court Road and taking photographs of her as she enters Spearmint Rhino, the strip club where Platinum works. Robin then turns and walks back down Tottenham Court Road in the direction of Denmark Street.

The Duke of York (The Tottenham)

The scenes where Strike finds Robin in The Tottenham and she tells him about Matthew and about her attack were filmed at The Duke of York in Fitzrovia. Read more here.

Hazlitt’s Hotel, Frith Street

After the pub, they are shown walking down Frith Street and going into Hazlitt’s Hotel, which is the same location as in the book. There are photos of the interior of the hotel here on their website: https://www.hazlittshotel.com/

Circa, Frith Street

Leaving Hazlitt’s, Strike spots someone acting suspiciously and chases him through a bar. This was filmed at Circa, the gay bar opposite Hazlitt’s.

Tyler’s Court, Wardour Street

Strike chases the suspect through the back door of the bar and down an alleyway. This scene was filmed a couple of streets away in Tyler’s Court, a narrow lane that runs between Wardour Street and Berwick Street.

 

Bateman Street

The filming location then jumps to Bateman Street, where we see Strike exit the “alleyway,” actually filmed as Strike exiting No. 15 Bateman Street. He then runs round the corner and heads north on Frith Street (although in actuality he is filmed running south).

 

Macclesfield Street and Gerrard Street

We then see Strike coming to a halt at the junction of Macclesfield and Gerrard Streets, the heart of Chinatown. The streets are decorated with red lanterns. 

 

He looks around for the suspicious man before sinking to the pavement in pain in front of Tianfu Asian supermarket.

 

Nick and Ilsa’s House

In the show, as in the books, Nick and Ilsa are said to live on Octavia Street. However, the exterior shots of Nick and Ilsa’s house — and at least some of the interior scenes — were shot in Holmewood Gardens in Brixton Hill.

 

Barrow-in-Furness

In the book, Holly Brockbank’s house is on Stanley Street, but the scene in the adaptation where Robin and Strike are awoken by a police officer (having slept in the Land Rover) was filmed in Stewart St, an adjoining street.

 

Shops in Barrow

Strike and Robin visit two shops in Barrow to purchase the props they need for Robin’s Venetia Hall undercover identity. The shops used for filming are actually in Potter’s Bar, Hertfordshire, not Barrow.

Robin tries on and buys her Venetia Hall outfit at My Dressing Room, a boutique and beauty salon, whilst Strike smokes outside. They get the business cards printed at Potter’s Heel Bar, next-door-but-one to the boutique.

 

 

The Crow’s Nest pub, Barrow-in-Furness

In both the book and the television show, Robin speaks with Holly Brockbank in the Crow’s Nest pub in Barrow. Filming took place on 16th January 2017, both inside and outside the pub.

 

The Red Lion

After Robin has finished talking to Holly, Strike and Robin go to a pub where they have a drink and Strike tells Robin the story of Noel Brockbank and Brittany.

This scene was filmed at a pub called The Red Lion in Chenies, a village northwest of London.

This is their website: https://www.redlionchenies.com/

 

Northallerton Court Hotel

In the book, Strike and Robin stay at the Travelodge, but in the adaptation they are at the Comfort City Express down the road from the Red Lion. The hotel used for these scenes was the Allerton Court Hotel in Northallerton.  

 

Catford Broadway

Strike is given Whittaker’s address by Shanker and goes to Catford Broadway to find him. In the show, Whittaker and Stephanie emerge from a door at 30 Catford Broadway and they have an altercation with Strike on the street.

 

EPISODE TWO

Soho Square

After he’s interviewed at the police station, Strike buys newspapers and reads them in Soho Square.

Ye Olde Axe

Strike visits East End strip clubs looking for Noel Brockbank. The scene in which he pays a girl for information about Brockbank was filmed in Ye Olde Axe, a ‘strip pub’ on Hackney Road in Shoreditch.

 

Elephant and Castle

Robin is shown walking around Elephant and Castle looking for Donald Laing. She looks up at the Strata Building, outside the Elephant and Castle shopping centre, with its famous pink elephant statue. The shopping centre was demolished recently, but the pink elephant was relocated to Castle Square. 

 

Catford Constitutional Club

Robin tells Strike she is having dinner with her mother “round the corner from work,” but the scenes were shot in a quirky restaurant called the Catford Constitutional Club on Catford Broadway, which closed down in 2019.

Perronet House

Laing’s flat is located in Perronet House, an eleven-storey apartment block in Elephant and Castle built in 1970. All the flats are split level, of a design called “scissor section” flats.

 

Stage Door Cafe, Catford Broadway

Robin bumps into Stephanie and convinces her to talk in the Stage Door Cafe, Catford Broadway, in another scene shot in the same location used in the book. The cafe is still in business.

 

Catford Shopping Centre

Darkness now having fallen, Robin is shown walking into Catford Shopping Centre, with its large fibreglass cat statue, which was installed in 1974.  

The scene in which Robin is ambushed by the killer was shot next to Catford Tesco.

Alyssa’s House – 36 Blondin Street

Robin visits Alyssa to warn her about Brockbank in scenes filmed on the same street that is featured in the book: Blondin Street in Bow.

Leyburn Petrol Station

After Shanker has driven Strike to see Brittany Brockbank, they stop at a petrol station where Strike changes into his suit for the wedding. These scenes were filmed at Leyburn Filling Station, about ten miles northwest of Masham.

 

Masham

The final scenes of the show were filmed in the book location of Masham, Yorkshire. Shanker drives through the Market Place and stops outside the church.

 

St Mary the Virgin, Masham

Strike arrives at the church, pausing at the door.

 He then enters the church, just in time to hear Robin say “I do.”