MovieChat Forums > Line of Duty (2012) Discussion > it is getting complicated,is it me? why ...

it is getting complicated,is it me? why Belfast locations?

posted 11 years ago by ib011f9545i
6 replies | jump to latest

I am enjoying this second series but still don't know what is going on,I suppose that is a good thing? have to watch every minute unlike some shows.

A great drama,my god what an episode,Keeley Hawes plays such a strong character.

The location is meant to be where? Lancashire? Yorkshire?,somewhere northern anyway but it is filmed in Belfast.
Why does the fact it is filmed in Belfast annoy me?

I have always felt that things should be set somewhere real,even if a film set in New York is filmed in Toronto it should look like New York and the plot and script should reflect the setting.

I hate cop shows that are set in an unnamed city,the location should be part of the story (for British readers I am thinking about TOUCH OF FROST for example,filmed in Leeds but set in a fictional town called DENTON,).

LINE OF DUTY is set in the north of England but since it shows a very negative view of a corrupt police force I can understand why it is set in a fictional force in a fictional area but again why film in Belfast?

I assume that the filming in Belfast is cheaper than filming elsewhere in Britain and perhaps the NI government pay a subsidy? and perhaps Belfast is easy to film in but does Belfast look like a northern English town?

Maybe it does and therefore my points are

[–] Craigix 11 years ago

Not being from Belfast I didn't notice it looking any different to any other town in the British Isles.

Also the BBC tend to spread about their filming locations (probably because they have to due to their nature), Line of Duty probably got picked to be their N.Ireland show. They do this almost every year with at least one major show.

[–] ib011f9545i 11 years ago

You might be right but not all cities look the same,MANCHESTER and GLASGOW for example have lots of 19th Century buildings that can pass for American cities of the same era.

Belfast might look like Leeds or Preston,and I know that it is part of the UK with British road signs and so on but I would love someone from the BBC to tell us why they make these choices.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (41638798) 11 years ago

Those who've been to Belfast recently will notice that over in the newly and massively redeveloped area called the Titanic Quarter sits an immense sound stage and production facilities.

It is a recent addition to UK production facilities and now has been in use constantly in major films as well as many television shows of late.

Belfast is incredibly inexpensive by UK standards, as well. Though if the redevelopment and regeneration as a major filming location and other things keeps up, that won't last much longer.

It's an incredibly easy city to be in, non-existent traffic problems due to being thinly populated by other UK standards and other things make it a very attractive place from which to produce shows.

The "Northern Ireland" BBC logo at the end is showing up more and more these days---with great frequency.

That production facility down in the Titanic quarter is massive.

[–] ib011f9545i 11 years ago

Great,all this regeneration paid for by the rest of us.

[–] oakcourt 11 years ago

We do have a suburb in North Manchester, UK called Denton and I used to smile whenever I watched Frost and Denton was mentioned.

Don't be late, don't hesitate, this dream can pass just as fast as lightning.

[–] 11 years ago

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