High-stakes thriller The Iris Affair makes the most of its glamorous Italian locations — but that’s not hard to do…
Ed Grenby - 7 October 2025
Sky
Not every TV drama doubles as a travel brochure, but Sky’s new thriller The Iris Affair makes its locations in Italy look as irresistible as Tom Hollander in a well-cut suit.
In the eight-parter, Hollander plays Cameron Beck, a shadowy but charismatic entrepreneur who tries to recruit genius Iris Nixon (Niamh Algar) to help unlock the code that will activate a world-changing bit of tech he happens to have. And it’s probably no coincidence that he begins his seduction of her in Piazza di Santa Croce, one of Florence’s most beautiful squares. From there, their cat-and-mouse pursuit (creator Neil Cross calls the show “an unapologetically exciting, witty, chase-driven adventure”) takes in not just the Renaissance grandeur of Florence, but also the timeless alleyways of Rome and high-drama cliffs of sea-fringed Sardinia. And that, arguably, is the show’s biggest thrill of all: every twist of the plot comes wrapped in a view so good it could hang in the Accademia.
Each location is more than worth a holiday in its own right. But if you’re not sure which to pick, why not skid breathlessly between them, like Algar and Hollander? The latter’s helicopter is optional…
ROME: THE ETERNAL STAGE SET
The show might be bristling with heavily armed henchmen, but Rome hardly needs the extra drama. The city is already one vast stage set, where emperors, popes, artists – and, yes, film directors – have all left their mark. For The Iris Affair, it lends grandeur to the intrigue: the streets, lined with elegantly shuttered palazzi (and gorgeously gaudy gelato shops), were built for stylish pursuit.
And when the cameras stop rolling? Rome rewards visitors with the same mix of the sacred and the profane: Bernini sculptures and double scoops of pistachio, Vatican solemnity and late-night pizza by the slice. Holiday-makers can climb to the top of St Peter’s for panoramic views, toss coins into the Trevi Fountain or simply wander the cobbled alleyways of Trastevere where trattorie still serve carafes of does-the-job house red for a few euros.
Rome is busy, noisy, sometimes overwhelming – but that’s its genius. Even without Iris sprinting past, it feels like a city forever in motion, urging you to keep up.
FLORENCE: ART WITH ADDED ADRENALINE
Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance, could so easily have been provided a genteel backdrop of frescoes and domes to The Iris Affair.
Instead, Cross’s thriller taps into the city’s energy: the tight medieval streets and thronged piazzas bristle with life, adding pace to the plot.
For travellers, Florence’s intensity isn’t fictional. One moment you’re craning your neck in the shadow of Brunelleschi’s Dome, the next you’re up close with Michelangelo’s David, muscles defined like a Hollywood hunk. Yet it’s the smaller discoveries that stick: watching the Arno catch fire at sunset, sipping an espresso at a counter where locals elbow in, ducking into a church and finding a forgotten masterpiece glowing in the half-light.
Yes, the Uffizi gets crowded; yes, the Ponte Vecchio heaves with shops hawking gold and tat (or, indeed, both). But give yourself time to wander across the river into the Oltrarno, where artisans still hammer away in tiny workshops, and you’ll find a Florence that feels lived-in rather than curated.
After all, its ability to surprise is what keeps Florence alive. Just as Iris finds danger in its corners, visitors find delight – and that little frisson of not knowing what’s coming next.
SARDINIA: EUROPE’S CINEMATIC EDGE
Then there’s Sardinia, the wild card. Where Rome and Florence offer grandeur and art this island brings raw spectacle. Its coastline alone could command above-the-title billing: turquoise bays hemmed by cliffs, beaches as pale as sugar, Mediterranean scrub running down to the sea. No wonder The Iris Affair chose it for moments of high tension – Sardinia’s a natural-born thriller.
Inland, you can hike among Bronze Age nuraghe (stone tower) ruins or the rugged Gennargentu mountains. Along the coast, families swim in sheltered coves, snorkel with shoals of silver fish, or take boat trips to caves where the water glows the kind of blue you thought only existed on screen. Food is part of the adventure, too: rustic feasts of suckling pig, pecorino and honey pastries, best eaten in wobbly-chaired agriturismi. (“I ate my body weight in pasta and pizza while filming,” admits Algar. “And I have no regrets.”)
If Rome is civilisation and Florence is art, Sardinia is Italy stripped back to its brilliant, natural basics: wild, elemental, unforgettable. In other words, the perfect finale for Iris’s chase – and anybody’s holiday.
