Where was The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies filmed?
The new thriller has a distinct visual style and features some stunning locations.
Viewers tuning in to The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies may well be drawn to it due to the gripping, innovative premise or the star-studded cast, which features the likes of Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Sir Derek Jacobi.
However, they may find themselves sticking around, at least in part, thanks to the visuals. The show features a distinctive style, with bright colours used to differentiate characters and make the series look different than any thriller you might have seen before.
The show, with centres around a conman played by Alistair Petrie and the two women he targets and manipulates, also features some incredible locations, but just where were these scenes shot? And where is the series set?
Read on for everything you need to know about the locations used for The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies.
Where is The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies set?
The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies is based very specifically in Oxford, with the series traversing the streets of the city as well as the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside.
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This is in part because, at the start of the series, conman Rob is pretending to be a climate scientist and activist working within Oxford University. However, it turns out this is also the case because it is where writers Ginny and Penelope Skinner are from.
Executive producer Lydia Hampson explained: "Oxford was really important as the setting I think for two reasons. One is because Penny and Ginny are from Oxford and so they knew the city really well, and that feels really authentic in the writing that they are talking about somewhere that they know.
"And the second reason, I think, is because if we're talking about a con, in a way, there is a con element to a city like Oxford. You know, we know about the view of it presented often in the media and in film and TV all over the world, which is sort of like dreaming spires and beautiful architecture and the greatest minds in the world.
"But where Alice lives in Oxford is on the outskirts, in the suburbs, and it doesn't have those dreaming spires. The area of it that she lives in is the sort of Oxford that you just don't see on camera.
"We present a version of ourselves to the world of how we want to be perceived as being, whether that be on Instagram or in a job interview or whatever. But then there's the reality that we hide behind the scenes.
"And that felt like with this version of Oxford, we were getting to see those two sides of it, the sort of dreaming spires side that Rob now flits about in, but the reality is something a bit darker."
Where was The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies filmed?
As well as being set in Oxford, the series was also filmed in the city and the surrounding area back in 2022. The Oxford Mail noted that Petrie was spotted filming in St Aldate's street.
Lead director Robbie McKillop explained why it was so important for the series to be shot there, saying: "Filming it in Oxford, a place which is like a beacon of establishment and prestige and elite kind of education, such a massive part of British society, and to see how Rob's character slipped into that and wormed his way up to the top, was really clever, I thought.
"And it can really show you that anybody can be affected by a conman – whether you're the dean of a university or college in Oxford, or whether you're somebody like Alice who lives in a bungalow on the outside, just works for a design agency. Anybody can be affected by conman characters like Rob."
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One of the most recognisable and visually stunning locations from across the series has to of course be Cheryl's house Arathdoon, a mansion with an incredible hedge maze upon its grounds.
However, it turns out this hedge maze doesn't actually exist at all – it was instead partly built in a London studio, with any scenes involving the maze filmed there.
Production designer Candida Otton explained that her favourite location was Cheryl's house "because it was a treat to do".
She continued: "But then from the world of the job that I do, I’ve really enjoyed creating the maze with the help of my great assistant, because the the wonder of television is sort of slightly fooling the viewer. And we built a maze within a studio, and by then, you know, the budget was tight so we couldn’t build a whole maze.
"So, we built sections of a maze wall, and then, with the help of planning and the 1st, and the director, and the DoP and, and everyone else involved, we shifted the maze walls around. We hopefully created a journey into a maze, although it was actually a limited number of maze walls.
"So that was good fun, and also hopefully with the wonders of post-production, it will feel like it belongs within the garden of Arathdoon.
"That was a slight bit of an obsession, the maze. And then of course off we went with the location manager and looked at various mazes and realised there was just not a hope in hell of putting a film unit within a maze. So I just knew it had to be a partial build, and that's what we ended up with."
The Following Events are Based on a Pack of Lies will launch with weekly episodes on BBC One from 29th August. All episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.
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