The Studio Tour Begins
Once you’re inside, it doesn’t take long before you start seeing things you immediately recognise from the films. One of the things I love about the Studio Tour is that it isn’t really trying to feel like a theme park. It’s much more about stepping behind the scenes and seeing the actual sets, props, costumes and tiny details that went into creating the Harry Potter films.
And one of the first familiar sights is a particularly small cupboard.
The Cupboard Under the Stairs
Before you’ve even properly started the tour, you get to see the Cupboard Under the Stairs at Number Four, Privet Drive – Harry’s rather miserable little bedroom before Hogwarts came along and changed everything.
It’s such a simple set compared with some of the enormous things you’ll see later, but that almost makes it more special. It’s one of those instantly recognisable pieces of Harry Potter history: the tiny space beneath the stairs, filled with Harry’s belongings, where the story begins before he has any idea that he’s a wizard.
Seeing it in person also gives you a completely different appreciation for the amount of detail that went into the films. Things that only appear on screen for a relatively short amount of time were still carefully dressed and designed to make Harry’s world feel real.
Number Four, Privet Drive
Later in the Studio Tour, you get to see something even more familiar: Number Four, Privet Drive itself.
The exterior of the Dursleys’ house sits in the Backlot alongside several other iconic outdoor sets and props. After seeing Privet Drive so many times in the films, there’s something wonderfully strange about suddenly standing right in front of that very ordinary-looking suburban house.
And really, it’s the perfect Harry Potter location. The whole story begins in one of the least magical places imaginable – a painfully normal house on a painfully normal street, occupied by a family determined to pretend that magic doesn’t exist.
Then the Hogwarts letters start arriving.
Standing in front of Number Four is one of those moments where the films suddenly feel very tangible. You’re not looking at a replica inspired by Harry Potter. You’re surrounded by pieces of the filmmaking world that actually helped bring the story to life.
For something as ordinary as a little house on Privet Drive, it feels surprisingly magical.
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