Shooting SPECTRE in the heart of London

Well, just in case; there might be a hint of the spoileresque here. 'Might' being the word...

As anyone could tell you, SPECTRE production has moved to Pinewood and the river Thames; several days of weekend night-shoots and a boat-and-helicopter chase unravels between Vauxhall and Westminster bridges. The long-suffering Mrs.S agreed to a road trip...

We rocked up in London for 23:30hrs and parked just along from the Palace of Westminster - that's Parliament to you colonials and a very helpful copper pointed us to the large crowd just across by the entrance to Westminster bridge. Now, if you're expecting close-ups of Daniel and Lea you may have to settle for a tad less...

There was no way we were getting any nearer from this side of the river... the bus and cars are all lined up ready for a shoot, the copper is not; he's real.

If you have magni-vision you can see a bright flare in the middle at the base of the smoke; that's a vehicle burning away. OK I warned you; on-set with 007 this ain't, but how often do you see Westminster bridge on fire?

Now, you don't need to be Columbo here; the previous days shoots included a boat whizzing along and a helicopter flying a bit close for comfort to Big Ben (If I say the Elizabeth clock tower you'll wonder what I meant and think I'm a pedant...) (Won't you!). I'm going with terrorist attack on ye olde cradel of civilization...

A quick dash to the car - and a teeth-grinding twenty minutes to go a few hundred yards - and we're South of the River; Guess where?. Half the river was lit up; apparently if they lit the bridge and not the rest of the river it'd seem too dark; even St.Thomas' Hospital was sporting high-power floods near the roof. 

Going to the Eye and hanging a left on foot took us to these steps by Westminster bridge; this is as far as they'd let us get. At the top of the stairs a technician is waving a smoke generator and theres lots of blue flashing lights and cop cars up there. The Security Marshalls were approachable and friendly - but clearly had been briefed not to break the Secrets Act. A passer-by told us Daniel Craig was running up the steps on the other side in a frantic race to get to the bridge...

large barge acting as support for yet more lights; the action seemed to be at both ends of the bridge at once - possibly leaving room for all the cars etc we saw earlier to be filmed separately in the middle?.

It was while I was stood there with Mrs.S considering swimming under the bridge (maybe not) that my little eye fell on this... look closely dear friend, for 'neath the lions bum is the very door that Pierce Brosnan used to get to the abandoned underground station in Die Another Day... it's a storage cupboard. Sorry.

Finally, at 01:00 hrs o'clock, the barriers opened for a few minutes to let pedestrians up the steps and past the filming. Is that James Bond in the background?. Probably not. We had another pop, this time back over the river, getting into the park right by the Palace and a few not-so good long range hopeless shots before a very nice man told us we'd have to go. Our night was a mixture of frustration and curiosity - but we had fun and that was worth the diesel...

For the record; my guess is SPECTRE plans to wipe out Parliament and HM The Queen during the State Opening (of Parliament). This actually takes place Wednesday - 27-05-2015 - and the whole of the Palace of Westminster is already, conveniently, barricaded off for this. Clever Producers might have timed the whole deal to mesh in and the night shoots are just a prelude to a big climactic scene. I literally cannot wait for the film to open...