As production designer on , Martyn John’s first job was to find the right house. The Guy Ritchie Netflix series, a spinoff of his 2019 action comedy feature of the same name, is centered on the ridiculously posh English manor owned by the Hornimans, a blue-blooded group of British aristocrats with a dirty secret: They’re getting paid by a drug baron, who is using their land to grow vast amounts of marijuana. stars as Eddie Horniman, new duke of the manor, who takes over after his father dies and in the process learns about his predecessor’s nefarious business dealings.
“When I got the job, I knew I had to find something a bit like , where the house becomes another character in the show,” says John. “I needed something that was so iconic, architecturally, to stand out, but also had enough scope and space to last us eight episodes.” John knew what Ritchie would be looking for, as well.
As supervising art director on the 2019 feature that inspired the series, he showed Ritchie 24 English country houses before the filmmaker picked his favorite. “Having gone through the 24, I knew what he didn’t like, where not to go,” says John. “In the end, I think I took just four houses to him, and when we got to Badminton House, I knew that was the one.
” Badminton House has been home to Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The estate gave its name to the sport of badminton, which was either invented at the house or popularized there in the mid-1900s. For John.