"Killing Eve" is making the news and everybody (in the UK) seems to be watching this gripping new spy psycho-drama thriller, about a love affair between an MI5 operative and the international assassin she's chasing.
Bar Garibaldi, in Colle val d'Elsa
I sat down yesterday to start watching it and got a shock right from the beginning: the first scene is set in a bar from my early teen years, glamorous Bar Garibaldi in Colle Val d'Elsa! My old cake-haunt was masquerading as a Cafe in Vienna, but I recognised the glass display with the fabulously delicous cakes.
Winding road to Casole d'Elsa
Soon after we also see the anti-hero Villanelle speeding through Tuscany on the snaking road below Casole d'Elsa.
The whole series has an interesting attitude to locations, using them to set an unsettling mood of mystery, with plenty of places standing in for others: Hornsey Town Hall, in London, stands in for Moscow, and many sets in Romania stand in for Russia.
Executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle explained the logistics of such a large-scale production.
“We didn't want to find one location that doubles for everything, so we set ourselves the rather awkward challenge of filming a story where the series is set.
“And so we filmed in Tuscany for Tuscany, and we filmed in Paris and Berlin, and we filmed in Romania,” she said.
“And they are all extraordinary locations that all feel incredibly different. But what we also wanted to find were what I call the ‘grubby operatics’ of those areas.
I'll try to pinpoint all the places in Tuscany as I watch more and will map them here - watch this space...
