The fourth and final season of HBO’s Succession is underway, following the trials and tribulations of the Roy family. Of course, fans of the show will know this is no ordinary family. Instead, they are the owners of a global media and entertainment conglomerate, all vying and infighting for control of the company. Starring the likes of Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen, the series is already considered a cult classic by many.
While most of the series is set in America, particularly New York, it does have a strong British connection too. Head of the family, Logan Roy, is Scottish and in Succesion’s season two we even visit The Tay Bridge in Dundee. But it’s in season one that we first visit these British Isles. The final two episodes cover the wedding of Tom and Shiv, with them both filmed on location at Eastnor Castle in the Malvern Hills near Ledbury, Herefordshire.
Located only an hour’s drive from Birmingham, the team behind the wedding venue has opned up about the experience of filming. Writing in a blog post, Eastnor Castle called it “One of our most memorable filming projects”.
A cast and crew of 350 arrived at Eastnor Estate during the legendary storm hitting England at the time, the Beast from the East. Battling plummeting temperatures, strong blizzards and drifting snow, filming somehow managed to stay on schedule, however. Creating two of the most nerve-wracking/heart-racing episodes of TV ever put on screen: ‘Pre-Nupital’ and ‘Nobody Is Ever Missing’.
Of course, Eastnor Castle is more than used to a few dramas at a wedding! The estate is often a wedding venue while not being used as a film location. Surrounded by a beautiful deer park, arboretum and lake, it is a stunning location for all events. Plus, enjoy the unique adventure Land Rover Experience, driving across the area’s varied terrain. Visitors to the 19th-century castle can stay in either the refurbished holiday cottages or camp on the Eastnor Deer Park Campsite.
“Eastnor is a magical and wonderful location to film at, it has everything. One of the very few intact and privately-owned castles that is a rare Gothic Revival stately dream…” said Sue Quinn, Succession‘s Supervising Location Manager. “The castle itself is also a star, it is nestled into the Malvern valley with the beautiful surrounding countryside, but the interiors are a dream with rich colours that are set off with the beautiful interiors by Pugin”.