''The Bay'' is a British crime drama television series produced by Tall Story Pictures and distributed worldwide by ITV Studios Global Entertainment that first aired in March 2019 on ITV. The first two series starred

Morven Christie Morven Christie is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her roles as Alison Hughes in the BBC drama '' The A Word,'' Amanda Hopkins in the ITV drama ''Grantchester'', and Detective Sergeant Lisa Armstrong in ITV crime series '' The Bay.'' ...

as a Family Liaison Officer (FLO).

Marsha Thomason Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is an English actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi Dorrit on the ABC ...

took over the leading role from series three as DS Jenn Townsend. The first series centred around an investigation into teenage missing twins from a family living in

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

. The name of the series derives from

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is an estuary in north-west England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second largest ga ...

, in the county of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

in the north-west of England. The first series received an average of 7.2 million views across the six episodes. A second series of six episodes was confirmed on 4 May 2019 and it was originally planned for it to be broadcast in mid-2020. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, it was pushed back to early 2021; in January of that year, all six episodes were immediately made available on the

ITV Hub ITVX is a British over-the-top and ad-supported streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, FAST channels, and exclusive and licensed programming ...

, receiving an average of 7.9 million views. A third series was filmed in the summer 2021. Christie decided to leave the show following production on the second series and Marsha Thomason was cast as the new lead, DS Jenn Townsend. After the last episode of series 3 was broadcast a fourth series was announced, and filming completed June 2022. It was renewed for a fifth series and filming began in July 2023. The fifth series aired in 2025.

Cast

as DS Lisa Armstrong (series 1–2) *

as DS Jenn Townsend (series 3–present) * Daniel Ryan as DI Tony Manning * Erin Shanagher as DS Karen Hobson * Andrew Dowbiggin as DS James Clarke * Simon Manyonda as DS Alexander Stewart (series 1–2) * Taheen Modak as DS Ahmed "Med" Kharim (series 1–2) *

Thomas Law Thomas John Law (born 17 December 1992) is an English actor and singer. He is known for portraying the role of Peter Beale in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 2006 to 2010, before reprising the role from 2023 onwards. Between 2021 and 2 ...

as DC Eddie Martin (series 2–4) * Steven Elder as ACC Robert Pearson (series 2 & 5) * Olwen May as DC Lou McLaren (series 5-present) *

Lindsey Coulson Lindsey Coulson (born 13 April 1960) is an English actress, known for her portrayal of Carol Jackson on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1993–1997; 1999; 2010–2015). For this, she won the 2000 British Soap Award for Best Dramatic Perfo ...

as Penny Armstrong (series 1–2) *

Imogen King Imogen Hare Duke King (born 1996) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the second series of '' Clique'' (2018) on BBC Three, the ITV crime drama '' The Bay'' (2019–2021), the period drama '' Hotel Portofino'' (2022), and the ...

as Abbie Armstrong (series 1–2) * Art Parkinson as Rob Armstrong (series 1–2) * Kerrie Taylor as Ellen Manning (series 2-4) *

Barry Sloane Barry Sloane (born Barry Paul Sloan;''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''; at ancestry.com 10 February 1981) is an English actor. He has appeared in numerous television shows, and in the RTS Royal Television Socie ...

as Chris Fischer (series 3–present) * Georgina Scholes as Erin Fischer (series 3–present) * David Carpenter as Conor Townsend (series 3–present) * Emme Haynes as Maddie Townsend (series 3–present) *

Suzanne Packer Suzanne Packer (born Suzanne Jackson on 26 November 1962) is a Welsh actress, known for playing the role of Tess Bateman in the BBC medical drama '' Casualty'' from September 2003 to August 2015. She later returned to the series as a guest for ...

as Anne Jackson (series 5-present) *

Tara Lynne O'Neill Tara Lynne O'Neill (born 18 September 1975) is an Irish actress from Northern Ireland, who has appeared in film, theatre and television. Early life During her childhood, she aspired to become a dentist, but abandoned this after failing her Ge ...

as Sinead Flanagan (series 5-present)

Series 1 (2019)

Jonas Armstrong Jonas Armstrong (born 1 January 1981) is an Irish-English actor who rose to prominence playing the title character on the BBC's ''Robin Hood'' (2006–2009). He has since appeared in miniseries such as '' Dark Angel'' (2016), '' Troy: Fall of a ...

as Sean Meredith * Roger Barclay as Councillor Hesketh *

Tracie Bennett Tracie Bennett (born 17 June 1961) is an English singer and stage and television actress. She trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in Clapham, London. She played the role of Sharon Gaskell in ''Coronation Street'' from 1982 to ...

as Margaret Foley *

Chanel Cresswell Chanel Cresswell (born 23 January 1990) is an English actress, known for playing Kelly Jenkins in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and the three subsequent series '' This Is England '86'' (2010), ''This Is England '88'' (2011) and ''This Is ...

as Jess Meredith * Ellie Duckles as Hanna Babakowski * Louis Greatorex as Sam Hesketh * Ciaran Griffiths as Lee Ward * Philip Hill-Pearson as Ryan Foley * Lucy Hillyard as Kelly Meredith * Richard Huw as Tom Hayes * Martina Laird as Bernie Ward * Adam Long as Vincent Chapman/Victor Cook * Liam McCheyne as Jake Meredith *

