The film "28 Days Later" was filmed in the UK in London and its surroundings. The choice of city was due to two things - the film crew was from these places, and the film was made on a very modest budget, so traveling far would not have been possible. Second, the director needed to show abandoned but recognizable locations. Therefore, London was ideal, and since the team lacked the budget to close off the main streets of London, they filmed in the pre-dawn hours, which is noticeable from the sun and lighting in the scenes. But one scene was filmed outside London. This is the scene where scientists release a group of infected chimpanzees. The filmmakers could not find suitable monkeys in the UK and went to film in Stuttgart, Germany.

Filming Locations:

Hospital (Lobby)

In the Movie

The scene where Jim lies in the hospital, he was in a coma and lay there for 28 days. He gets out of bed and realizes the hospital is abandoned, goes down to the first floor, finds a drink, and wanders the corridors, but meets no one.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at the Central Middlesex Hospital, which has an interesting lobby architecture with plenty of light. According to the film's plot, given that Jim exits in the city center, the hospital in the story is St. Thomas' Hospital, located at Westminster Bridge, opposite Big Ben.

Hospital (Exterior)

In the Movie

The scene where Jim exits the empty hospital, he wandered the corridors for a long time and found no one. But outside there is also no one, he looks out at the parking lot, there are several ambulances and not a single person. He decides to leave the hospital to explore the city.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at St. Thomas' Hospital, located at Westminster Bridge. This is a large hospital in the very center of the city, i.e., at the real starting point of Jim's journey. This place is very crowded, and the parking lot is always full, so by filming here, the director wants to show us the contrast between reality and the empty corridors and street in front of the building.

Westminster Bridge

In the Movie

The scene where Jim walks across the deserted bridge.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at Westminster Bridge, designed by Thomas Page and opened in 1862 to replace a deteriorating earlier span. The bridge consists of seven cast-iron arches with details by Charles Barry. It is the oldest surviving river crossing in London.

Wrecked Bus

In the Movie

The scene where Jim wanders through abandoned London with a bag in his hands and comes across an overturned bus.

In Reality

Horse Guards Parade

In the Movie

In Reality

Stairs

In the Movie

The scene where Jim goes down the stairs and sees a pile of trash with a large amount of money, high-denomination banknotes. He starts collecting the money and putting it in his bag with soda, not yet realizing that money no longer has value in the world.

In Reality

The scene was filmed on the stairs leading to the Duke of York Column, a monument located near Trafalgar Square. The monument itself stands on a 37-meter granite column and was erected in 1833. This is one of the most prestigious areas of London since the time of Henry VIII, i.e., over 300 years, which is why they filmed the scene with discarded money here, to emphasize the meaninglessness of money and material things in the new world.

Street

In the Movie

In Reality

Waterloo Bridge

In the Movie

The scene where Jim continues his journey through the abandoned city center. If you trace his route, he crosses the Thames a second time, now in the opposite direction. The first time he walked across Westminster Bridge towards Big Ben, i.e., north, now he goes south. On the bridge, you can notice an abandoned truck, which is strange - trucks are usually banned from entering the city center.

In Reality

The scene was filmed on Waterloo Bridge, a large arch bridge located one bridge away from Westminster Bridge, so it was quite realistic for Jim to walk here in about 15 minutes. The second bridge appears in the frame to show us that the hero is wandering aimlessly, exploring the deserted city, as he crosses the river a second time, i.e., returning roughly to the same direction from which he came.

Intersection

In the Movie

The scene where Jim comes to an intersection in front of the Royal Bank of Scotland. This is practically the city center, but there is still not a single living person. He slowly walks right along the road, not knowing where to go next and what is the reason for the deserted streets.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at the intersection of five streets in front of the bank building. Usually, this is one of the busiest intersections in London. The filmmakers had to close the streets because even in the early morning hours when they filmed, there were many people here. As we can see, this was filmed back when the glass skyscrapers behind the bank had not yet been built.

