Somerset House is just a short walk from Covent Garden and is really low hanging fruit if you’re a Londoner. It featured in two James Bond locations, Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies. In Goldeneye the courtyard is dressed up as a Russian square as Bond is informed by Wade that he is to meet Valentine played by Robbie Coltrane. In Tomorrow Never Dies there is just a short clip of Bond turning in to Somerset House with his Aston Martin Db5 for an Mi6 meeting.
The courtyard is free to enter if you just want to go in and get your photos. Although there are some galleries and photo exhibitions going on that looked very appealing. Sadly this was just a flyby visit from me as I was coming from work and had to get home. There are also cafes and toilets. The souvenir shop was closed and according to security had not been opened since COVID. Another assistant told me they are just renovating it but it’s been going on for some time. There is a shop on the website, but I couldn’t see any fridge magnets.
Other Films shot at Somerset House
According to IMDB there have been several films shot at this iconic London location. King Ralph is one, London has Fallen is another (remind me to tell you about my idea for a movie called Daniel Craig has Fallen) Sherlock Holmes, the list is endless though does gradually decrease into obscurity.
Other James Bond Locations nearby:
There is Rules Restaurant in Covent Garden, the oldest restaurant in London and featured in the movie Spectre where M informs Q and MoneyPenny that Bond is on his own.
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Shopping and Credits
Profile photo sourced through ThunderBalls.ORG, courtesy of Danjaq. For online souvenirs or to learn more about the history of Somerset House check out this book on Amazon. For more on James Bond locations then look no further than On the Tracks of 007.