Millions of television viewers were given a fascinating glimpse inside the rooms at Englefield House over Christmas and New Year as an advert filmed in September was screened for the first time.

The traditional Compare the Market Christmas commercial aired on Boxing Day, featuring the much-loved cast of meerkats who have been starring in the digital comparison website’s adverts since 2009.

For the first time the brand and its production company, Passion Pictures, chose Englefield House as the location for the popular advert, which for more than 15 years has played on the antics of its loveable characters.

While the backdrop is recognisably the library and other rooms in Englefield House, the film makers ‘dressed’ the sets during filming and post-production work to match the opulent style of the long running Compare the Meerkat TV adverts.

We reported on the filming in this year’s edition of the Englefield Echo – but were sworn to secrecy about the brand and the characters until the first screening of the ad on December 26th.

Producer Patrick Duguid of Passion Pictures was the man behind the cameras when the cast and crew took over Englefield House for two long and busy days of filming in early September 2025.

Patrick said he was looking for a large stately home with the wow factor for the film and Englefield House fitted the bill perfectly. “Our Locations Manager also works on major feature films and has a long list of large stately homes in his head,” he said.

“We looked at hundreds and then boiled it down to a shortlist of just a few. Englefield House stood out because it is such a beautiful property and within striking distance of London, which always helps.”

He said the support from the team at Englefield, including our Events Manager Peter Carson and Head Housekeeper Amanda Thacker, had been first class. “From the first time I went to Englefield and met Amanda the care and respect they have for the property shone through,” he said. “We always want to leave the property that we use for filming as we found it.”

Much of the work on the commercial took place in post-production with the position of the meerkat characters identified with paper cutouts in different rooms in Englefield House.

Patrick acknowledged, that the location and its unique historic atmosphere played a big part in the final film.

2025 was a busy year for filming and events, as well as Englefield House appearing in the Netflix blockbuster The Thursday Murder Club which was filmed in 2024.

 

For any filming enquires, contact Peter Carson on 07585 509747 or email peter.carson@englefield.co.uk.