‘The Gentlemen’ Production Designer on Show’s Wallpaper Budget

As the production designer on The Gentlemen, Martyn John’s initial task was to locate the perfect house.

The Guy Ritchie Netflix series, a spinoff of his 2019 action comedy feature of the same name, revolves around the incredibly posh English manor owned by the Hornimans, a prestigious British aristocratic family hiding a dark secret: They are being paid by a drug baron to grow large amounts of marijuana on their land. Theo James plays Eddie Horniman, the new duke of the manor, who uncovers his predecessor’s shady business dealings after his father’s death.

“When I got the job, I knew I had to find something similar to Downton Abbey, where the house becomes another character in the show,” John explains. “I needed something architecturally iconic to stand out but also with enough space to last us through eight episodes.”

John was aware of what Ritchie was looking for as well. Having been the supervising art director on the 2019 feature that inspired the series, he presented Ritchie with 24 English country houses before the filmmaker made his choice. “After going through the 24 options, I knew what he disliked and where not to go,” John recalls. “In the end, I narrowed it down to just four houses, and when we reached Badminton House, I knew it was the perfect choice.”

Badminton House has been in the possession of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. The estate is known for lending its name to the sport of badminton, either being invented or popularized there in the mid-1900s. For John, it embodied the “faded grandeur” Ritchie sought: “With lots of cracks in the walls and ceilings,” and vast grounds spanning 52,000 acres. “The beauty of Badminton is its variety of landscapes, including a lake, woods, and farmland. They even have their own church and graveyard,” John adds. “I knew it would be perfect for the series.”

The main issue was the location. Situated in Gloucestershire, the house was a two-hour drive from London where the cast and crew were situated.

“Every time we had to travel outside London, we had to relocate the base, accommodate the crews in hotels, which became quite costly,” John explains. “Additionally, being a private house, they were not keen on extensive filming inside.”

Therefore, while the Badminton entrance hall, staircase, and vast grounds portrayed the Horniman estate on The Gentlemen, the interiors were a blend of five other houses and custom-built sets seamlessly integrated to appear as one grand manor.

“The challenge was replicating the opulence of those lavish 18th-century aristocratic homes on a budget. This required some creative thinking,” John admits.

The wallpaper played a crucial role in achieving the desired effect.

“I invested a significant amount in silk wallpaper, using a fabric that was transformed into wallpaper for the drawing room,” John shares. “The cost was substantial, but it contributed greatly to the overall lavishness of the place.”

When designing the grittier world of the drug gangsters, John could cut corners. For instance, the council flat where Eddie retrieves a passport for one of the gang members was designed in a mix-and-match style, allowing for cost savings to be directed towards the aristocratic sets. “It was a fun process as you could experiment and blend different elements,” John explains.

With 49 dressing plans for his two episodes of the series, John describes the production as a marathon. Having collaborated with Ritchie on previous projects, he was prepared for the unexpected changes in the storyline and design elements that Ritchie might introduce.

“Guy tends to tweak the storyline slightly every day and play around with the design aspects,” John reveals. “On the day we filmed the outdoor barbecue scene, he wanted a specific type of steak, a wagyu cut. Another time, it was a particular type of cut Burgundy glass for a gentlemen’s club. I had to source them quickly, even on short notice.”

Following the success of The Gentlemen, with the series quickly climbing the Netflix charts and accumulating over 215 million viewing hours in its first two weeks after the March release, a second season seems likely. John is open to the challenge, even if it means starting from scratch.

“Everything from the original production is gone now. Due to tight turnarounds and expensive locations, everything had to be discarded,” John laments.

Except for a remnant of the costly wallpaper.

“I had a meter of that silk fabric made into a waistcoat by the costume designer,” John chuckles. “That’s all that remains.”

This article was first published in an August issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To subscribe to the magazine, click here.