Filming periodically takes place atUniversity College London. The university tends to be chosen as a location forfilm andtelevision recording because of its convenient position within London and the historical character of theUCL Main Building and Front Quad. Film and TV appearances include:
Batman Begins (2005) features the DMS Watson library as "Gotham Print Room" and the exterior of the Medawar building as part of the police department headquarters; this film also uses theNational Institute for Medical Research (as Arkham Asylum), and the cloisters ofSenate House. The Thomas Lewis room in the Rockefeller Building was the setting for the courtroom scene.[2]
Starter for 10 (2006) uses the Front Quad, Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, parts of the Main Library and other areas of campus to masquerade asBristol University.
Atonement (2007) uses the Physics Yard for shots of the casualty clearing area.
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007 Bollywood film): the stairs up to the portico are used for the title song.
The Dark Knight (2008): some scenes were filmed in and around UCL.
Inception (2010): scenes were shot in the Front Quad, the Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre and the Main Library.
Desi Boyz (2011): uses the Portico steps and Front Quad.
University of the Dead (2013): uses the Portico steps, Front Quad and other locations around campus including Jeremy Bentham'sauto-icon.[3]
Our Kind of Traitor (2016): The Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre is used as the setting for a lecture on poetry.
The Sooty Show was filmed around UCL in the episode "Hot Air Balloon".
Never the Twain uses the Front Quad as "Lord Smallbridge's House".
Minder uses the Front Quad in episode "Sorry Pal, Wrong Number" (Season 4, 1984)
Agatha Christie's Poirot, 9th series, "5 Little Pigs" episode, filmed in the old Main Library entrance and the Front Quad. Also uses the nearbyBritish MuseumReading Room and Room 10. In addition, "Four and twenty blackbirds" was filmed in the Donaldson Reading Room of the Main Library, and the episode "Hickory Dickory Dock" features both the Cruciform Building and Front Quad.
Spooks (Series III, episode II) features the Front Quad and the Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre.
Silent Witness uses the Front Quad (carefully avoiding the Observatories), the main gate, North and South Cloisters, as well as the Octagon. Other locations used in the area include theULU andSenate House buildings.
Law and Order: UK (ITV) - the 2011 series was filmed around theMain Building, featuring the Front Quad, Portico and cloisters among others.
Giri/Haji - the 2019 series features numerous scenes filmed at UCL throughout, in and around the Bloomsbury campus, including the Front Quad, Campbell House andTaviton Street, and the Darwin Lecture Theatre.
Kit Kat filmed an advert featuring pop groupGirls Aloud for theKit Kat Senses bar in the evening of Tuesday 18 into the early morning of Wednesday 19 March 2008. The presence of Girls Aloud attracted much attention from thepress,[4][5] thepaparazzi[6] andbloggers[7] and the filming was discussed on UCL's student radio station,Rare FM, by DJs presenting at the time.