Stay Close: Executive Producer Reveals Where Netflix Series Is Actually Set
Topics: TV And Film, Netflix
Gregory Robinson
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: TV And Film, Netflix
Netflix thriller Stay Close has gripped viewers but one thing about the TV series has left some fans feeling confused.
The eight-part mini series, based on the bestselling book by Harlan Coben, follows Megan (Cush Jumbo), a working mum of three who finds her life turned upside down when her old ‘friend’ Lorraine (Sarah Parish) finds her.
Lorraine’s arrival also has an impact on Ray (Richard Armitage) a failed photographer looking for a former love, and Broome (James Nesbitt) – a detective obsessed with a case he never managed to solve.
Some viewers, especially those from the North of England, have been left wondering where exactly the series is set because they recognise some of the landmarks and locations.
The series was filmed in and around Manchester, with shooting also taking place in Blackpool and various location across the North of England, but the setting has been left vague in the show.
A viewer shared the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia meme showing Pepe Silva stressed out while pointing at a messy board. They tweeted: "Me seeing Blackpool, Runcorn and Manchester whilst watching #StayClose and trying to work out where it’s actually set…"
One viewer said: "Is anyone else confused by the lack of northern accents in Stay Close on Netflix? When you consider that it is supposed to be set in Manchester and Blackpool?"
Another person pondered: "Why is #StayClose set in Blackpool and yet they (pretty much) all have southern accents."
A fourth tweeted: "The geography on #StayClose annoys me, I know it’s not set in these locations but when you can see she’s driving north up Blackpool prom and then pulls into a park that’s in St Helens."
Harlan Coben's book from which the series is based is set in Atlantic City in New Jersey, US. However, the Netflix series purposely not revealed, but is definitely in the UK, according to executive producer Nicola Shindler.
She said: "Well, we’re not doing the North of England, we’re doing ‘Somewhere in the UK’. We think it works better to make it more generic.
"We got excited by the faded grandeur of Blackpool when [director] Daniel O’Hara went there and said he could make it really beautiful and really strong.”
“Having that as our Atlantic City is great because there are ways of looking at Blackpool, which has only ever been filmed from the grotty side, that I don’t think have been seen on-screen.
“Daniel has done these massive seafront shots and some of them took like Santa Monica, which is extraordinary because it’s Blackpool.”
She also said Manchester and the North-West are “brilliant” places to film because of how close the city centre and countryside are.
We'll never look at these landmarks the same way again!
Stay Close is available to watch on Netflix now.