Where was The Choral filmed? All filming locations revealed

The Choral is a 2025 British historical drama directed by Nicholas Hytner and written by Alan Bennett. It is their fourth collaboration and Bennett's first original screenplay in over a decade.

Filming took place entirely in Yorkshire from May to fall 2024. The primary location was the UNESCO World Heritage site of Saltaire, near Bradford, which doubled as Ramsden, featuring its Victorian mills, streets and canal.

Ralph Fiennes stars as the strict conductor Dr Henry Guthrie. The main cast includes Roger Allam as Alderman Bernard Duxbury, Mark Addy as Joe Fytton, Alun Armstrong as Mr Trickett, Robert Emms, Simon Russell Beale and young actors like Taylor Uttley and Emily Fairn.

Set in 1916 during World War I, the film is set in the fictional Yorkshire mill town of Ramsden. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 5, 2025. 

The UK theatrical release was on November 7, 2025, with a limited US release starting on December 25, 2025, via Sony Pictures Classics.

The Choral: All filming locations explored

The production drew on authentic Yorkshire sites to create a realistic 1916 industrial town atmosphere. 

• Saltaire, Bradford/Shipley, West Yorkshire - The main stand-in for Ramsden. This preserved Victorian model village provided streets, houses and industrial buildings. Key areas included Salts Mill (for mill exteriors and interiors), village streets (transformed with period signage) and sections along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal for everyday town scenes.
• Victoria Hall, Saltaire - This Grade II listed Victorian hall was used extensively for interior choir rehearsals, committee meetings and performance sequences. Its grand auditorium and acoustics made it ideal for musical scenes.
• Gibson Mill, Hardcastle Crags, Hebden Bridge - A remote 19th-century cotton mill in wooded National Trust land. Used for quieter, reflective scenes, including a notable millpond sequence and possibly pub exteriors or surroundings.

• Big Six Inn, Halifax - Interior pub scenes were shot at this traditional pub located near Skircoat Moor.
• Denton Hall, near Ilkley/Wharfedale, North Yorkshire - This 18th-century Grade I listed country house and its large estate provided contrasting upper-class interiors, gardens and grounds for scenes showing social differences.
• Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, West Yorkshire - The heritage steam railway including Keighley station platforms, vintage trains and carriages. Used for period railway scenes like troop movements, arrivals, departures and farewells.

Some additional interiors were built at Versa Studios in Leeds.

What is The Choral all about?

In 1916, with World War I claiming most of the adult men from Ramsden's choral society, the group risked canceling their ambitious plans.

Local leaders hire Dr Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes), a demanding conductor recently back from Germany. This raises suspicions in the wartime anti-German climate. To survive, they recruit teenage boys and, in a bold move, some girls who are too young for the front.

Guthrie pushes the mixed choir hard to perform Edward Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, deliberately choosing an English composer over German ones.

The film follows their rehearsals amid grief, loss and fear. As conscription age drops and telegrams arrive, music becomes a source of community strength, joy and quiet defiance against the war's horrors.

It mixes humour from Bennett's sharp dialogue with touching moments of resilience and the power of choral singing.

Where to watch The Choral:

The Choral is in limited theatrical release in the US (starting December 25) and is still playing in select UK cinemas. It will be released nationwide on January 16, 2026.

No official streaming or VOD release has been announced at this time.

It is distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, so future availability may come on platforms like Prime Video or Apple TV after the theatrical window.

Stay tuned for more such updates