CREEPY new Netflix thriller series Stay Close is adapted from a novel is set in Atlantic City but a lot of the hit Netflix series was filmed in the North West.
Here’s some of the top places featured in the hit series which stars Eddie Izzard.
Manchester
The series was filmed in Manchester, Liverpool, and Blackpool.
Other Manchester neighbourhoods, Chorley and Didsbury, were also used.
Executive producer Nicola Shindler 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.”
Nicola added: “I think Manchester and the North West is a brilliant place to film.”
Lots of the club scenes were filmed in this city.
Blackpool
The carnival scene of Stay Close was filmed at Blackpool beach where the seaside was on show.
“We got excited by the faded grandeur of Blackpool when Daniel O’Hara went there and said he could make it really beautiful and really strong,” said executive producer Nicola Shindler.
“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 onscreen.
“Daniel has done these massive seafront shots and some of them look like Santa Monica, which is extraordinary because it’s Blackpool.”
Mark O’Hanlon was location manager for Harlan Coben’s Stay Close. He said: “Manchester is very fortunate in that you are close to certain coastlines.
Morecambe Bay
Lorraine Griggs’ flat in the series has glorious views across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District.
“That’s a lovely place,” said Sarah Parish, who plays Lorraine. “From Lorraine’s flat you can see right across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District, which is stunning.”
Location manager Mark O’Hanlon knew the area well from working on The Bay.
“Part of me will always love Morecambe. We had a couple of good years there. It’s magical. There is so much happening there now since they put the new dual carriageway in. It’s brought a new lease of life to the town.
“The bay itself has the best sunsets and sunrises. Funnily enough I never used Lorraine’s flat for The Bay but I knew the owner, Ruth. She’s got a few businesses in the area so I got to know her from filming up there.
St Helens
The ‘Dream’ sculpture in St Helens was the landmark used to replace New Jersey’s Lucy the Elephant, which is in the novel.
Series creator Harlan Coben said: “The Dream Head is a great substitute for the giant elephant, Lucy, in the book that you can go inside outside of Atlantic City.”
Explaining how it was chosen, location manager Mark O’Hanlon said: “When Harlan talked about this great, disused funfair in New Jersey we did look at a couple of old funfairs but they didn’t quite work.
“Then we tried Blackpool Pleasure Beach to see if there were any psychedelic rides that might be slightly different but that was surrounded by too many other buildings.
“I’d pass The Dream Head on the M62 between Manchester and Liverpool when I was working a lot in Liverpool. I used to see this head popping out between the trees and think what the hell’s that?
“So I looked into it and discovered it was a colliery that got shut down in the 90s. It lay bare for years and had basically turned back into nature with a nature reserve and walks.
“St Helens council then commissioned this piece. It looks awesome when you’re there, totally alien, so it fitted perfectly with the elephant vibe of the book.”
Formby
While interiors shots of Vipers were filmed in Manchester, Formby was also used for the outside of the nightclub.
Location manager Mark O’Hanlon explained: “For the exterior of Vipers, there was this old nightclub in Formby. I’ve got a lot of Scouse friends and they all talked about this place saying they used to go there when they were 17.
“It reminds me of the country clubs you get in Essex. It’s between all these trees and near the beach. You feel like you’re near the coast.
“That to me was one of the nicest locations I shot. I’ve always looked at it and thought it would be amazing to use it. After this it’s going to be flattened. By the end of the year it will all be gone.”
Ormskirk
A building in Ormskirk was used for Dave’s mum’s care home. Location manager Mark O’Hanlon said: “The care home was a tricky one. We didn’t want it to feel too municipal and white walls.
“We found an old rectory, which had a real scale to it. We wanted it to feel like it was a private care home rather than a generic 70s building.
“We looked at two or three options but when we got to that one the scale of it worked really well and it had the architecture. It’s a really stunning building.
“I think those kind of buildings, especially when they have a history attached to them, go down really well with American audiences.”
Nunsmere
A car in Stay Close is pushed into a lake at Nunsmere.
“We didn’t want to go down the quarry route. The problem with most lakes is that lakes don’t drop off to a deep dip. They gradually go out. It was trying to find something that a car would disappear into fairly quickly,” explained location manager Mark O’Hanlon.
“We looked at nine or 10 different lakes in the area but Nunsmere was part of a private hotel so it was a private lake. That worked really well.
“That’s the first time I’ve filmed there. We had looked at it for the care home but the hotel was looking at reopening so it fell through.”
