Where is ITV crime drama The Bay filmed?

Season 5 once more explores the sandy beach, windswept promenade and choppy seas fans know and love, but this year there will be a few new places to explore, as well.

Marsha Thomason – returning as series lead DS Jenn Townsend – said of the locations: "Morecambe is so picturesque. I know we say it every series, but it really is its own character and it adds to the drama. It just is beautiful.

"This series we shot at this location that was incredibly difficult because it was an island and once you got there, the tide would come in and you couldn't leave. You had to wait for it to go out again. It was just breathtaking. It will so be worth it."

Daragh Carville – writer on The Bay – previously opened up about how he's glad the drama is shining a light on Morecambe, which he believes doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

Although originally from Northern Ireland, Carville has made his home in nearby Lancaster, where he and his wife, the novelist Jo Baker, have raised their family.

Speaking about returning to The Bay for season 5, Carville said: "Honestly, I don't feel like I ever left! Not least because I live in the Morecambe Bay area, but also because when I'm not actually working on the show, I'm constantly thinking about it and planning for what's coming next.

"But it was brilliant to get a fifth series and so lovely to have a chance to write for these characters again. I feel like I know our core team really well by now, but it also gave us a chance to push the boat out a bit more and explore new areas."

He previously told RadioTimes.com ahead of the first season in 2019 that Morecambe was "a place that I always liked", saying: "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."

With that in mind, here's everything you need to know about Morecambe – and the locations we see on screen in The Bay season 5.

Where is The Bay set?

ITV drama The Bay is set and filmed in the coastal town of Morecambe.

This Lancashire town is located north of Blackpool, and was once a bustling seaside resort which has seen a decades-long decline in tourism.

Morecambe thrived after the arrival of the railways, with holidaymakers coming down on the trains from Scotland and from Yorkshire all through the first half of the 20th century.

But from the 1970s, Brits could increasingly afford foreign holidays and Morecambe was out of fashion – especially after its two piers were destroyed.

"You can still see traces of it. There are still these magnificent buildings like the Winter Gardens and the Midland Hotel, so it's still got this sense of slightly faded grandeur," writer Carville previously said, explaining why he decided to set The Bay in Morecambe.

"And 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."

Where was The Bay season 5 filmed?

Filming for The Bay season 5 took place at the police station, beach, town hall and Midland Hotel in Morecambe.

Other scenes were shot at Sunderland Point, a village at the end of the tidal causeway that gets cut off by the tide, and Glasson Dock, another picturesque village in Lancashire.

Speaking about filming on location for season 5, Daniel Ryan (who plays DI Tony Manning) said of this season: "What this show gets from Morecambe is the extraordinary location. It never fails to take my breath away when I get off the train. It always seems to be one of those days where the light is amazing and you can't believe how beautiful it is.

"When we contrast the characters in the series in the deepest of despair set against this extraordinary beauty, there's a kind of melancholy that we wouldn't get anywhere else."

Read on for more information on each filming location.

The beach

Morecambe has a five-mile stretch of sandy beach with panoramic views over to the Lakeland Fells. Along the coastline is a long promenade, lined with cafés and restaurants and hotels.

Filming took place along the beach, but particularly around the Stone Jetty, which is now all that remains of the original Victorian harbour.

While his character is primarily seen in the police station, Ryan admits that his favourite part of filming is when he does manage to get down to the beach.

He reveals: "When I do leave the station, my favourite bits are when we film anything along the shoreline. It’s the sea, the coast, the view of the lakes, the sheer beauty of it all."

Sunderland Point

Filming for season 5 also took place at Sunderland Point, a small village of around 30 houses that sits on a peninsula between the Lune estuary and Morecambe Bay and is cut off twice daily at high tide.

"This series we got to film at Sunderland Point, an extraordinary place that gets cut off by the tide. We go to Glasson Dock too, which was so fascinating.

"What’s so great is that wherever we go, everyone thrilled that we're there, that we're showcasing the amazing beauty of Morecambe," Ryan added of the season 5 filming locations.

The police station

While many of the scenes of the hard-working MIU team are shot elsewhere, the police station as shown in Morecambe is a real location.

"It is indeed a working police station," Carville told us, adding: "To be fair, and without wanting to ruin the magic of television, the exteriors and the interiors are filmed at different places."

While exteriors were shot in Morecambe, the interior scenes of meeting rooms and office and interview rooms were filmed at a disused police station in Manchester.

Glasson Dock

Other scenes were filmed at Glasson Dock, a small village in Lancashire which was originally a small farming and fishing community.

New cast addition Olwen May (who plays DC Louise 'Lou' McClaren) said of the season 5 setting: "Setting the drama in Morecambe means that we have that amazing landscape. Whenever you're on the coast, you get that different quality of light, the water, the big skies.

"A couple of times when I was out of the office, and out at places like Glasson Dock and Sunderland Point, it's just beautiful. We must have had the best green room view of any show ever.

"We were looking out onto the estuary and at all the wading birds. I got very excited by the oyster catchers. The expanse of that landscape, and in the town as well, adds something visually which is really special."

The Bay is showing on ITV1 and ITVX.

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