A group of cold case-solving sleuths at a retirement village get to use their skills on a real-life mystery in The Thursday Murder Club.
Based on author and television presenter Richard Osman’s novel of the same name, the crime comedy movie premiered on Netflix on Aug. 28. It features Helen Mirren as Elizabeth Best, an ex-spy; Pierce Brosnan as Ron Ritchie, once a union activist; Ben Kingsley as Ibrahim Arif, a former psychiatrist; and Celia Imrie as Joyce Meadowcroft, a retired nurse.
The group is part of the Thursday Murder Club at their retirement home, who come together to use their expertise and passion for mysteries to solve cold cases for fun.
While director Chris Columbus told Tudum that the group was “fascinated by death and murder,” their days of solving crime for fun are over when they are faced with a death that hits close to home, leaving them no choice but to solve the real-life whodunit.
“Thematically it’s interesting that we’ve got four elderly people who are living in a retirement community and who are fascinated by death and murder,” he said. “They are facing their own demise, yet at the same time they are obsessed with studying cold cases. … It’s comedic, but it’s also very emotional.”
So where was The Thursday Murder Club filmed? Here’s everything to know about the real-life shooting locations for the Netflix movie.
Where was The Thursday Murder Club filmed?
The Thursday Murder Club began production in the United Kingdom at the end of June 2024, per Deadline, with plans to finish filming in September 2024.
Screen Daily later reported that filming began on June 28 of that year. The movie was partially shot at Shepperton Studios, located in the village of Shepperton in Surrey, England, approximately one hour outside of London. Shepperton Studios has been the site of numerous productions over the years.
Brosnan took the opportunity to mark the end of filming by sharing a photo of the cast and crew posing together on Instagram. He posted the picture in September 2024 after filming had wrapped, writing in the caption, “What a glorious way to spend the summer of 2024 in the company of all making the movie of The Thursday Murder Club.”
Is Coopers Chase Retirement Village a real place?
The Thursday Murder Club book is set at Coopers Chase Retirement Village, which is located in the fictional village of Fairhaven, in Kent, England. As idyllic as the location sounds, the retirement community is entirely fictional.
However, it is based on a real place. Per The Times, Osman was inspired to write the book after visiting St George’s Park retirement community in Sussex, England. Osman had been visiting the retirement community for over a decade, where his mother bought a home years prior.
The 250-acre property opened in 1866 as a convent. Today, a convent of Irish nuns still lives and works on the property, which contains a chapel, concert hall, farm and mailbox.
St. George’s Park also offers activities for residents, including a knitting and book club, though there is no murder club on the premises like in the novel.
Osman spoke to Tudum about his inspiration for the novel stemming from his mother’s retirement community.
“You just sit and chat with these people and they’ve lived these extraordinary lives,” he explained. “You hear these amazing stories and gossip and wisdom.”
Osman continued, “The idea that these people with their wisdom and their invisibility would be the perfect people to solve [a crime] is exactly where The Thursday Murder Club comes from. Take these people who are underestimated but who have these incredible skills, put them together, and they can achieve anything.”
In an April 2025 interview with Collider, Columbus described Coopers Chase as “warm, inviting, and luxurious.”
“A retirement village that was the exact opposite of an audience’s preconceived perceptions — a place where the viewers would want to spend their twilight years,” he said.
“There was a tremendous amount of wish fulfillment involved in the design of Coopers Chase,” he added. “Each of the characters’ flats are a reflection of their unique and distinctive personalities. This somewhat magical backdrop creates a strong contrast to the violent murders that occur in the film.”
What other locations were featured in The Thursday Murder Club?
While much of The Thursday Murder Club movie was filmed on-site at Shepperton Studios, cast and crew members were spotted across the U.K., shooting the project at nearby and scenic locations.
Bucks Free Press reported in July 2024 that filming occurred on Stratton Road in the village of Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, England. Cameras continued rolling in Buckinghamshire in August 2024, with the Bucks Free Press reporting that the crew was spotted in the village of Little Missenden with plans to film both inside and outside of The Red Lion pub.
On X, one user posted in July 2024 that the village of Aldbury in Hertfordshire, England, was a filming site. Photos showed the village center being transformed for the movie, including added props and sets and the Fairhaven police station.
The Reading Chronicle reported in August 2024 that signs for Coopers Chase Retirement Village were spotted at the Englefield Estate in West Berkshire, an Elizabethan country house that has been the site of other popular movies and shows, including The Crown and The King’s Speech. In a post on X, one user shared several photos seemingly taken from the set at Englefield Estate, which included a sign for the retirement village on the property.
Osman also uploaded pictures taken during production in August 2024, including a snap with Steven Spielberg posing in front of a church. The Reading Chronicle reported that it appeared to be the exterior of St. Mark’s Church, which is located on the estate’s property.
Read the full article here
