history are civilisations that are doomed to make the same mistakes again and again, which is why this film starts with the idea of fundamentalism against tolerance. It's not Catholic against Protestant; it's a very fundamental form of Catholicism. It was the time of the Spanish Inquisition and against a woman whose half of her population was Protestant, half was Catholic. And there were enough bigots in her Protestant Parliament to say, 'Just kill them all', and she was constantly saying no. She was constantly on the side of tolerance. So you interpret history to tell the story that is relevant to us now." Filming locations Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, England, UK (Raleigh's house exteriors) Brean Down, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK (Queen Elizabeth addresses her troops) Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, UK (John Dee's house exteriors/London alley/Paris street scene) Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England, UK Dorney Court, Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (Raleigh's house/Walsingham's house/chapel interiors) Doune Castle, Doune, Stirling, Scotland, UK Eilean Donan Castle, Kyle of Lochalsh, Highland, Scotland, UK (Fotheringay Castle exteriors) Ely Cathedral, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, UK (Whitehall Palace interior) Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, UK (Chartley Hall, also the interior of Walsingham's house) Leeds Castle, Kent, England, UK (Chartley Hall/Windsor Castle exteriors) Petworth House, Petworth, West Sussex, England, UK (Windsor Great Park) Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK St Bartholomew-the-Great, London, England, UK (Fortheringay Castle/Chartley Hall interiors) St John's College, Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK (Whitehall Palace exteriors/Thames scenes) Wells Cathedral, Wells, Somerset, England, UK (Whitehall Palace interiors) Westminster Cathedral, Westminster, London, England, UK (Escorial Palace/Lisbon Cathedral interiors) Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire, England, UK (St. Paul's Cathedral/The Chapel Royal interiors/gallows scene) Soundtrack The original score was composed by A. R. Rahman and Craig Armstrong. Kapur was thrilled to have both Rahman and Armstrong working together on the music, saying it was fascinating to watch "two people with totally different backgrounds and cultures" interact. Blanchett had travelled to India in the early 2000s, coming away with several Indian sounds, and badgered Kapur to get Rahman to score Hollywood movies. Antonio Pinto was mentioned as being a collaborator during production, but later Armstrong joined the project. In January 2009, he expressed regret that other compositions from A. R. Rahman were not used in the film, feeling that "the score of Golden Age was not half as good as it could have been." He expressed hope to hear these pieces appear in another