The Bay season 5 filming locations unveiled as star opens up on new spots

ITV's The Bay is back with a bang for its fifth season, featuring Marsha Thomason as Jenn Townsend, who's grappling with personal loss while diving into a complex case. This season, Jenn returns to duty after her father's passing and is immediately thrust into a family drama when a woman is found dead, leaving her to navigate the turmoil of not one, but two bereaved families – a first for the series.

With its signature scenic backdrop, the show introduces viewers to new landmarks in Morecambe.

The show's writer, Daragh Carville, dished out details to the Leicester Mercury about the fresh locations, enthusing: "We do go to new places this time around. I know the place like the back of my hand and one of the useful things in knowing a place really well is it opens up an avenue of a story that you wouldn't otherwise think of."

He highlighted a particularly thrilling development: "So we visit the nuclear power station this year, which is one of those big features of Morecambe. It dominates the skyline, it's been in our opening credits since series one I think, but we haven't gone through those doors before, so that was quite exciting."

Carville also spilled the beans on some character updates, revealing that Jenn has moved into a new house in a different part of town, and so has Tony Manning, played by Daniel Ryan. "So we see new and different parts while also returning to some of our key locations, the police station and so on," he said.

He further shared how integral Morecambe is to the essence of the show, stating: "The show is called The Bay for a good reason because you could say the central character is the place.

"We always want to explore different aspects of it and show it at its best but also be unafraid to go to those darker places."

He expressed his initial interest in Morecambe due to the "wonderful old buildings and a sense of faded grandeur". He described it as a "beautiful but a tough place" with "real deprivation and poverty".

"There is a lot of pride but also a place that is kind of on the edge," he concluded.

This season, Endeavour star Shaun Evans has stepped in as a director and he pinpointed another new location.

He explained: "We found a terrific location called Sunderland Point which is this unique landscape which gets cut off from the mainland once or twice a day.

"It was logistically very difficult but visually a very satisfying place to work. It looks incredible, water and sky, but also there is something interesting about that as an idea as well.

"This family who are grieving which is cut off from the mainland, cut off from society and what that does to the family."