Television has always been good at fooling us. A street that looks like Manhattan might be in Toronto, and a medieval kingdom might sit in a quarry in Northern Ireland. Producers pick locations for tax incentives, studio space, crew availability and the look of the landscape, and the setting on screen often has little to do with the place where cameras roll.
Here are eight well-known series where the story takes place in one country and the production happened in another. Each entry sticks to widely documented filming facts, so you can spot the stand-ins next time you watch.
Game of Thrones
The story unfolds on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, so it isn’t set in any real country. Even so, it’s a useful example of fantasy locations built from real places. Much of the production was based at Titanic Studios in Belfast, and Northern Ireland landscapes stood in for the North of Westeros.
Croatia is another major piece of the puzzle. Dubrovnik doubled as King’s Landing, while Spain, Malta, Morocco and Iceland supplied other settings. Fans often visit these places for themed tours.
Outlander
Outlander is set largely in Scotland, with later seasons moving to France, the Caribbean and colonial North America. Yet the production has been based in Scotland for much of its run, using locations such as Cumbernauld and Doune Castle. That makes it a case where the setting and the filming mostly match, so it’s worth noting the exceptions.
The North American chapters were filmed in Scotland too, with the Scottish countryside standing in for the Carolinas. Some Scottish Highland scenes were also shot in Scotland. Later seasons did use other locations, but the show’s reputation as a Scotland-based production remains well earned.
Money Heist
This Spanish series is set in Madrid, and its heist takes place at the Royal Mint of Spain. The production did film in Madrid, and the Mint exteriors were used on screen. Interiors, however, were created on sets, which makes the Mint partly a studio illusion.
Later parts of the story travel to places like Thailand, Panama and Portugal, and the production filmed in some of these locations. Because the main setting is genuinely Spain, this entry shows how a series can mix real settings with built ones.
The Witcher
The Witcher takes place in a fantasy world known as the Continent, based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s Polish books. Filming for Netflix’s adaptation largely took place in Hungary and the UK, with Hungarian forests and studios featuring heavily, along with locations in Slovakia and Spain. The Polish literary roots aren’t matched by Polish shooting locations.
Later seasons were produced mainly in the UK. The series ended up shot across several countries, with Hungary and the UK carrying the bulk of the work. Hungarian studio infrastructure has become a popular option for large productions.
Chernobyl
HBO’s 2019 miniseries is set in Ukraine and the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Instead of filming at the real site, the production shot mainly in Lithuania, using the decommissioned Ignalina nuclear power plant. Ukraine did host some filming near the exclusion zone, such as in Pripyat.
Lithuania’s Vilnius and the Fabijoniškės district doubled for Soviet-era housing. The choice gave the crew safer and more practical access to a similar Soviet-built plant. It’s a strong example of a stand-in location serving authenticity.
Killing Eve
Killing Eve follows a story centered on London, Paris and other European cities. While London was used, a large amount of filming took place elsewhere, including Paris, Spain, Italy and Romania, depending on the season. Locations often stood in for other European settings, because the plot hops between countries.
For example, the series used Romania for scenes meant to evoke other places, and Spain’s Barcelona area appeared as well. That approach lets a globe-trotting spy story feel broad without filming everywhere. Viewers who know the cities may catch the substitutions.
Sense8
Sense8 follows eight strangers around the world, set in places like San Francisco, Mumbai, Nairobi, Seoul and Berlin. Unlike most examples here, the production deliberately filmed in many of those real cities. It’s a notable counterexample, shot on location in multiple countries.
Not every setting was filmed where the story placed it, though, and some scenes used studio work. The series stands out because its production approach matched the premise of global connection. Its scale was part of the reason it was expensive to make.
Vikings
Vikings is set across Scandinavia, England, France and beyond in the Viking Age. Most of the production took place in Ireland, with Ashford Studios in County Wicklow serving as the base, and Irish landscapes doubling for Norway. The first seasons were filmed there, and this became the series’ signature look.
Later seasons included other locations, such as Canada for some seasons’ work. Ireland’s coasts and mountains proved flexible enough to represent Scandinavian fjords and English settlements. It’s one of the clearest cases of a country playing several others.
Filming location choices rarely come down to scenery alone, but the results can be striking. Across these eight series, stand-in locations helped productions control costs, find studios and solve practical challenges. Next time a landscape feels slightly off, it may well be somewhere else entirely.
