Cambridge Circus, London
Coordinates: 51°30′48″N 0°07′45″W / 51.513295°N 0.129164°W
Cambridge Circus is a traffic junction (formerly a roundabout) at the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road in central London.[1] The junction is situated approximately halfway between Tottenham Court Road tube station (at St Giles Circus) and Leicester Square.
Buildings
The Palace Theatre is located on the west side of the junction.[1]
In fiction
In his espionage novels, author John le Carré placed the headquarters of the fictionalised British intelligence service based on MI6 in buildings on Shaftesbury Avenue and Cambridge Circus;[1][2] it is from this that Le Carré's nickname for the agency, "The Circus", derives. The BBC's Gordon Corera notes that the entrance described by Le Carré most closely resembles that of 90 Charing Cross Road, just north of Cambridge Circus.[3] The actual MI6 has never occupied premises in or near Cambridge Circus. [3][4]
Film locations
Cambridge Circus has featured as location in the following productions:
- The League of Gentlemen (1960)
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
- Match Point (2005)
- Slumdog Millionaire (2008) (featured as one of the questions)
References
- 1 2 3 Christopher Howse (1 May 2007). "Exactly where is the Circus?". The Telegraph.
- ↑ John Le Carré Call for the Dead
- 1 2 Gordon Corera (11 September 2011). "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: John Le Carre and reality". BBC News. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
- ↑ "Buildings". Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Retrieved 31 July 2015.
External links
Media related to Cambridge Circus, London at Wikimedia Commons