Part one set the parameters. No rom-com landmarks, no misty-eyed London nostalgia. Just pubs that earned their place through tension, violence, or sheer cinematic presence.
Part two follows the same logic. More boozers, more testosterone-heavy screen time, and a few entries that would feel wrong to leave out.
Green Street – The Griffin (Brentford)
A Brentford institution, The Griffin was one of the famous “corner-flag four” surrounding Griffin Park, Brentford’s old ground.
On the big screen, West London was transposed to East London, with The Griffin standing in as The Abbey in Green Street Hooligans. It also gave us Elijah Wood as a nerdy Harvard dropout discovering terrace violence, West Ham style and some truly dreadful attempts at cockney accents from Yankee actors.
Always rated The Griffin. I haven’t been in for a few years, but there’s nothing to suggest it’s sold out. Still safe to call it proper.
Baby Reindeer – Army & Navy (Stoke Newington)
Moving from the big screen to the small, we land on Netflix’s Baby Reindeer.
The Edinburgh pub where the protagonist performs his two-bob routine is, in fact, Army and Navy in Stoke Newington.
It was crowned Time Out’s Best Pub in London the year before last, back when Jimmy Mac (Dead Pubs London – insert link to his insta) was clearly calling the shots.
This year’s edition however, The Nuns Head scooped the gong, evidence the soya flat white drinkers have had their way with this once great institution.
Bring Jimmy Mac back we say.
Shaun of the Dead – the former Duke of Albany (New Cross Gate)
Perhaps the ultimate expression of the pub’s importance in film comes with Shaun of the Dead, where the boozer isn’t just a backdrop, it’s the entire plan.
Faced with a zombie apocalypse, Shaun does what feels instinctive, almost inherent to any bloke of a given age from these windy set of isles, gather his family and pals, head to his local for a lock-in, have a pint, and wait for it all to blow over.
Of course, it doesn’t quite work out that way. The zombies arrive and chaos ensues!
In real life the Winchester was the Duke of Albany in New Cross Gate, unfortunately like so many of our treasured institutions over the last few decades, it’s no more, converted into a set of designer flats a few years after filming wrapped up.
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