The Bay – ITV

The Bay
(Image credit: Ben Blackall)

As the twins’ family come under scrutiny again, there’s trouble at home for Lisa (Morven Christie) as ITV drama The Bay reaches its midway point

As the twins’ family come under scrutiny again, there’s trouble at home for Lisa (Morven Christie) as ITV drama The Bay reaches its midway point

New information regarding the disappearance of twins Dylan and Holly places the focus of the investigation back on their family, in particular recent changes in the financial fortunes of their trawlerman stepfather Sean.

In the parallel storyline following the less-than-perfect home life of family liaison officer Lisa Armstrong (Morven Christie), with her teenage kids Abbie and Rob getting deeper in trouble, Lisa’s attempt to have a heart-to-heart with them misfires badly.

Meanwhile, CCTV footage appears to point towards a new prime suspect – but with three more episodes to go, we’re not going to fall for that red herring, now are we?

ART PARKINSON as Rob in The Bay 3/6

Rob (Art Parkinson)

TV Times goes behind the scenes of Morven Christie’s drama…

Inspirational Morcambe

Writer Daragh Carville was inspired to set the series in Morecambe after seeing a map of the UK made up of TV shows. ‘The whole country was covered in drama and comedy except this corner that I live in.’

Rock and Redcoats

In creating the drama’s distinctive look, director Lee Haven Jones turned to the past for inspiration. He says, ‘I thought about depictions of the British seaside, such as the work of photographer John Hinde, who made postcards for Butlin’s holiday camps.’

Facing Danger

Filming episode one’s night scene on the sands of Morecambe Bay posed a challenge for Lee and his team. ‘We had to check the tides to ensure the sea wasn’t going to come in!’ he says.

Guest star Eric

The birthplace of Eric Morecambe, Morecambe has a statue of the comedy legend overlooking the bay, which eagle-eyed viewers will have glimpsed in the first episode. ‘You can’t come here and not shoot Eric!’ says executive producer Catherine Oldfield.

Help from Above

Since Sean (Jonas Armstrong) is a fisherman, some scenes were filmed at sea. ‘For health-and-safety reasons, we shot a lot from a drone and had real trawlermen dressed in the costumes,’ says Catherine.

TV Times rating: ***

Mandy Cooper
TV Times Highlights Editor

As TV Times Highlights Editor I get to hear about all the latest TV shows coming soon. Here at TVT HQ we are in the privileged position of selecting the best programmes from across all the channels and streaming platforms. Our mission is to make it easier for our readers to decide what to watch - and give them lots of choice of genres - all the latest shows, plus some nostalgic choices we call hidden gems, too. My career began with a postgraduate degree in periodical journalism (ahem, yes old school!) in 1991 and I’ve worked in TV media since 2000.