Where is Payback filmed? Location guide for ITV drama
"There's a really growing and burgeoning film industry in Scotland," said director Jennie Darnell.
Executive produced by Jed Mercurio (Line of Duty), ITV crime drama Payback follows a widowed accountant who discovers her late husband was involved in serious economic crime.
Morven Christie leads the cast of the Scotland-set series, allowing the popular actor a rare opportunity to perform in her natural voice after deftly adopting other accents for previous roles.
The Helensburgh-born talent told press: "It was amazing, especially doing something like [this], where a character is so raw, so sort of stripped down.
"I've worked in accents so much that I don't think I really realised that it is an extra hurdle. And not having it, the distance between my heart and my mouth was just nothing. It was just so much freer."
However, viewers may be surprised to learn that Payback is another example of one major city masquerading as another. Read on to find out where the Edinburgh-based story was actually filmed.
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Where is ITV's Payback filmed?
Although Payback is set in Edinburgh, many of the crime drama's scenes were filmed about an hour down the road in Glasgow – but Scotland's capital was still utilised for some on-location sequences.
Director Jennie Darnell explained: "One of the reasons that you shoot primarily in Glasgow is that's where a lot of the crews are based, etc. But then we go to Edinburgh for a lot of the exteriors.
"So obviously, when you're down in the Lawnmarket and so forth, that's actually in Edinburgh."
She continued: "There's a really growing and burgeoning film industry in Scotland and some fantastic crew members up there now.
"Obviously, there’s been excellent crew members there for some time, but the more that is being filmed there, the more that is growing, bringing new people into the industry... particularly in Glasgow, where a lot of filming happens."
Series creator Debbie O'Malley was keen to set Payback in Scotland as that's where her mother is from, while one of the true cases that partly inspired the story took place in the Highland town of Nairn.
However, the country's unpredictable weather led to some challenging situations, with Darnell and Christie recalling days in which conditions fluctuated wildly in just a matter of hours.
Another tricky thing to navigate was the popularity of the show's co-star Peter Mullan (Ozark), who was approached by fans as the production attempted to shoot a pivotal scene on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.
Christie said: "If you're on the Royal Mile like we were, and you've got Peter Mullan stepping out to look across at me on the other side of the road, you just get people coming up going, ‘Oh big man! I love you, man! You’re one of my favourites!’
"So that was a bit challenging. We had four different weathers that day and we had to stop multiple times for people coming up and going, 'I love you, Peter, man!'"
Mullan plays fearsome crime boss Cal Morris opposite Christie's isolated accountant Lexie Noble, while Prasanna Puwanarajah also appears as police detective Jibran Khan – who is hot on both their trails.
Payback premieres on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on Wednesday 4th October 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
