Polly and Digory Find a Home
Door Jam: November 17, 2025
The Door Jam is a place to squeeze in articles about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, their work, adaptations of their fantasy worlds, news from other franchises, and interesting articles. Unless otherwise stated, I’m not endorsing (or criticizing) any of these but merely sharing them with you.
New set photos from Greta Gerwig’s Narnia adaptation give us our first glimpse of what will likely be the long row of houses where Polly and Digory live. This will likely also be the site of the lamp-post fight.
New ‘Narnia’ Set Photos Reveal Likely Home Street of Digory and Polly — NarniaWeb
NarniaWeb has uncovered planning applications for a large outdoor film set, including site plans. They’ve also obtained photos of the set from a distance.
Photos of the already constructed set, which were supplied to Runnymede Council for retrospective approval, show the same layout visible in the plans. The distant images appear to indicate houses of a similar architectural design and period setting to those of the other real-world filming locations previously seen in London, Manchester, and Bradford.
The planning application also notes that the set is to be surrounded by an “inflatable blue screen,” indicating that the street scene will be digitally extended or augmented in post-production. Approximately 200 to 250 crew members were present during filming, along with between 100 and 300 extras on set.
In the first chapter of The Magician’s Nephew, Lewis says Polly’s family lived in “one of a long row of houses which were all joined together.” The photographed set and submitted designs look like those types of row houses.
The houses look more like facades, so this will likely be for exterior shots of the row that includes the Plummer and Kirke homes. The inclusion of hundreds of extras also likely means this would be the filming location for the fight at the lamp post.
After Jadis crashes her cab into a lamp-post outside Digory’s home, Lewis describes the scene:
Before Digory had recovered his breath, a good many other things began to happen. A second hansom dashed up close behind the first: out of it there jumped a fat man in a frock-coat and a policeman. Then came a third hansom with two more policemen in it. After it, came about twenty people (mostly errand boys) on bicycles, all ringing their bells and letting out cheers and cat-calls. Last of all came a crowd of people on foot: all very hot with running, but obviously enjoying themselves. Windows shot up in all the houses of that street and a housemaid or a butler appeared at every front door. They wanted to see the fun.
Even with the rumored time jump, it seems Greta Gerwig’s adaptation is still giving us the classic and iconic images from the story.
Not Safe But Good
C.S. Lewis quote of the week
Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment. Thus a man easily comes to console himself for all his other vices by a conviction that ‘his heart’s in the right place’ and ‘he wouldn’t hurt a fly,’ though in fact he has never made the slightest sacrifice for a fellow creature. We think we are kind when we are only happy ….
Tumnus’ bookshelf
Books by or about Lewis or Tolkien
The War for Middle-earth: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Confront the Gathering Storm, 1933–1945 — hardcover: $27.95, ebook: $14.99
I already own Joseph Loconte’s A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War. I’m looking forward to his new book, which explains the connection between Lewis and Tolkien’s fictional worlds and World War II.
Other books on sale
The Chronicles of Narnia Deluxe Edition: 7 Books in 1 (75th anniversary edition) by C.S. Lewis — hardcover: $55.35 (26% off), ebook: $39.99
The Chronicles of Narnia: Boxed Set by C.S. Lewis — hardcover: $55.15 (61% off)
Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life by C.S. Lewis — paperback: $11.83 (30% off), ebook: $1.99 (85% off)
Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien — hardcover: $15.99 (43% off), ebook $3.99
Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien — hardcover: $19.29 (45% off)
The Problem of Printers
Bad C.S. Lewis book covers
This looks more like the poster for a Hallmark romance movie called “Waiting for Love” than a C.S. Lewis book cover, but here we are.
Behind the Wardrobe
Sneak peek at the bonus articles
Below, paid subscribers will see articles on:
The real-life St. Lucy of Narnia
One way Netflix plans to promote Narnia
Tolkien’s writing desk up for auction
The history of Turkish Delight
A hotel mislabeling the “Tolkien Room”
More on Lewis and Tolkien’s friendship
An inspiration behind Narnia and Middle-earth
And lots more!