Matthew McNulty Michael Anthony McNulty (born 14 December 1982), known professionally as Matthew McNulty, is a German-born British actor. His credits include '' See No Evil: The Moors Murders'' (2006), ''Looking for Eric'' (2009), '' The Musketeers'' (2016), '' ...

as Nick Mooney * Jordan Mifsúd as Krzysztof Babakowski *

Darci Shaw Darci Louise Shaw (born 17 April 2002) is an English actress. She is popular for playing American entertainer Judy Garland in the biographical drama film Judy. Early life Shaw was born to Peter and Louise Shaw in Liverpool. She grew up in the s ...

as Holly Meredith * Noah Valentine as Dylan Meredith

Series 2 (2021)

Zaraah Abrahams Zaraah Clover Abrahams (born 7 January 1987) is an English actress and voiceover artist. She is known for her roles as Magda in '' Girls in Love'' from 2003 to 2005, Michaela White in the BBC school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' from 200 ...

as DS Emma Ryan *

Joe Absolom Joe Absolom (born 16 December 1978) is an English actor known for his roles as Matthew Rose in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Al Large in the ITV comedy drama ''Doc Martin''. Early life Absolom was born in Lewisham, London. A former ...

as Andy Warren * Jack Archer as Jamie Marshbrook * Sian Breckin as Madeline Hookway *

James Cosmo James Ronald Gordon Copeland (born 1947), known professionally as James Cosmo, is a Scottish actor. Known for his character work, he has played supporting roles in films such as '' Highlander'' (1986), ''Braveheart'' (1995), '' Trainspotting' ...

as Bill Bradwell * Jade Greyul as Lateesha Kharim * Adam Hussain as Josh Nubhai *

Amy James-Kelly Amy James-Kelly (born 15 November 1995) is a British actress. She gained prominence through her role as Maddie Heath in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2013–2015). She has since starred in the Netflix series ''Safe'' (2018), the BB ...

as Grace Marshbrook * Wendy Kweh as Lyn Chee *

Owen McDonnell Owen McDonnell (born 1974) is an Irish actor. He is known for his roles in the RTÉ drama '' Single-Handed'' (2007–2010), the TG4 Western ''An Klondike'' (2015–2017), and the BBC spy thriller ''Killing Eve'' (2018–2022). Early life McDon ...

as Frank Mercer * Arian Nik as Theo Anvari *

Steven Robertson Steven Robertson (born 1 January 1977) is a Scottish actor who stars as Detective Sandy Wilson in the BBC One adaptation of Ann Cleeves's ''Shetland'', filmed near where Robertson was born and brought up. He portrayed Michael Connelly, a young ...

as Mark Bradwell *

Sunetra Sarker Sunetra Sarker (born 25 June 1973) is an English actress and presenter, known for her roles as Nisha Batra in '' Brookside'', Anji Mittel in '' No Angels'', Zoe Hanna in '' Casualty'', and Kaneez Paracha in '' Ackley Bridge''. In 2014, she t ...

as Stella Bradwell *

Sharon Small Sharon Small is a Scottish actress known for her work in film, radio, theatre, and television. Perhaps best known for her portrayal of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers in the BBC television adaptation of ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'' b ...

as Rose Marshbrook *

Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in '' Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in '' Ballykissangel'' (1996� ...

as Stephen Marshbrook

Series 3 (2022)

Zahra Ahmadi Zahra Ahmadi (; born 1982) is a British actress from Plymouth, England of Persian descent. She is best known for playing the original Shabnam Masood in ''EastEnders''. Career She is known for her role as Shabnam Masood in the British televis ...

as Shazia Riaz * Isabel Caswell as Molly Williams * Nadeem Islam as Jamal Rahman * Michael Karim as Adnan Rahman * Gary Lewis as Vinnie Morrison * Rina Mahoney as Mariam Rahman * Brahmdeo Shannon Ramana as Saif Rahman *

Vincent Regan Vincent Regan (born 16 May 1965) is a Welsh film and television actor. Early life Regan born 16 May 1965 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. He attended Nicholas Breakspear School, St.Albans, Hertfordshire, then St Joseph's College, Ipswich, before ...

as Ray Conlon * Paddy Rowan as Ritchie Ford *

Mark Stanley Mark Robert Speight, known professionally as Mark Stanley, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Game of Thrones'', '' Dickensian'', and as Rob Hepworth in the third series of BBC drama Happy Valley. Early life and educatio ...

as Warren Pryce * Ash Tandon as Kareem Riaz

Series 4 (2023)

* Joe Armstrong as Dean Metcalf * Robert Beck as Len Reid *

Karl Davies Karl Davies (born 6 August 1982) is an English actor who portrayed Lyle Anderson in the TV series '' Kingdom''. Previously, he had portrayed Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. Career Davies took over the role of Robert Sugd ...

