Ayrton Senna is one of the most captivating personalities in the history of motorsport. He has been the subject of fascinating documentaries and this week Netflix launched a six-part series dramatising his fascinating if ultimately tragic life.
One thing viewers didn't expect to see in the programme was the river Foyle or the city of Derry.
The Brazilian spent some of his formative years in racing in England, driving on the Formula Ford circuit with the Van Diemen team.
In the first episode of the programme, we follow Senna's journey from Brazil to the UK. Immediately after getting married in Brazil. Senna and his new wife Lilian are driven in a black cab to their new home on a slate grey day. It's supposed to be any city in Thatcher's England, but as the scene goes on, it's also unquestionably Derry.
You can see a sign for Robert Street in the scene where Senna and his wife get out of the car. The scene was filmed not far from the Waterside area on the east side of the Foyle.
The Foodie Derry twitter account was the first to flag this.
Watching the new Netflix bio on Senna. Seems after Brazil he did a short stint in Derry. lol. Think we would have known. pic.twitter.com/lid9MEMnO1
— FoodieDerry (@FoodieDerry) November 30, 2024
You can compare the street scenes in the programme with this image from Google Maps streetview taken in 2021.
The programme was filmed across 2023 and Derry served as the production base for UK shooting.
https://www.instagram.com/causeway_pictures/reel/DCrfLKAByUT/
Netflix's Senna receives tepid reviews
For anyone curious about watching , the reviews are decidedly mixed. The racing scenes are highly recommended while the writing and acting outside of that leaves much to be desired.
The Guardian gave the programme a two-star review.
This is a straightforward eulogising of the great sportsman that makes him seem more straightforward a character than he actually was, and relegates everyone in his life to a flat cartoon. The race sequences are thrilling and the narrative is too naturally exciting for the series to be boring, but whenever the roar of the engines stops, the dramatic momentum dies."
