Where is The Bay filmed has been the question on many fans’ minds since the hit ITV drama made its triumphant return with yet more stunning seascapes.
A year after we last saw the Morecambe police force thrown in at the deep end, The Bay season 3 has finally landed, though sadly without Morven Christie who left The Bay before this latest instalment. Featuring emotional scenes, horrific crimes and the complex personal lives of the Family Liaison Officers trying to help the victims’ families, The Bay has risen to the top of many people’s winter watch lists. Perfect for thriller lovers who instantly recognized The Responder cast or can’t wait for more Trigger Point ITV, The Bay season 3 sees DS Jenn Townsend arrive in the seaside town just as promising young boxer Saif is murdered.
Newcomer Marsha Thomason has fitted in brilliantly as Jenn and the dramatic coastal location is the perfect backdrop for these equally intense events. But where is The Bay filmed and did Morven Christie's departure affect the location? We reveal all you need to know as The Bay season 3 continues…
*Warning: spoilers ahead!*
Where is The Bay filmed?
With so many popular shows, from Shetland series 6 to Vigil, the locations are key and with the seaside a prominent feature in The Bay it's all-too easy to begin wondering—where is The Bay filmed? But it's good news for those hoping that the setting and locations align as The Bay is filmed in the same location it's set, the Lancashire town of Morecambe.
As reported by Lancashire Live back in 2021, camera crews had been glimpsed across the county as The Bay season 3 filming began. The publication went on to claim that during an online forum, Susannah Bleakley, the Morecambe Bay partnership chief executive officer even revealed an exciting local landmark that was set to be added to the show’s intro.
She reportedly shared, "Anna Gillespsie is the artist who did that amazing The Ship sculpture at Half Moon Bay which is something that has come up for us recently. I had to sign off permission for The Bay crew to film the sculpture recently. It's going to be used in the opening credits of the show. We have actually invited Anna to do a talk for us about the sculpture."
Half Moon Bay stretches up the coast from Heysham Harbour and has spectacular views across Morecambe Bay. And that's not the only local location used for filming The Bay season 3 as reports also emerged that last year that film crews were spotted filming in Heysham village as well as Queen’s Street in Morecambe.
The filming locations for The Bay seasons 1 and 2 were also Morecambe-focused, with The Bay writer Daragh Carville calling this Lancashire seaside town home. It was his familiarity with the area and the way Morecambe is barely ever, if at all, featured in TV shows that inspired him to set the hit ITV drama there. Opening up to RadioTimes.com ahead of The Bay debuting on ITV, Daragh revealed that he is fascinated by the "distinctive" seaside quality of Morecambe.
He explained, "Morecambe’s right on our doorstep, and when our kids were young we’d bring them to Morecambe and it was a place that I always liked. It’s a really interesting mix of things, because on the one hand it’s very striking, it’s beautiful, it’s got extraordinary views out across the bay towards the Lake District. But it’s also got that very distinctive British or Irish seaside town quality, because as with many seaside places, it has slightly lost its raison d’être.”
Darragh continued, "I suppose the combination of it being a beautiful place, but also a place that has had its struggles—there’s something about Morecambe, it’s literally on the edge of the country, but there’s also a metaphorical edge to it as well."
Discussing the significance of seeing your own life and experiences represented on TV and in the media, the writer added, “One of the reasons I wanted to write this story and to set it there was just simply because nothing had been set there before. And I think there’s something really important about seeing your own life represented on screen or on stage.”
And when it comes to where The Bay is filmed and retaining that authentic sense of it being in Morecambe, the production team even went as far as shooting scenes in the town’s actual police station.
“It is indeed a working police station,” he explained, though he admitted that “without wanting to ruin the magic of television, the exteriors and the interiors are filmed at different places.”
Over the series exteriors for the police station have been filmed in Morecambe, though a disused police station in Manchester was the location for the interior scenes that take place in police HQ in The Bay. So when it comes to the question where is The Bay filmed it seems there’s nothing like the real deal to bring a location to life and the Lancashire coast couldn't be a more perfect setting for this gripping drama series.
Did The Bay season 3 location change?
For loyal fans of the hit ITV show the arrival of The Bay season 3 on January 12th was likely a bittersweet moment. After months of waiting and enjoying the twists, turns and cliff-hangers of other dramas like Stay Close and Showtrial while they waited patiently, The Bay returned, albeit without perhaps its most beloved character.
DS Lisa Armstrong played by the wonderful Morven Christie throughout The Bay seasons 1 and 2 was a brilliantly empathetic and determined figure. Her departure before season 3 might perhaps have left some people wondering whether the show was going to be given a brand new start in another seaside town. As might have been hoped and expected, however, both The Bay filming locations and the setting have remained the same throughout season 3.
It seems the only truly major change to be implemented is the introduction of Marsha as Jenn, with many of The Bay season 1 and 2 cast members returning as her on-screen colleagues and the local area all staying as they were. This is something that was previously hinted at by The Bay producers who suggested that the established style of The Bay is too central to the show to ever radically change.
As reported by Hello! Magazine, The Bay’s producers previously released a statement regarding Morven’s decision to leave and explained how they were going to keep the “DNA” of the show the same.
"The show’s producers thank Morven for her brilliant contribution to The Bay and wish her every success for the future,” it stated. “While the DNA of the show remains the same, the change of lead offers up the exciting opportunity to place a new character at the centre of the drama and explore the world of Morecambe from a fresh perspective."
This they certainly have done, with Jenn attempting to make a fresh start with her partner Chris and his daughter in Morecambe, whilst her children are less than convinced about their seaside home. Jenn's son Conor is especially vocal about his desire to return to Manchester, leaving his worried mother uncertain as to whether her future really lies in Morecambe Bay.
Seen from the perspective of a newcomer, The Bay's setting takes on a new dimension in season 3, whilst staying true to the setting that really sets the show apart from other crime dramas.
How to watch The Bay season 3
As with each of the gripping previous instalments, The Bay season 3 is six episodes long and airs on ITV at 9pm on Wednesdays. Whilst it might seem like only yesterday that viewers were introduced to Jenn and were once more transported to the seaside by those distinctive filming locations, The Bay season 3 is already halfway through. But if you haven’t already caught up on each of the recent gripping instalments, then there’s plenty of time to enjoy all you’ve missed ahead of what promises to be a seriously intriguing finale.
Simply head to the ITV hub to binge-watch your way through The Bay season 3 episodes 1-3, as well as both previous seasons. And anyone who just can’t wait to discover the sinister motivation behind Saif’s brutal murder need not wait, with the remaining episodes also available to watch on the hub.
But if you’re abroad, then sadly you won't be able to catch up on The Bay as you normally would at home, thanks to regional restrictions. Luckily there’s an easy solution and you can use a VPN to continue watching this intriguing drama. This is a handy bit of software that changes your IP address so that you can access on-demand content or live TV just as if you were at home.
Our sister site, TechRadar, has tested all of the major VPN services and they rate ExpressVPN as the absolute best. They say, “It’s compatible with all of your devices, supports most streaming services, and ranks among the fastest. You can even install it on devices like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox, and PlayStation. So for a one-stop-shop, you can’t go wrong with Express.”
Now viewers know where The Bay is filmed and why Morecambe has remained so central to the show across all three seasons, they’ll just have to be patient to see if the seaside town wins Jenn and her family over after all. And as we wait patiently for its season 3 finale, one thing is clear—behind the iconic seafront and rolling waves in The Bay lurks Saif’s killer whose time evading justice is fast running out…
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