Bridget Jones is back. Author Helen Fielding has confirmed that the rom-com trilogy is getting a fourth instalment in Jones’s chronicles looking for love – and the cameras are set to start rolling across London in May.
Franchise leading lady Renée Zellweger, alongside love rivals Colin Firth, Hugh Grant and Patrick Dempsey, have starred in the three films and rumours are swirling around who will return to the diary writer’s next narrative.
The last time we saw her enviable zone 1 flat eight years ago, the serial singleton, now firmly in her forties, married Mark Darcy (Firth) in a shift from her cigarette and chardonnay-fuelled days.
For the fourth film, the plot is believed to be based on Fielding’s 2013 novel, Mad About the Boy, that is yet to appear on screen, and will likely cover the eppnymous character’s next chapter: motherhood.
With several of the street scenes, bar debriefs and classic faux pas locations easily stumbled upon on a walking tour of London, here’s where to head for a behind-the-scenes look at Bridget Jones’s life.
Where is Bridget Jones filmed?
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
Aside from a host of London film studios, Zellweger, Firth and Grant filmed across the city to bring the Bridget Jones column to life.
8 Beadle Street, Southwark
Bridget’s endearingly chaotic flat sits in an enviable zone 1 location on Beadle Street in Southwark. The spacious site of many a solo singalong and glass of wine raises some serious salary questions...
Globe Tavern, Borough Market
For the flat exterior, the Globe Tavern – a traditional British pub in Borough Market – is the iconic location below the singleton’s residence, just next to the tracks of London Bridge station.
Pickfords Wharf Apartments, Clink Street
Daniel Cleaver’s (Grant) suave bachelor pad is in a converted 19th-century warehouse on Clink Street overlooking the Thames. The property went on sale for over £3 million in 2012 – we can only assume the price hiked due to the hilarious tummy-control knicker scene that was filmed there.
Royal Courts of Justice, Westminster
Top London human rights lawyer Mark Darcy grants Jones an exclusive TV interview while defending a Kurdish revolutionary leader who is faced with extradition outside the actual Royal Courts of Justice in Westminster.
London Stansted Airport
To the northeast of central London, Stansted Airport doubles as JKF Airport when Mark Darcy moves to New York City with his lawyer girlfriend. The aviation hub was also used to portray a NYC airfield in Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019.
Institute Of Contemporary Arts, St James’s
The publishing house launching Kafka’s Motorbike hosts the book event in St James’s Institute Of Contemporary Arts – still a home for visual art, film festivals and exhibitions in central London that costs just £1 to visit for the day.
Royal Exchange, Threadneedle Street
Bridget and Mark lock lips in the snow outside the No. 11 Royal Exchange Buildings in Cornhill where Mark is buying her a new diary, an unusually romantic end to the first of the otherwise chaotic dating chronicles.
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
Three years later, Bridget returned to her love turmoils with Darcy and Cleaver. Though some scenes were shot in Lech, Austria and Thailand, the roots of the franchise remained in London.
Hyde Park Italian Gardens, Westminster
After Daniel abandons Bridget in Thailand, Mark confronts him around and in the picturesque Italian fountains of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park for a scene firmly in the splash zone.
The Light Bar, Shoreditch High Street
On Shoreditch High Street, Bridget Jones is told to dump Mark Darcy by her friends who think he is cheating over several glasses of wine and cigarettes at The Light Bar. The renovated drinks hotspot set in an old Victorian power station is still open for cocktails at number 233 today.
Rigby & Peller, Mayfair
Bridget buys a corset before Mark’s uber-fancy law council dinner at Mayfair lingerie store Rigby & Peller. The luxury brand has stores across London, including the Conduit Street spot seen on screen.
Piccadilly Circus
A location featured multiple times across the films, billboards flash messages from Bridget’s diary as headlines in the bright lights of Piccadilly Circus on London’s West End.
Bridget Jones’s Baby (2016)
Single and pregnant twelve years later, Bridget starts pre-natal activities across the city.
Greenwich Park
Longtime friend Shazza, played by Sally Phillips, gets the lowdown on all things babies and Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey) on the grassy hills of Greenwich Park.
Kingdom Street, Paddington
Bridget is now a senior producer at the fictional Hard News, and the Regus Studios on Kingdom Street in Paddington set the stage for the outlet’s studios and offices.
London Aquatics Centre, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Pre-natal birthing classes with Jack and Mark – including exercise balls – take place at the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford.
Albert Bridge Road, Battersea
When push comes to shove and Bridget goes into early labour (and protests put a stop to the Italian takeaway van transport method), Albert Bridge Road in Battersea welcomes Mark and Jack as they carry Bridget to the hospital.
St Clement Danes Church, Strand
The funeral of Daniel Cleaver was filmed in the black and gold interior of St Clement Danes Church in Strand. The central church of the Royal Air Force has a memorial for those who have died in service in the RAF.
Supreme Court, Westminster
Mark Darcy is defending the freedoms of a Russian girl group called Poonani inside the Supreme Court. The prestigious location surprisingly opened its doors to the cameras for scenes, as did the Old Bailey.
University College Hospital, Bloomsbury
Several appointments with deadpan doctor Emma Thompson, as well as the delivery of Bridget’s baby with the two potential fathers present, were filmed at University College Hospital in Bloomsbury.
- Bridget Jones’s Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and Bridget Jones’s Baby are available to rent on Amazon Prime Video.
