Hijack season 2 looks like it's filmed in Berlin but it was mostly shot nearly 600 miles away
Hijack season 2 has a "perfect replica" that will have you fooled
Hijack season 2 has finally dropped its first episode on Apple TV, with Idris Elba’s hero tackling a crisis in a new location – but it wasn’t filmed where you think.
That’s right, one of the best Apple TV shows is finally back. The first season of Hijack was a resounding success: a real-time, pulse-pounding thriller that subverted all the tropes you expected to see.
Unfortunately for Elba’s Sam Nelson, despite averting an aviation disaster, we’re going to see him go up against a new threat.
This time, it’s not a plane: it’s a train. But, despite how it looks, most of Hijack season 2 wasn’t filmed in Germany.
Where is Hijack season 2 set?
Hijack season 2 mostly takes place in Berlin, Germany, with Elba’s Sam Nelson stuck on an underground train after its commuters are taken hostage.
Little more is known about the plot, other than the synopsis teasing that “one wrong decision could spell disaster”.
Anyone with a vague knowledge of Berlin would have recognised key landmarks from the trailer (more on that shortly).
That’s not to say there won’t be any scenes set in the UK, though. With the return of Max Beasley and Archie Panjabi, some parts of the series will take place in London.
Hijack season 2 filming locations
Some scenes in Hijack season 2 are filmed on location in Berlin. Off the trailer alone, you can spot several major landmarks and notable areas of the city.
Fernsehturm
The Fernsehturm, also known as the Berlin TV Tower, is one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
Completed in 1969, it was erected to ensure continuous and clearer broadcasting across all of Berlin. It was nearly placed near Berlin Brandenburg Airport, but it’s height would have posed a risk to aircraft, so it was built next to Alexanderplatz in the Marien Quarter.
As well as a national symbol, it’s still functioning: it contains loads of TV and radio transmitters. Plus, you can ascend it and view the city from an observation deck (and even enjoy a drink in the bar over 200m in the air).
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate can also been seen in Hijack season 2. It’s another iconic German monument, coming to represent not just the country’s history, but war (and peace) across Europe.
Its predecessor was much simpler, until Frederick William II of Prussia summoned architects to build a grander structure in the late 1700s – and it’s still standing today.
The gate even survived the Second World War and unified East and West Berlin when magistrates decided to restore it. The Berlin Wall passed by the western side of the gate, where protesters would often gather.
When the wall was taken down in 1989, the gate became a symbol of the city’s freedom and further unification.
Berlin Central Station
You may think a train station won’t be as steeped in history as the TV Tower or the Brandenburg Gate – but you’d be wrong!
Berlin Central Station (in German, Berlin Hauptbahnhof) is located on the site of the Lehrter Bahnhof, the most important east-west rail line between 1871 and 1959.
For example, it hosted the first-ever departure of Germany’s Fliegender Hamburger, a fast diesel train that broke records.
However, it sustained enormous damage during the Second World War, and it was fully demolished by 1959. This led to the construction of Berlin Central Station, which wasn’t formally opened until 2006.
Idris Elba reveals how UK studio poses as Berlin underground
This is where it gets interesting: most of the scenes in Hijack season 2 that involve the Berlin underground… weren’t filmed in Berlin.
Instead, an intricate, huge set was built in a studio in Dagenham. While unconfirmed, this is believed to be Eastbrook Studios.
After all, did you really expect them to take over Berlin’s actual public transport system? Going by the trailer, the hijacking appears to take place on the U5 Hönow line, one of the city’s most popular and frequent routes.
'Hijack' star Idris Elba on the production of season 2 of the show, shooting in Dagenham and Berlin, and the difference between the story being set on a train versus the plane in season 1 pic.twitter.com/NNkQFBj7dF
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) January 6, 2026
“The production build and design… we shot a lot of it in a studio in Dagenham,” Elba explained to Deadline.
“It was to scale. We had to make it as realistic for the actors and the audience as possible… you really feel like you’re there.”
Jim Field Smith, the show’s co-creator, wanted the studio set to be a “perfect replica” of the U-Bahn.
“I knew I wanted to film with the real deal in Berlin,” he said.
“It had to match. It had to be literally a millimetre-perfect recreation, so that was a big challenge.”
Read more: The 15 best films on Apple TV to watch in January 2026
