The Bay (TV series)

The Bay is an ITV crime drama series produced by Tall Story Pictures and distributed worldwide by ITV Studios Global Entertainment that first aired in March 2019.[3] Morven Christie plays a detective sergeant family liaison officer called in on an investigation into missing twins from a family living in Morecambe. The name of the series derives from Morecambe Bay, which is on the west coast of England in the county of Lancashire. The series received an average of 7.2 million views across the six episodes.

The Bay
GenreCrime drama[1]
Written byDaragh Carville
Directed byLee Haven Jones
(episodes 1–3)
Robert Quinn
(episodes 4–6)[2]
Starring
Theme music composerSamuel Sim
Opening themeThe Bay - Samuel Sim (Feat. Storme)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producer(s)Catherine Oldfield[2]
Running time60 minutes
Production company(s)Tall Story Pictures
DistributorITV Studios Global Entertainment
Release
Original networkITV
Original release20 March 2019 (2019-03-20) –
Present
External links
Production website

Synopsis

Detective Sergeant Lisa Armstrong (Morven Christie) is the mother of two children and working for (the fictional) West Lancashire Police Service as a Family Liaison Officer (FLO). She is called out on the case of two missing children only to find the married stepfather of the twins is someone that she had sex with in an alley behind a pub on the night the twins disappeared whilst out on a friend's hen do. As a FLO, Armstrong is trained not to become emotionally involved with cases she is working on, but her sexual encounter with Sean (Jonas Armstrong), threatens to compromise the investigation.[4][5] Although she can prove that he isn't responsible for their disappearance, Armstrong deletes the CCTV footage of them having sex, rather than come clean and admit to the one-night stand and provide Sean with an alibi.[6]

Series 2 was confirmed on 4 May 2019; Series 2 was supposed to air early 2020 but due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it has been pushed to late 2020.[3]

Cast

Production

The series has been labelled the Northern Broadchurch,[1] or the New Broadchurch after a similar British crime drama called Broadchurch starring Olivia Colman and David Tennant.[11][12] The writer of the series, Daragh Carville, is originally from Northern Ireland, but wanted to set something in where he now lives.

I wanted to write something that's set where I have lived for the last 10 years. It's an interesting place and beautiful but it's also a place with problems. It's suffered a great deal with Austerity.[4]

The series was shot in and around Morecambe, particularly on the beaches and in the Winter Gardens, where writer Daragh Carville, stated that the people of Morecambe took quite an interest in the show and were keen to see that they, and their town, were not misrepresented on screen.[13] Other scenes were also shot in Manchester, Whitehaven and Grange-over-Sands.[14]

Ratings
Episode Air date UK viewers
1 20 March 2019 7.43
2 27 March 2019 7.40
3 3 April 2019 7.23
4 10 April 2019 6.81
5 17 April 2019 6.82
6 24 April 2019 7.52

Viewing figures are from BARB 7 day data.

Reception

The Daily Telegraph rated the first and second episodes in the series with three stars out of five, and whilst acknowledging the lead character's portrayal, described the series as "Lancashire’s riposte to/total rip-off of Broadchurch".[15] The Independent also awarded it three stars out of five, labelling the series as having texture, but that the characterisation of the conundrum faced by DS Armstrong as being "cold".[16] The Guardian was more positive and gave it four stars out of five stating "Suspects and police officers with shared secrets? Check. Information wilfully withheld by the writer? Check. Will you be hooked? Check."[17]

Katrina Williams, writing in the Glasgow Guardian highlighted the high standard of production amidst the formulaic setting of the crime drama and noted that "I wasn't desperate for the next episode, but the first episode still managed to strike my interest".[18]

References
  1. Wilson, Benji (20 March 2019). "The Bay, episode 1, review: can this crime drama be anything more than a northern Broadchurch?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  2. "Morven Christie lands lead role in crime drama The Bay". The Belfast Telegraph. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  3. "ITV commissions second series of The Bay". Press Centre. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  4. Williams, Simon, ed. (22 March 2019). "Family liaison officer gets a little too close". RAF News (1, 463). R' n R'. pp. 4–5. ISSN 0035-8614.
  5. Griffiths, Eleanor Bley (3 April 2019). "When is The Bay on TV? Everything you need to know about ITV's new crime drama with Morven Christie". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  6. Midgley, Carol (21 March 2019). "TV review: The Bay; Mums Make Porn". The Times. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  7. "The Bay Episode 1". itv.com/presscentre. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  8. Carr, Flora (3 April 2019). "Meet the cast of ITV's The Bay". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  9. Beresford, Trilby (28 March 2020). "John Callahan, Actor on 'All My Children,' Dies at 66". The Hollywood Reporter. Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group (Valence Media). Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  10. Dick, Jeremy (29 March 2020). "John Callahan Dies, All My Children Star Was 66". TVWeb. United states: TVWeb, LLC. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  11. Duke, Simon (11 March 2019). "ITV drama The Bay being billed as 'the new Broadchurch'". North East Chronicle. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  12. Percival, Ash (3 April 2019). "Is This The Next Broadchurch? Here's Everything You Need To Know About ITV's The Bay". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  13. Griffin, Susan (20 March 2019). "The Bay - new TV crime drama set in Morecambe". Lancashire Life. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  14. Roy, David (20 March 2019). "Armagh writer Daragh Carville talks about his new ITV crime drama The Bay". The Irish News. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  15. Rees, Jasper (27 March 2019). "The Bay, episode 2, review: Morven Christie carries this crime drama with intriguing performance". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  16. Cummin, Ed (20 March 2019). "The Bay review: Missing child drama is packed with TV tropes". The Independent. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  17. Mangan, Lucy (20 March 2019). "The Bay review – Broadchurch in Morecambe? Come on in, the water's lovely". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  18. Williams, Katrina (20 March 2019). "Review: The Bay ‹ Glasgow Guardian". Glasgow Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
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