Life After Life, the BBC Two drama that follows a reincarnated woman through multiple lives, ends tonight (May 10) – but where was the series filmed?
Recreating early 20th-century Britain meant viewers got to witness some lush locations on their screens.
The show, based on Kate Atkinson’s award-winning novel of the same name, follows Ursula Todd (Thomasin Mackenzie) as she’s born, lives dies, and then comes back again.
Always in the same time period, always with the same family, but always with a different ending.
Ursula’s many lives span the first half of the 20th century and two World Wars – the second bringing her face to face with a dictator.
Getting Ursula’s countryside upbringing to the small screen was never going to be easy. But the BBC found some stunning stand-ins for a bygone Britain.
And here’s the best news. You can actually visit them!
What’s Life After Life about?
The show follows Ursula’s adventures through the 20th century, taking an intimate look at the social and historical events that shaped the country.
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From wealth to war, love and death, the Fox Corner country seat sees it all. And with each life, Ursula learns a little more about herself and the world around her.
But the show is also about family, and how the decisions we make to protect our loved ones can have consequences no one saw coming.
Who’s in Life After Life?
The BBC Two drama has a sterling cast, lead by JoJo Rabbit star Thomasin Mackenzie, who plays Ursula.
Living that many lives in so short a period was, she told the BBC, not always easy.
“It’s a really tough thing, as some days I would turn up on set and not realise how intense some of the scenes would be.
“I didn’t take into account how much that would affect the other scenes we were doing that day that might be lighter, or from one of Ursula’s different lives.
“It was quite hard, both mentally and physically, to go through so much and so many emotions in one day.”
Fleabag’s Sian Clifford and James McArdle (Mare of Easttown) play Ursula’s long-suffering but stiff-upper-lipped parents, Sylvie and Hugh.
They’ve been friends for over a decade, but Life After Life is the first time they’ve worked together.
As McArdle explained to the BBC, their friendship made all the difference during filming. “We know each other’s habits, tics and insecurities and I hope it’s given a sense of time in a marriage.
“When we arrived on set we had some pretty intense intimate scenes to do together and I just kept thinking, I cannot imagine doing this just having met this actor. It’s such a bonus.”
The Life After Life cast is rounded out by Jessica Hynes (Spaced) as Mrs Glover, Sean Delaney (Killing Eve) as favorite son Teddy, and Downton‘s Jessica Brown Findlay as intense socialite Izzie.
Where is Life After Life filmed?
The show was shot during summer 2021 in and around Basingstoke in Hampshire.
And two of the most beautiful locations are open to the public. Which means you can follow in Ursula’s footsteps and actually roam around Fox Corner.
Yup, the BBC found the perfect stand-in for the Todd family’s country manor, lovingly dubbed Fox Corner.
Nestled in the leafy Basingstoke village of Sherborne St John stands The Vyne, a 16th-century Tudor Manor.
Now a National Trust property, the glorious country house once counted Henry VIII among its guests.
Surrounded by forest and fields, The Vyne proved an almost-identical screen version of the fictional Fox Corner.
The whole shebang is open to visitors, and yes, you can go into the house! You can also roam the grounds and visit the incredible chapel.
Speaking of chapels, one of the other easily-recognisable locations used in the show is also a house of worship.
All Saints Church on Southern Road stood in for St Saviour’s Church in the show.
Despite its medieval looks, All Saints actually came into being during the First World War, and celebrated its centenary a few years ago.
According to the Basingstoke Gazette, traffic came to a standstill outside All Saints during filming – we think it’ll be coming to a standstill thanks to all the Life After Life fans pretty soon!
How many episodes are there? Will there be another series?
Life After Life is a limited series, with just four parts. If you missed any of them, they’re currently on the iPlayer.
As the show covered the events of the book, it’s unlikely there’ll be another series.
That said, Kate Atkinson did write a sequel to Life After Life, the unbelievably good A God In Ruins. And if they adapt that, we’ll be glued to the screen for that as well!
The final episode of Life After Life is on BBC2 tonight at 9pm. All four episodes are currently available on iPlayer
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