Better location guide: Where is the BBC thriller filmed?

As well as a cast headed up by I Hate Suzie's Leila Farzad and Broadchurch's Andrew Buchan, the series is set to be a tense discussion of morality, conscience and family – we can't wait.

Set in Leeds, it's natural to wonder whether the new BBC series is actually shot in the city it's set. Read on to find out more about the filming locations in Better.

Where was Better filmed?

The new series is set and shot entirely in Leeds and West Yorkshire. Of course, the story explores Col's (Buchan) high-ranking career as a criminal boss in the Leeds criminal underworld and when striking a deal with Lou (Farzad) 19 years ago, the two changed their lives forever.

Speaking about the experience of filming in Leeds, Farzad told the BBC that it was "an absolute treat". She said: "It's such a beautiful city. Being able to see the town hall every day, filming in places like the Corn Exchange, there's wonderful places to eat and being by the canal... it's a real mixture of old and new.

"It was incredible to immerse myself in it for the time that I was shooting there. Ninety per cent of the crew were based in Manchester or Leeds so talking to them every day really helped fuel the motor of Lou Slack and imbued me with an extra something."

Similarly, Buchan said: "I've worked there once before when I did The ABC Murders with John Malkovich and Rupert Grint. So, I was back there in the same hotel. I thought, 'This is where I used to have pints with Rupert!'

"It was surreal! Leeds is a brilliant place, it's such an amazing city. It's so vibrant and full of life with brilliant people and the banter's class!"

Ceallach Spellman (who plays Donal McHugh) said of filming in Leeds: "I hadn't been back for a while... Filming there was class and I just love the north in general. Being from Manchester, it's a home away from home. It's great to see more series being made up north.

"There are more characters being written for working-class people, northern working-class people, and whilst more can be done, it's so great to have these dramas that are set in these places and set in that world. I just hope that we've done Leeds justice and that people from Leeds and Yorkshire are happy with that as well."

When asked why the series was based in Leeds, Jonathan Brackley said that "it was very important for us to set it somewhere with its own distinct identity. Somewhere that could become sort of a character, a part of the show in its own right."

Sam Vincent also said: "Our executive producer Jane Featherstone has connections to Leeds, and so she suggested it, and it was just perfect. It's such a vibrant, cosmopolitan, interesting, characterful city. Once we decided to set it in Leeds, it was about opening the whole thing up to as many cast and crew members as we could find to imbue it with that authentic flavour of the place."

What are some of the specific locations in Better?

While it's hard to tell exactly where the series was filmed, it'll surely be a welcome sight for Leeds natives to see the city on the screen in this five-parter.

According to their interview with the BBC, writers Brackley and Vincent revealed that some of their favourite locations from the shoot were hard to pinpoint on account of filming in such a "wonderful array of places". For example, Brackley mentions Plumpton Rocks, the 30-acre parkland near Harrogate which was "an amazing location to shoot", he said.

He continued: "We shot there twice, once in the day and once again overnight, which serves as the finale of the show. It's such a striking, wonderful place with these amazing rock formations and a man-made lake which felt like an evocative place to set the emotional finale of our show."

Vincent also underlined the "former disused police station" as a favourite and their production base, saying that it was "quite an amazing place to have as your base". He said: "There were cells in the basement, which were fairly eerie, having not been used for 15, 20 years."

Better premieres on Monday 13th February on BBC One, with episodes airing weekly on Mondays at 9pm. The series will also be available to stream as a boxset on iPlayer.

If you’re looking for something else to watch in the meantime, check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide visit our dedicated Drama hub.

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