Production on Legacy of Spies has moved on from Prague, with the BBC and MGM+ series now filming in Liverpool as the eight-part John le Carré adaptation enters a new phase of production.
The Prague shoot has wrapped following several months of filming across the Czech capital, where the production used historic streets, landmarks and extensive period dressing to recreate locations behind the Iron Curtain. The series has now relocated to Liverpool, with local filming transforming parts of the city center into 1960s settings.
The move provides another indication of the international scope of Legacy of Spies, which brings together Matthew Macfadyen, Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Laurie, Daniel Brühl and an extensive British and European ensemble for an adaptation of le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and his 2017 novel A Legacy of Spies.
Prague stands in for Cold War Europe
Filming for Legacy of Spies in Prague took place across a number of locations, with the production making particularly extensive use of the city’s central districts.
A spring shoot included Old Town locations near the National Theatre and the Vltava waterfront. Karolíny Světlé Street was transformed with Cold War-era vehicles, period signage and extensive set decoration, including German-language storefronts that indicated Prague was being used to portray locations in East Germany.
The decision to use Prague as a stand-in for East Germany reflects the setting of The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, which follows British intelligence officer Alec Leamas during the height of the Cold War and is largely set in East Berlin and other areas behind the Iron Curtain.
Production also transformed a local souvenir shop into a period cabaret, while vintage vehicles and other details helped establish the appearance of the early 1960s.
Earlier filming took place at Dům Radost in Žižkov, the city’s first high-rise and a protected functionalist landmark. Streets around the building, including areas of Winston Churchill Square and in front of the Prague University of Economics and Business, were reserved for production vehicles and equipment.
The Czech capital’s role in the production may extend beyond simply doubling for Germany. Le Carré’s 2017 novel A Legacy of Spies, which provides additional material for the series, includes a sequence set in Prague, leaving open the possibility that the city could also appear as itself.
Sirena Film is providing local production services, with the project registered with the Czech Audiovisual Fund.
Liverpool takes over as 1960s production base
With the Prague portion of production now complete, filming has shifted to Liverpool, where crews have been working across the city center this week.
According to the Liverpool Echo, production has transformed several locations into a 1960s film set, with vintage cars spotted on Old Hall Street and outside St George’s Hall. The Liverpool locations provide another period backdrop for the series as filming continues with its large international cast.
The production’s relocation to Liverpool comes as the ensemble has expanded significantly. Macfadyen stars as George Smiley, the legendary British intelligence officer at the center of the story, with Hunnam as Alec Leamas.
Laurie plays Control, the politically calculating head of The Circus, while Joe Alwyn portrays veteran operative Jim Prideaux. The cast also includes Anjana Vasan as Connie Sachs, Charlotte Ritchie as Ann Smiley, Lee Ross as Inspector Oliver Mendel, James McArdle as Percy Alleline, John Dagleish as Roy Bland, Goran Bogdan as Toby Esterhase and Adam Hugill as Fawn.
They join Brühl as East German intelligence strategist Josef Fiedler, Devrim Lingnau Islamoğlu as Doris Quinz, Agnes O’Casey as Liz Gold, Felix Kammerer as Hans-Dieter Mundt and Dan Stevens as Bill Haydon, among others.
The series is written and showrun by Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram, with Michael Lennox serving as lead director and executive producer. Academy Award nominee Claudia Llosa has also joined as a second director and co-executive producer.
Legacy of Spies is produced by The Ink Factory, founded by le Carré’s sons Stephen and Simon Cornwell, in co-production with Amusement Park Film and in association with 127 Wall Productions and Paramount Television Studios. Fifth Season is handling global sales.
The series will premiere on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the United Kingdom and MGM+ in the United States.
For Prague, the completion of the shoot marks the latest in a long line of major international productions to use the Czech capital to recreate another European city and historical period. In the case of Legacy of Spies, months of location filming have allowed Prague to become a substantial part of the visual world of le Carré’s Cold War espionage drama before production moves on to its next location.
