Octopussy is a 1983 James Bond film directed by John Glen and starring Roger Moore in his sixth outing as 007. The story begins with the death of Agent 009, who collapses at the British ambassador’s residence dressed as a clown and carrying a counterfeit Fabergé egg, setting Bond on the trail of a smuggling network tied to the enigmatic Octopussy, played by Maud Adams. As the plot unfolds, the film moves through jewel theft, circus performers, Cold War intrigue and a Soviet general’s rogue nuclear scheme, giving it one of the more flamboyant and fast-moving storylines of the Roger Moore era.
The film was shot across a notably varied set of real locations, and many of them are central to its visual identity. Filming began in West Berlin, where scenes used places such as Checkpoint Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, Spandau Prison and Potsdamer Platz to ground the story in a recognisable Cold War landscape. The Indian section was filmed in Udaipur, Rajasthan, which gives the film some of its most memorable imagery: the Monsoon Palace served as the exterior of Kamal Khan’s palace, the Taj Lake Palace and Jag Mandir were used for Octopussy’s island retreat, and the Shiv Niwas Palace stood in as Bond’s hotel. In England, the production also used RAF Northolt, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Oakley, while the railway scenes set in Karl-Marx-Stadt were filmed on the Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough, with studio work completed at Pinewood Studios. Altogether, the locations give Octopussy a broad, travel-heavy feel, shifting from divided Berlin to palaces on Lake Pichola and then into military airfields and railway lines in England.
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie are used in productions on the real site are Octopussy, Funeral in Berlin, and A Dandy in Aspic.
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