With a strong and silent disposition, natural gravitas, and timeless good looks, the Bodleian Library is often head-hunted as a shooting location for film and TV productions.

From battling queens to boy wizards, we’ll endeavour to spotlight a few starring roles today…

Colman’s rabbit-raising Queen Anne drops by the Divinity School for 'The Favourite' (2018); while Robbie's Queen Elizabeth visits Convocation House and the Chancellor’s Court (pictured) to sign a death warrant in 'Mary Queen of Scots' (2018).

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/17367800.oxford-bodleian-library-stars-mary-queen-scots-favourite/

The regal character of the Divinity School also earned it a place in Alan Bennett’s 'The Madness of King George' (1995).

Bennett himself had studied at the University of Oxford in the 1950’s, and in 2008 donated personal papers and unpublished work to the Bod.

Reading room silences were promptly broken by the chuckles of our Librarians. https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/news/2008/2008_oct_24

The papers included an early draft of Bennett’s 2004 play 'The History Boys', which explores educational philosophies.

It was later adapted into a 2006 flick with Richard Griffiths and Frances de la Tour, with scenes shot at the Bodleian.

Other real-life scholars at the Bodleian include kings, prime ministers and Nobel Prize winners. But perhaps one of the most famous is a certain philologist and creator of worlds.

The Radcliffe Camera has a walk-on role in in 2019’s 'Tolkien'.

Speaking of cameos, you might have also seen the Radcliffe Camera (nearly) stealing the scene from Jodie Comer’s Villanelle in series 2 of 'Killing Eve' (2019).

Assassins in Oxford? If only we knew of a prominent local detective (or two)!

Lewis once investigated a murder beneath the Bodleian, and Endeavour Morse chased a suspect through the Library after finding an anagrammatic clue.

These literary characters almost feel synonymous with Oxford itself…

…As does Lyra Silvertongue, who inhabits an alternative – if familiar - version of the city. 'The Golden Compass' (2017) featured scenes in the Bodleian quadrangle.

The same location provides a backdrop for mutants in 'X-Men: First Class' (2011).

And that’s a wrap on our short tour of the Bodleian on film.

Actually - wait! There’s one we somehow almost forgot!

A fantastical story about a world of magic…

That’s right: 'A Discovery of Witches', the Sky1 series. (2018)

Although while using external shots of the Bodleian, the series actually used a set in Wales to reproduce Duke Humfrey’s Library.

But perhaps you were thinking of something else?

Yes indeed. The Divinity School has been cast as both an infirmary and Professor McGonagall’s dancing school for wizards; while Duke Humfrey’s Library (pictured) featured as the Hogwarts Library!

The Bodleian Library: Pure movie magic.

#HarryPotter

Thanks for joining us today!

Find a longer list of productions here: https://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/about-us/filming

And if you’d like to organise a corporate or private event, wedding – or even shoot your own blockbuster - in our photogenic spaces, start here: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/venue-hire