Sharon Horgan films a midlife crisis in Clerkenwell and Mayfair: The locations where HBO's Youth was filmed
Youth
"Every single move you make in your sixth decade is significant, monumental. There's a constant loud metronome beating out the time you've left on earth." That is the voiceover that opens Youth – and Sharon Horgan wrote it, is saying it, and filmed it in London's Clerkenwell Green, Hoxton and Mayfair. Principal photography ran from March 4 to May 15, 2026.
Youth is created by Sharon Horgan – who also writes, showruns, executive produces and stars – the eight-episode comedy follows Alex, a newly divorced 50-year-old London literary agent trying to find love and sex while managing her ailing parents and her troubled son. Rupert Friend plays Patrick, the charismatic Scotsman she becomes involved with. Sharlene Whyte, Aran Murphy, Robbie Gee, Harriet Walter and Alice Lowe complete the ensemble.
The primary confirmed filming location is Old Sessions House on Clerkenwell Green – the historic former magistrates' court where Charles Dickens once set scenes from Oliver Twist, now one of the city's most atmospherically charged filming venues. Filming took place here in May 2026, with Horgan on set between takes, setting up a laptop with her assistant to watch footage being filmed nearby.
Old Sessions House serves as the literary agency where Alex works. A space originally built to judge people now houses a woman trying to rebuild her life without being judged.
The Irish Times interviewed Horgan on a sunny day in May at Clerkenwell Green, confirming that the surrounding neighbourhood provided exterior scenes alongside the Old Sessions House interiors.
Continue reading below the ad
The house where Alex live – and where she says goodbye to her son when he leaves – was filmed on Wenlock Road in London, just west of Shepherdess Walk Park in the Hoxton area of Hackney. It is the kind of street where a successful-but-not-extravagant literary agent in her 50s would actually live.
Alex's dinner appointment was filmed at Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay at Grosvenor Square in Mayfair – the upscale Asian-inspired restaurant in one of London's most prestigious addresses.
Youth premieres on HBO and Max on September 20, 2026, with the first two episodes simultaneously, followed by weekly episodes through the season finale on November 1.
SOURCE
Irish Times // Wikipedia
CREDITS
© HBO
with our self-guided film walking tours
Discover how films are made, why locations matter and other behind-the-scenes stories.
download now, it's free!