Apple TV+'s highly-anticipated World War Two epic is just days away from dropping on the streaming service. Masters of the Air, a nine-part series adapted and executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, tells the story of the men who flew in the 100th Bomb Group of the US Eighth Air Force – aka the Bloody Hundredth – and helped defeat Nazi Germany.
With a production cost of $250 million, there'll no doubt be some big-budget explosions, impressive stunts, and epic scenery. But where exactly was the show filmed? Keep reading for all we know.
The new series, which is a follow-up to Band Of Brothers and The Pacific, was filmed in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Hertfordshire.
Locations include Oxford City Centre, Dalton Barracks in Abingdon, the historic village of Bledlow, Hemel Hempstead Old Town, and Bovingdon Airfield Studios.
According to Bucks Free Press, parts of the show were secretly filmed at Newland Park, a Grade II listed country house near the village of Chalfont St Peter in Buckinghamshire. A set was built on the grounds, which doubled up as the English base and landing field of the American pilots, which was in fact located in Thorpe Abbotts in Norfolk during the war.
During an exclusive interview with HELLO!, Jon Ewart, who plays Lieutenant William Couch in the series, spoke about his first time stepping onto the film set, describing the grand scale of the production.
"I remember getting out of the car and I was like, 'Oh my goodness'," he said. "There were 100 supporting artists marching down the road, military buildings all built, people driving past in military vehicles and planes. They built the whole thing. It was a barracks. They left no stone unturned."
Praising one of the show's directors Cary Joji Fukunaga, Jon continued: "One of his big rules was: This needs to be real. If it's going to take longer or we need a bigger budget, this needs to be real. It made it very easy for the actors to give their best performances."
For those unfamiliar with the new series, it's based on Donald L Miller's book of the same name and features a star-studded cast including Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Barry Keoghan, Anthony Boyle, Nate Mann, Rafferty Law, and Ncuti Gatwa.
As per the synopsis, the series follows the men of the 100th Bomb Group "as they conduct perilous bombing raids over Nazi Germany and grapple with the frigid conditions, lack of oxygen and sheer terror of combat conducted at 25,000 feet in the air".
It continues: "Portraying the psychological and emotional price paid by these young men as they helped destroy the horror of Hitler’s Third Reich is at the heart of Masters of the Air. Some were shot down and captured; some were wounded or killed. And some were lucky enough to make it home. Regardless of individual fate, a toll was exacted on them all."
Master of the Air arrives on Apple TV+ on Friday 26 January.