Watch: Jadis Appears to Use Wand During London Rampage in New ‘Narnia’ Set Video

Filming on Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew moved on up to Bradford this week, with the highlight of the shoot being a set video which purports to show Jadis using her wand in our world for the first time, as she continues on her horse-based rampage through the streets of London.

In a set report posted to Facebook by Jeremy Sladdin, he describes Jadis pulling “a wand from her boot” and using it to “blast one of her pursuers aside”, a detail which you can just about make out in his accompanying set video.

This was not the only new development in Bradford this week, however, with film crews having been hard at work since Tuesday to transform two of the city’s historic districts into 1950s London. Patreon Subscribers on NarniaWeb’s Discord Server have been receiving regular updates on their progress all week as the sets were constructed, props installed, and even a few early sneak-peaks at scenes being shot!

As well as the possibility of Jadis using her magical powers in the real world for the first time, here are four other key takeaways from the last few days…

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1. Digory Heads Home

Initial scenes were shot in Fairfield Road and Fairfield Terrace in the Manningham area of the city on Thursday. The crew utilized the old-fashioned alleyways that run between the rows of Victorian houses to shoot several scenes involving doubles for both Digory and Jadis.

In one scene, uploaded by local residents to TikTok, Digory is once again seen trudging his way home from school, still carrying his satchel and gym bag as depicted in the previous London and Manchester shoots.

Given that the alleyway is used to provide local access to residential back gardens, it would seem highly likely that Digory is finally completing his walk home, and that Uncle Andrew’s house is in this neighborhood.

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2. Jadis Begins Her Rampage?

In a second scene shot in the same alleyway, and also uploaded to TikTok, Jadis can be seen thundering down the lane on her horse, with Digory held captive. This presumably marks the start of her London rampage which we have seen play out at the Tower of London and in the City of London already.

As she charges down the alleyway, a local milkman is knocked to the ground, spilling bottles of milk everywhere, whilst two old-fashioned Policemen chase after her on foot, very much in keeping with the Pauline Baynes illustrations.

If this is to be Digory’s local neighborhood, then it likely means that Uncle Andrew himself can’t be far away. That said, whilst these two TikTok users both specifically mention rumors of Daniel Craig’s stunt double being on set, they are likely referring to the camera bike operator, Rob Herring, who was coincidentally also a stunt bike rider on three of the five James Bond films starring Daniel Craig.

Whilst we are therefore no closer to finally confirming Uncle Andrew’s identity, the fact that Strawberry the Horse is already present at this location perhaps suggests that Frank and Helen must live somewhere nearby as well.

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3. An Old Victorian Mill

Not far from Fairfield Road, some scenes were also shot in the grounds of Lister Mills, a Victorian-era factory in the Manningham area of Bradford that was once the largest producer of silk in the world.

Whilst we don’t have any exact details on the scene being shot, it appears to have involved at least one young girl in period costume, and was shot amongst the remnants of an old factory shed (above right) rather than in the restored areas of the main factory building (above left).

Once again, it is notable that despite the time period shift, the production designers seem to be leaning heavily into Victorian-era architecture, and also that the film features a far more expansive urban setting for the child protagonists to engage with, rather than just being largely confined to their own houses and gardens as per the book.

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4. London Comes to the North

The majority of the set construction in Bradford was focused on a small area of the city known as “Little Germany” which has been a popular filming location for many productions over the years, and also features numerous Victorian-era buildings.

Many of the same brown construction site fences that we saw in London were erected (presumably to obscure the elements of more modern architecture) and many similar items of 1950s street furniture were also installed to give the already historic streets that extra level of period authenticity.

In a scene shot on Peckover Street, we see yet more of Digory’s long walk home, though this time including a beautiful moment of transition as Digory leaves the hustle and bustle of the busy high street to cut across the rubble-strewn remains of a bombed-out building, still lingering on from the war ten years earlier.

In another TikTok video, we see the stunt doubles for Jadis and Digory riding a car-mounted prop horse for the first time, as they speed along the streets followed closely behind by a Policeman on a bicycle, and what is potentially the same two hapless police officers from before, still chasing on foot.

Several old-fashioned police cars (previously seen in London) were also on site again, offering up the potential that they might later get involved in the expanding police chase to apprehend Jadis.