Where is Magpie Murders filmed? Just like the nail-bitingly brilliant show - all is not as it seems

Wondering where is Magpie Murders filmed? The hit series, starring the wonderful Lesley Manville, is set both in the past and present. What unites the two periods? Why, an utterly gripping whodunnit and locations that are too gorgeous to believe and we can't help but wonder where it's all shot.

Just when you thought Sherwood was the best show Lesley had ever starred in, the brilliant actor is back for more in this hit series, based on the Anthony Horowitz book of the same name.

What makes this series a little different is the fact that it's set in two periods - and the characters are too. The show features two stories in one as book editor Susan Ryland, played by Lesley, tries to solve two murders - one in the book she's editing, and the murder of the book's author after his untimely death at his stunning home.

So where is Magpie Murders filmed?

Where is Magpie Murders filmed?

The show is set in the beautiful Suffolk countryside and the UK capital London but interestingly enough, in terms of where is Magpie Murders filmed  - all is not what it appears.

It was actually largely filmed in Ireland and, per the Radio Times, it was all down to budget. "That was a given when I signed on, just for economic reasons, really," said the show's director Peter Cattaneo. "It's a more economical place to shoot."

He explained further that the scenes are a combination of, "Dublin, real Suffolk for a bit and a tiny bit of real London – just establishing shots of the cars driving around Liverpool Street Station." Some of it was also shot in Bloomsbury in County Meath, as there is plenty of Edwardian architecture there.

Actual Suffolk did also feature, in a little village called Kersey with the show's producer Jill Green telling the Radio Times, that discovering it was a, "real turning point."

"To actually find a whole village where about 400 people lived, where they all agreed to let us film and some of them were in it as well, was a really massive turning point for the show and it's an extraordinary outcome I think."

What is Magpie Murders about?

The synopsis for the show reads, "It all starts with the end. Two baffling deaths: one in a book, one in real life. Anthony Horowitz's mind-bending murder mystery, starring Lesley Manville as a determined sleuth."

Its title is derived form the classic nursery rhyme about magpies, you know the one.

One for sorrow, two for joy.

Three for a girl, four for a boy.

Five for silver, six for gold.

Seven for a story yet to be told.

The addictive series is a mystery inside a mystery and begins with author Alan Conway filing his last ever novel, Magpie Murders, featuring the fictional detective Atticus Pund. Atticus is a bit like a German Poirot - perhaps a shade less eccentric - but hits that strange sleuth note all the same.

The book's editor Susan, played by Lesley, reads the book and is annoyed when she finds the last chapter missing - which is no use in a whodunnit. To complicate matters further, the author's untimely demise leaves even more questions left unanswered.

Like many famous novelists' work, characters within the story are based on real-life characters within the writer's life which leaves Susan on the hunt to find the final chapter to solve the fictional whodunnit, and who killed its writer.

How to watch Magpie Murders

The entire first season of Magpie Murders is available to watch in the US on the PBS Video app. If you're not interested in signing up to another streaming service, you can also rent or buy the series on Amazon Prime Video.

Those looking to watch the hit series in the UK can catch it on Saturdays at 9.15pm on BBC One - or if you can't wait, the whole season is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

Will there be a Magpie Murders season 2?

Fans of the brilliant series rejoice because yes, there shall be a Magpie Murders season 2! 

In January 2023, the BBC confirmed that they had acquired the star-studded mystery series and that the second season will be called Moonflower Murders and it's set to be filmed later this year.