Where is The Bay filmed? All you need to know about its season 4 return

Fans of crime dramas will be delighted to see the return of Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend and as the new series gets underway, fans are asking where is The Bay filmed?

Following on from Season 3 (opens in new tab), and filling the huge crime drama gap that Happy Valley 3 ending (opens in new tab) has left, DS Jenn is joined by Daniel Ryan as DI Anthony 'Tony' Manning, and newbie Elóise Thomas, who will play the new regular role as Izzy Metcalf.

The show, even features some Happy Valley cast, and producers have teased the upcoming storyline, telling viewers, "DS Jenn Townsend, Morecambe Police’s Family Liaison Officer, is working late as usual when an arson attack is reported. She races to the scene to find horror unfolding for a broken family, the Metcalfs."

And those who've binged all six episodes might want to check out The Bay season 4 ending explained (opens in new tab).

As we look at all you need to know about where the show is filmed...

Where is The Bay filmed?

The Bay is filmed in Morecambe Beach - here is where all four seasons of the hit show have been set, with filming taking place particularly around the Stone Jetty which is all that remains of the Victoria harbour these days. Other filming locations in the town include between Edward Street, Chapel Street and New Street, the promenade, the clock tower, the Eric Morecambe statue, Rita’s cafe and Brucciani’s. Filming took place last year and continued in both Morecambe and Manchester until the show wrapped in October.

In an exclusive interview with Goodto.com, actress Elóise Thomas, who plays Izzy Metcalf admitted it was her first time in Morecambe but received a warm welcome. “It was really sunny as filming was during the summer heatwave so it was actually really nice being by the sea. There was a scene that you will see later in the series, I was filming by the beach and while we were filming it was golden hour so it was super pleasant. 

“When we we weren’t filming I’d walk towards the sea - it was so refreshing,” she told us.

Following on from the success of fans visiting Happy Valley filming locations (opens in new tab), we couldn’t resist asking Elóise for some of her favourite Morcambe spots when she's not filming.

She told us, “Morecambe is so pretty. We stayed in The Midland (opens in new tab), which is this Art Deco hotel by the sea front and that’s got a really interesting structure inside, a really beautiful staircase and a really cool 60s bar. There was a really nice ice cream shop, everything is quite dated but in a really charming way so anything along that seafront is really lovely.”

But if you’re wanting to stay at the rural Paradise Bay Bed & Breakfast where the Metcalf family were first temporarily put under police protection following their house blaze, you’ll be disappointed to learn that it’s not actually a real B&B - it’s actually someone's house who let production use it.

“That was beautiful - at the front you had the sea and out the back in the garden they had these horses in the fields so they had the best of both worlds. That was a really nice place to film as well, it was a bit further away from the hustle and bustle of Morecambe.”

Meanwhile speaking of the new season, Catherine Oldfield, creative director of Tall Story Pictures and executive producer of The Bay said, “Marsha’s arrival in series three elevated The Bay yet again and [writer] Daragh [Carville] has delivered another thrilling story for our hugely talented cast to get stuck into. We can’t wait to bring it to life once again set against the backdrop of Morecambe’s beautiful eerie skies and shore.”

Leading lady Marsha Thomason who plays DS Jenn Townsend shared a clip from behind the scenes when the show officially wrapped, and captioned it, "Another one in the can! I can’t wait to share what we did with you all. So much love to the cast and crew."

Barry Sloane who worked on the show commented, "Brilliant working with you again Marsha. I’m off to LA. Enjoy the UK weather."

Another member of the crew added, "So chuffed to be a part of this. Love to you all "

What channel is The Bay on?

The Bay is on the ITV1 channel tonight (Wednesday 8th March 2023) at 9pm and each new episode airs each Wednesday at the same time and is available to watch an hour later on ITV+1 or stream on ITVX (opens in new tab). Previous series are also available to watch on ITVX or on Peacock. The Bay is co-created and written by award-winning writer and playwright Daragh Carville (Being Human, The Smoke, Cherrybomb), and produced by Tall Story Pictures, part of ITV Studios.

And if you're a fan of binging the whole series at once, you're not the only one as Elóise Thomas, who plays Izzy Metcalf, did just that when the series aired,

Having binged the previous series before she started filming, she couldn't wait to see herself in action too. She told us, "I binged it all. It takes so long to film, even like a two minute scene can take half a day so it feels wrong to binge it all in one go but because there's so much hard work put into it you want to watch it all so that's what I did. The writing is so amazing and there's always something at the end that makes you need to know (what happens next)."

But after falling ill before the show aired, Elóise chose to cancel her watching party with friends and stay home to watch it from her sick bed.

"I was going to watch it with a group of friends, we were going to put it on a projector and get a load of snacks but i got quite ill with the flu when it came out so i didn't want to give it to everyone. So me and my boyfriend who was also ill, just watched it in bed, so we were coughing and sniffling but it was nice comfort TV for what was quite a tragic story."

Who is in the cast of The Bay Season 4?

The cast of the fourth series of The Bay sees Marsha Thomason (Cobra, White Collar) reprise her role as Morecambe CID’s Family Liaison Officer, DS Jenn Townsend. Marsha stars alongside series regulars Daniel Ryan (Innocent, Home Fires), Erin Shanagher (Peaky Blinders, Censor), Thomas Law (The World’s End, A Cinderella Story) and Andrew Dowbiggin (Cobra, Coronation Street). The series also sees the return of Barry Sloane (Six, Revenge), Georgia Scholes (Hollyoaks), David Carpenter and Emme Haynes. 

Joining the new series as guest cast are Joe Armstrong (Gentleman Jack, Happy Valley) as Dean Metcalf. Claire Goose (Waking The Dead, Unforgotten) joins playing Chris Fischer’s ex-wife Jacqui, along with Ian Puleston-Davies (Pennyworth, Tin Star), Karl Davies (The Tower, Happy Valley) and Christopher Coghill (Slow Horses, Home Fires). Tom Taylor (Us, Doctor Foster), Elóise Thomas (Chloe), Will Oldfield (The Goes Wrong Show) and Ella Smith (CBeebies Presents: The Tempest) will star as the Metcalf’s four children.

And Happy Valley star (opens in new tab) Joe Armstrong was just one of the many actors who offered extra support to his younger co-stars on set. Elóise plays his on-screen daughter Izzy and she told us, "He would always give the kids really good advice. What was really nice that although we were all really new to the set and I'm quite young, they never made it feel like we're beginners, they really trusted us in what we were doing which gave us more confidence."

She added, "What I learned a lot from was how relaxed everyone was. It's a job and everyone was hitting the marks and being super professional and giving these amazing performances but there was a relaxed atmosphere. The cast were so good at problem solving, especially Marsha, if ever there was something that wouldn't work they were very quick with changing the line or even voicing "can we try it like this?' or 'this isn't working' they're very assertive and quick at thinking on their feet about how to make the best of a scene. They did it so gracefully - just because you want to voice something doesn't make you a diva."

And if you're wondering what’s it like when the cast and crew descends upon the seaside town? Elóise recalled the moment a local kid ran onto set. She told us, “He was like, “I’m working on set today. "He was so cute and it was quite a relaxed day so the crew showed him around and I showed him the scripts and the call sheet and he was so excited and was getting pictures. That was really cute. 

But locals knew when to keep back too, she explained, "People would stop and ask for pictures but would also be really respectful at times when we need a space to ourselves like part of the seafront and people would stop and not walk past the cameras. Because it’s been filmed there a few times, they know what’s going on.” 

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