By James Hibbs

Published: Wednesday, 08 June 2022 at 12:00 am


The Midwich Cuckoos is now airing on Sky, and it’s the latest creepy adaptation of John Wyndham’s classic sci-fi novel.

The series stars Keeley Hawes and Max Beesley, and tells the story of a sleepy English town which is hit by an unbelievable supernatural event, when every woman of child-bearing age suddenly becomes pregnant.

But is Midwich a real town? And if not, where was the series actually filmed?

Read on for everything you need to know about the filming locations for The Midwich Cuckoos.

Is Midwich a real town?

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The Midwich Cuckoos.
Sky / DAVID APPLEBY

You’ll be relieved to hear that no, Midwich is not a real place. It is an entirely fictional location created by John Wyndham for his sci-fi novel, which was originally a village.

However, in the new series it has become a small English commuter town, and is described as “liberal and aspirational, populated by families and affluent streets. A place where nothing much happens.”

This isn’t the only change from the novel, as the action has also been updated to the present day, rather than being set in the 1950s.

Where was The Midwich Cuckoos filmed?

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Synnøve Karlsen as Cassie Stone in The Midwich Cuckoos.
Sky / DAVID APPLEBY

The series was predominantly filmed in the market town of Amersham in Buckinghamshire, which in the past has been used for filming series such as Midsomer Murders and The Vicar of Dibley.

The production team also used St Albans, a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, for filming, specifically in St Stephen’s Avenue. This happens to be mere miles away from where Village of the Damned, a film adaptation of The Midwich Cuckoos, was filmed in 1960.

St Albans has previously played home to film crews for The Inbetweeners, The Crown and many other productions.

Alice Troughton, a director on the series, told the Express that the locations used for the series could be too remote, as it needed to feel like Keeley Hawes’ character Susannah could “get on a train and she’s in a glamorous restaurant and she would do that”.

She also added that this brings the whole situation “nearer to home” and “makes it more believable that Sam and Zoë would want to move there”.

The Midwich Cuckoos continues weekly on Thursdays at 9pm on Sky Max and NOW – sign up for Sky TV here.

Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, visit our TV Guide, or take a look at the rest of our Sci-Fi coverage.

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