Piccadilly Circus

In the Movie

The scene where Jim continues to wander through central London and comes to a traffic circle. In its center is a large structure completely covered with advertisements. He approaches and sees a huge number of missing person notices, death notices, and posthumous notes. He begins to understand that a tragedy has occurred.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at Piccadilly Circus, a traffic circle in the city center. Previously, on the site of the notice board, there was the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, originally located in the center of the circle, but it was later moved due to road reconstruction. The location was added to the film not only as a landmark of London but also as a crowded place, contrastingly deserted in the frame.

Church

In the Movie

The scene where Jim continues to explore the empty city and looks into a church. He stands on an inner balcony and observes from above that there are hundreds of corpses on the ground floor. But they begin to come to life, and an infected person enters the balcony. This is his first encounter with zombies.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at St. Anne's Church, a small Catholic church located in the Limehouse area. Interestingly, this is one of the few locations in the film that in reality is not at all where it is in the plot. Limehouse is an area east of central London, and it is quite far from the route the main character takes. Obviously, more famous churches in the city center were not suitable because they did not have a large balcony inside the building or simply did not want to film with zombies indoors.

Canary Wharf Station

In the Movie

The scene where Jim, along with two survivors who have brought him up to speed and accepted him into their group, runs from zombies and descends into the subway. The escalators are not working, so they have to run down the stationary stairs.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at Canary Wharf station on the Jubilee line of the London Underground, built in 1999 to accommodate the rapidly growing passenger flow. The station was chosen for filming partly because of its location, as it is in the city center.

Tracks

In the Movie

The scene where Jim convinces Selena and Mark to go with him to his house. He wants to see for himself that his family is dead and that he has nowhere else to go. But they decide to walk along the railway viaduct to reduce the chance of attack by the infected.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at South Quay station, which belongs to the metro - this is a line leading from the center to the northern residential areas, which could actually be used to get to Jim's house. So here too, the filmmakers maintain realism in the geographical selection of locations.

Footbridge

In the Movie

The scene where Jim walks to the shelter with two other survivors who tell him about what happened in the world during his coma.

In Reality

Street

In the Movie

In Reality

Apartment Building

In the Movie

The scene where Jim and Selena notice a working garland on a window of a house and decide to enter the apartment, where they meet Frank and his daughter, and also learn how their daily life is organized.

In Reality

Tunnel Entrance

In the Movie

The scene where the whole group - Jim, Selena, Frank, and his daughter - drive in a specially prepared car to the shelter and approach a road tunnel. They have doubts about whether it is safe to go through the tunnel, as it might be filled with infected, but they decide to take the risk and drive through it.

In Reality

The scene was filmed at the Blackwall Tunnel, a road going under the Thames, connecting Greenwich and the northern part of the city, and also leading to the highway out of town. Perhaps that is why the tunnel appears in the frame, as the heroes want to go far north, but generally this is far from the only route to cross the river. The scene was filmed at the southern entrance from the Greenwich side.

Tunnel (Interior)

In the Movie

The scene where Inside the tunnel, the group stops due to an obstacle of abandoned cars, but is attacked by zombies.

In Reality

Budgens Supermarket

In the Movie

The scene where The group of survivors drives their "taxi" through London when they notice a Budgens supermarket nearby. They decide to stop and stock up on food for the long journey. They are lucky; the store has lights and full shelves of food and drinks.

In Reality

The scene was filmed in central London at a Lidl store, a large grocery supermarket. It was chosen partly because it is in a realistic location; if they wanted to go northwest, their route from the tunnel could actually pass through this point.

Ruins

In the Movie

The scene where Frank, Jim, Selena, and Hannah, after a long journey, decide to stop and eat outdoors, have a picnic. They choose a picturesque spot near medieval ruins and during lunch notice a herd of wild horses running by.

In Reality

The scene was filmed near the ruins of Waverley Abbey, where several walls of the former estate remain near a large house. It is now a tourist attraction. The location was chosen for its beautiful landscapes - the ruins offer an excellent view of the meadows and the River Wey, which flows a few dozen meters away.