Amazon Prime Videoโs upcoming “Young Sherlock” series, directed by Guy Ritchie, utilized a blend of historic UK cityscapes, modern Welsh studios, and distinctive Spanish locations to bring the detective’s early days to life.
The production for the eight-episode series began in the United Kingdom in July 2024 and concluded in late February 2025, with a scheduled global premiere set for March 4, 2026, exclusively on Prime Video. Starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin as a 19-year-old Sherlock Holmes, the series charts his first major caseโa murder at Oxford that spirals into a global conspiracy. To create the 1870s world for this origin story, the production traveled from the historic streets of Bristol, England, to a state-of-the-art studio in Cardiff, Wales, and onward to multiple cities in southern Spain.
Bristol, England: The Historic Foundation
The production commenced in Bristol, a city renowned for its well-preserved architecture spanning Georgian, Victorian, and industrial eras, making it a prime choice for period dramas. Key areas within Bristol’s Old City were temporarily transformed to depict 1870s London and other settings.
Specific locations included:
- Broad Street: Temporarily dressed to resemble a period-accurate 1870s street.
- Queen Square: A public Georgian square used for filming.
- Small Street and Underfall Yard: Additional historic areas utilized for their authentic backdrops.
The production team added period-correct shopfronts, signage, and props while concealing modern elements, relying on the real-world environments of Bristol to provide visual authenticity for the series’ exterior scenes with minimal digital alteration.
Great Point Seren Studios, Cardiff: The Production Hub
A significant portion of the series was filmed at Great Point Seren Studios in Cardiff, Wales. The studio served as the main production base, housing extensive built sets for interior scenes and complex sequences that required controlled conditions for lighting, sound, and technical execution.
The decision to base the production in Wales was supported by Creative Wales, via the Welsh Governmentโs Production Fund. This partnership is projected to bring tens of millions of pounds into the local economy and created over 340 crew jobs for more than a year. The production also included a bespoke training program with placements for trainees.
Simon Maxwell from Motive Pictures, the production company, stated, “Itโs a total pleasure filming here at Great Point Studios in Walesโฆ Itโs a perfect locale to bring to life the vivid story world of Young Sherlock and to showcase the quintessential Britishness of Holmesian lore”.
Spanish Expansion: Jerez, Cรกdiz, and Seville
In 2025, the production expanded internationally to Spain, filming in the Andalusian cities of Jerez de la Frontera, Cรกdiz, and Seville. This move provided the series with architectural styles, street layouts, and natural lighting distinctly different from the UK locations.
- Jerez: Hosted filming in late December 2024.
- Cรกdiz: In January 2025, areas of Cรกdiz were transformed to represent Paris during the period of the Paris Commune for specific scenes.
- Seville: Also served as a key filming location.
The Spanish locales were used to visually represent parts of the “globe-trotting conspiracy” at the heart of the story, allowing the production to utilize real, non-replicable European settings instead of relying solely on digital recreation.
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A Return to Holmesian Roots for Guy Ritchie
Young Sherlock marks director and executive producer Guy Ritchie’s return to the world of Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective, following his previous cinematic adaptations, Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011). However, this series is a distinct project, adapting Andrew Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes book series. The series is showrun and executive produced by Matthew Parkhill, with a cast that includes Joseph Fiennes and Natascha McElhone as Sherlock’s parents, Colin Firth as Sir Bucephalus Hodge, and Max Irons as Mycroft Holmes.
The strategic choice of filming locationsโcombining authentic UK exteriors, controlled studio environments in Wales, and distinctive Spanish sceneryโhighlights a production philosophy focused on practical realism and visual scope. This approach aims to ground the fantastical elements of Sherlock Holmes’ early adventures in a tangible, believable world.
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