i spy property porn!

... or how the real stars of the BBC’s new Le Carre thriller are the breathtaking locations

EXCITED television producers are calling it ‘Sunday night property porn’ — t he gratuitous use of stunning buildings in lavish dramas.

The ultra- expensive settings make viewers drool and reflect glamour onto characters.

Downton Abbey did it shamelessly. of course, it was set in Highclere castle, one of the Queen’s favourite houses. Then there were scenes such as lady Mary’s romantic dinner in the splendid surrounds of the RAC club in pall Mall, or Alnwick castle, where the 2014 christmas special was filmed.

The recent TV adaptation of classic novel War And peace used some of its £20 million budget to commandeer the spectacular catherine palace in St petersburg.

But the prize for the most eyepopping Sunday night property porn goes to BBc1’s spy serial The Night Manager, based on the 1993 thriller by John le carre.

So far we’ve been treated to waterfront idylls and eccentric castles in Majorca, opulence in north Africa, icy beauty in a megaexpensive Alpine resort, and remote, romantic cottages in the West country. it’s less of an action adventure, more of a dreamy travelogue through places only the wealthiest globetrotters even know about. location fees gobbled up much of the series’ £3 million-an-episode budget, but director Susanne Bier insists it was worth every penny.

‘it was deliberate to make it very sexy,’ she says. ‘The story takes place in a very lavish world — that of billionaire arms dealer Richard Roper, played by Hugh laurie. part of the excitement is that the audience gets sucked into this world.’

one of the locations was her own choice. Remote ca’s patro March restaurant in Majorca was a logistical nightmare she says, adding: ‘But i thought it was so beautiful, so we made it happen.’

After all, as these locations for The Night Manager prove, what’s the point of being a billionaire, if you can’t go anywhere you want?