A thriller that draws a line between Northern Ireland’s troubled and complicated past and its present as an open and cosmopolitan modern country, Bloodlands is a welcome addition to the popular TV shows filmed in Belfast and the surrounding area. This series follows in the footsteps of iconic shows like Game of Thrones, which was filmed at Paint Hall studios. Since then, viewers have seen an increasing representation of the city on screen, from The Fall to the acclaimed Line of Duty.
Line of Duty has a notable connection to this show: producer Jed Mercurio chose Bloodlands as the first production for his new company, HTM, shifting between both sets while the much-anticipated Season 6 of AC-12 adventures was shot. However, while Line of Duty is mostly city-bound and intentionally keeps its setting unidentified, Bloodlands explores the genuine landscape and life of Belfast and its picturesque countryside. Here’s a guide to the key locations featured in the series.
Strangford
Early in Episode 1, our lead DCI Tom Brannick, played by Northern Ireland native James Nesbitt, is called to a crime scene. He takes the ferry to the harbor where he finds a car being retrieved from Strangford Lough, a major star of the show.
As the largest sea loch in the British Isles, this stretch of water on the east coast was the original inspiration for the series. Writer Chris Brandon, who grew up in Strangford, states: “It’s a place that has always sparked my imagination. The austere beauty of the scarred and sodden hillsides – the windswept islands and bouldered shorelines always seemed, in themselves, to hold the memory of stories past.”