as Carl McGregor *

Claire Goose Claire Goose is a Scottish actress who first gained attention playing Tina Seabrook on the long-running BBC One medical drama '' Casualty'' (1997–2000). Her other roles include DS "Mel" Silver in '' Waking the Dead'' (2000–2007), Insp. ...

as Jacqui Fischer *

Ian Puleston-Davies Ian Puleston-Davies (born 6 September 1958) is a Welsh actor. He is best known for his role as builder Owen Armstrong in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2010 to 2015. In November 2014, ITV announced that Puleston-Davies was leav ...

as Terry McGregor *

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch (magazine), ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literatu ...

as Matt Metcalf * Eloise Thomas as Izzy Metcalf

Series 5 (2025)

* Leanne Best as Julie Ashworth * Lucy Chambers as Poppy Richards * Max Ferguson as Elliot Hayes * Bastiano Ferrari as Kamran Hasanova * Irvine Iqbal as Hassan Rashid *

Neil Maskell Neil Maskell (born 1976) is an English actor, writer and director who is known for his appearances in British crime and horror films. His credits include '' Nil by Mouth'' (1997), '' The Football Factory'' (2004), '' Rise of the Footsoldier'' ( ...

as Steve Dawson *

Sacha Parkinson Sacha Louise Parkinson (born 11 March 1992) is an English actress, known for her role as Sian Powers on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Parkinson was educated at Walkden High School. Personal life On 22 February 2018, ...

as Lainey Gibson * Lex Shrapnel as David Wallasey *

Ceallach Spellman Ceallach John Spellman ( ; born 31 August 1995) is an English actor, writer and presenter best known for playing Matthew Williams in the revival of ITV drama ''Cold Feet'', Harry Fisher in the BBC One school-based drama '' Waterloo Road'' from ...

as Bradley Dawson *

David Troughton David Troughton (born 9 June 1950) is an English actor. He is known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage and for his many roles on British television, including Dr Bob Buzzard in ''A Very Peculiar Practice'' and Ricky Hanson in ''Ne ...

as Tommy Campbell * Stephen Wight as Craig Ashworth

Episodes

Series 1 (2019)

Detective Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage from the Brit ...

Lisa Armstrong (

) 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 teenagers, only to find the married stepfather of the twins is someone with whom she had sex the night before in an alley behind a pub. Lisa's interaction with Sean (

) has been caught on CCTV, but she deletes the footage rather than coming clean and admitting to the one-night stand, complicating the investigation.

Series 2 (2021)

Lisa's suspension is over but she has been demoted, whilst Med has been promoted. A solicitor is shot on his doorstep. The team investigates. To complicate Lisa's life further, her ex-husband Andy (

) reappears in Morecambe.

Series 3 (2022)

DS Townsend (

) is immediately thrown into the deep end when a body is found in the bay on her first day in the job. She must get under the skin of a grieving and complicated family if she has any chance of solving the premature death of an aspiring young boxer.

Series 4 (2023)

Series 5 (2025)

Production

The series has been labelled the "Northern ''Broadchurch''", or the "New ''Broadchurch''" after a similar British crime drama called ''

Broadchurch ''Broadchurch'' is a British crime drama television series broadcast on ITV for three series between 2013 and 2017. It was created by Chris Chibnall, who acted as an executive producer and wrote all 24 episodes; it was produced by Kudos in a ...

'' starring

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, four BAFTA Awards, two Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Award ...

and

David Tennant David John Tennant (; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for portraying the Tenth Doctor, tenth and Fourteenth Doctor, fourteenth incarnations of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Docto ...

. The writer of the series,

Daragh Carville Daragh Carville (born in Armagh in 1969) is an Irish playwright, screenwriter and educator. He is best known for co-creating and writing the ITV crime drama '' The Bay'', first broadcast on ITV in 2019, attracting an average audience of over seven ...

, is originally from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, but wanted to set something where he now lives. 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. Other scenes were also shot in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

and

Grange-over-Sands Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the north side of Morecambe Bay in Cumbria, England, a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park. In the United Kingdom Census 201 ...

Reception

Series 1 (2019)

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' 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". ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' 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". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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." 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".

Series 2 (2021)

Dominic Maxwell, reviewing for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', gave the first episode of the second series four stars out of five, commenting that the episode was "a solid, finely crafted detective thriller" and it "could just be the downbeat yet propulsive distraction we need right now". Rachel Sigee, reviewing for the newspaper '' i'', also gave it four stars praising Christie and suggesting "This engrossing first episode scattered enough clues ..to set up an intriguing thriller". Anita Singh, reviewing for ''

'', rated the first episode three stars out of five calling it "a refreshing return for this bracing seaside cop show", while Sean O'Grady for ''

'' was more critical, commenting that "though the actors put in some commendable performances, they are all lumbered with carelessly constructed, barely two-dimensional characters" and gave it two stars.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bay (TV series), The 2019 British television series debuts 2010s British crime drama television series 2010s British mystery television series 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s British mystery television series British detective television series British English-language television shows ITV crime dramas Television series by ITV Studios Serial drama television series Television shows set in Lancashire Family saga television series ITV television dramas Television series about dysfunctional families Television shows about death Television shows shot in Manchester