Harlow is a small town – and a new(ish) one, having been founded just after the close of the Second World War. Yet, its position near one of the most densely populated regions in the country, London, seems ripe for attention by filmmakers wandering the streets of the capital.  

True, the town has a handful of acting credits, but no modern examples further back than 2017. Essex Live notes that Harlow’s Princess Alexandra Hospital appeared in the 1971 thriller A Clockwork Orange, from Stanley Kubrick. Two recent appearances on streaming TV’s most popular shows suggest that Harlow’s star might be rising once again. 

The Crown 

On March 15, 2017, Harlow Council wrote a post on X, formerly Twitter, mentioning the hit TV show The Crown. Crews had been filming in the town centre. A small photo gallery depicted a mid-century red bus brandishing a “Powerful LOMO Cleaning” advert, a camera dolly, and what resembles a 1950s Ford Pilot motorcar. A few people stand around in period-appropriate attire. ”They picked a great day for it #sunshine”, the post said.  

Lynn + Lucy, a British drama released in 2020, also mentions Harlow as the home of one of the protagonists, “party girl” Lucy. 

Most recently of all, the town starred in season five of Apple TV’s Slow Horses. The show has an ensemble cast, with Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight, Darkest Hour), Jack Lowden, known for starring as a Spitfire pilot opposite Tom Hardy in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (2017), and Kristen Scott Thomas (The English Patient, Four Weddings and a Funeral). Slow Horses currently has an 8.3 user rating on IMDb. 

Slow Horses 

Slow Horses is an espionage thriller with a twist. It tells a tale from the perspective of several “dysfunctional” M15 agents trying to keep the country safe from “sinister agents”. 

This particular theme – spies – has been left wanting by producers in recent years, although Guy Ritchie’s Young Sherlock is due out on TV in March of 2026. It stars a 19-year-old version of the detective who has fallen into disgrace.  

Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock has enjoyed some time in the sun recently. CBS’s Watson debuted in November 2025. The character has otherwise been the subject of a slot game called Sherlock & Moriarty Wowpot!, playable at an online casino in the UK. The game stars both of the titular protagonists (and Irene Adler) amid darkened London streets. 

Perhaps the most notable contribution to the canon from Hollywood, the Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law-starring Sherlock Holmes 3, is currently stuck in ‘development’ hell after missed release dates earlier in the decade.  

Bush Fair 

Slow Horses is filmed at three locations inside Harlow, including the 1990s-built Church Longley Water Tower. More prominently, season five’s title cards feature Bush Fair, a shopping centre that pre-dates a livestock meeting that occurred for ten days each year in late summer/early Autumn, according to the Harlow Museum website. Templefields Industrial Estate makes an appearance in Slow Horses, too.  

While Harlow’s acting credentials might be modest, the town seems to be gaining prominence as a filming location for both period dramas and shows with more ‘gritty’ themes.