Sky
Not every TV drama doubles as a travel brochure, but Sky’s new thriller The Iris Affair makes its locations in Italy look as irresistible as Tom Hollander in a well-cut suit.
In the eight-parter, Hollander plays Cameron Beck, a shadowy but charismatic entrepreneur who tries to recruit genius Iris Nixon (Niamh Algar) to help unlock the code that will activate a world-changing bit of tech he happens to have. And it’s probably no coincidence that he begins his seduction of her in Piazza di Santa Croce, one of Florence’s most beautiful squares. From there, their cat-and-mouse pursuit (creator Neil Cross calls the show “an unapologetically exciting, witty, chase-driven adventure”) takes in not just the Renaissance grandeur of Florence, but also the timeless alleyways of Rome and high-drama cliffs of sea-fringed Sardinia. And that, arguably, is the show’s biggest thrill of all: every twist of the plot comes wrapped in a view so good it could hang in the Accademia.
Each location is more than worth a holiday in its own right. But if you’re not sure which to pick, why not skid breathlessly between them, like Algar and Hollander? The latter’s helicopter is optional…
ROME: THE ETERNAL STAGE SET
The show might be bristling with heavily armed henchmen, but Rome hardly needs the extra drama. The city is already one vast stage set, where emperors, popes, artists – and, yes, film directors – have all left their mark. For The Iris Affair, it lends grandeur to the intrigue: the streets, lined with elegantly shuttered palazzi (and gorgeously gaudy gelato shops), were built for stylish pursuit.
And when the cameras stop rolling? Rome rewards visitors with the same mix of the sacred and the profane: Bernini sculptures and double scoops of pistachio, Vatican solemnity and late-night pizza by the slice. Holiday-makers can climb to the top of St Peter’s for panoramic views, toss coins into the Trevi Fountain or simply wander the cobbled alleyways of Trastevere where trattorie still serve carafes of does-the-job house red for a few euros.
Rome is busy, noisy, sometimes overwhelming – but that’s its genius. Even without Iris sprinting past, it feels like a city forever in motion, urging you to keep up.
FLORENCE: ART WITH ADDED ADRENALINE
Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance, could so easily have been provided a genteel backdrop of frescoes and domes to The Iris Affair.
Instead, Cross’s thriller taps into the city’s energy: the tight medieval streets and thronged piazzas bristle with life, adding pace to the plot.
For travellers, Florence’s intensity isn’t fictional. One moment you’re craning your neck in the shadow of Brunelleschi’s Dome, the next you’re up close with Michelangelo’s David, muscles defined like a Hollywood hunk. Yet it’s the smaller discoveries that stick: watching the Arno catch fire at sunset, sipping an espresso at a counter where locals elbow in, ducking into a church and finding a forgotten masterpiece glowing in the half-light.
Yes, the Uffizi gets crowded; yes, the Ponte Vecchio heaves with shops hawking gold and tat (or, indeed, both). But give yourself time to wander across the river into the Oltrarno, where artisans still hammer away in tiny workshops, and you’ll find a Florence that feels lived-in rather than curated.
After all, its ability to surprise is what keeps Florence alive. Just as Iris finds danger in its corners, visitors find delight – and that little frisson of not knowing what’s coming next.
SARDINIA: EUROPE’S CINEMATIC EDGE
Then there’s Sardinia, the wild card. Where Rome and Florence offer grandeur and art this island brings raw spectacle. Its coastline alone could command above-the-title billing: turquoise bays hemmed by cliffs, beaches as pale as sugar, Mediterranean scrub running down to the sea. No wonder The Iris Affair chose it for moments of high tension – Sardinia’s a natural-born thriller.
Inland, you can hike among Bronze Age nuraghe (stone tower) ruins or the rugged Gennargentu mountains. Along the coast, families swim in sheltered coves, snorkel with shoals of silver fish, or take boat trips to caves where the water glows the kind of blue you thought only existed on screen. Food is part of the adventure, too: rustic feasts of suckling pig, pecorino and honey pastries, best eaten in wobbly-chaired agriturismi. (“I ate my body weight in pasta and pizza while filming,” admits Algar. “And I have no regrets.”)
If Rome is civilisation and Florence is art, Sardinia is Italy stripped back to its brilliant, natural basics: wild, elemental, unforgettable. In other words, the perfect finale for Iris’s chase – and anybody’s holiday.
The Iris Affair - Sky Showcase/Atlantic
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