The new series of The Bay kicked off last night (12 January) – and some local faces made an appearance.
Eight crew members of the Morecambe RNLI made an appearance as extras in the opening 10 minutes of the first episode.
In the scene we see show’s newcomer, DS Jenn Townsend, as she comforts a grieving mother and investigates a dead body that has washed up on the beach.
Eight members of the RNLI crew, as well as one of their lifeboats, can be seen as they try to revive a deceased man called Saif Rahman, who has supposedly drowned.
Martyn Browitt, chairman of Morecambe RNLI, said the crew were happy to help with the series which they filmed over the course of a few days last summer.
Filming took place at the lifeboat team’s boathouse slipway in Morecambe.
Martyn said: “We were happy to support ITV in their filming.
“We came to an agreement with them that we would keep the boat on service so if we were tasked by the coastguard we would have to leave filming.”
Martyn added that the experience was “interesting” and taught him a lot about the reality of filming a television series.
He said: “I had never done anything like that before.
“The number of takes was a revelation. They seemed to have a couple of dry runs, several dress rehearsals and this was before they had even filmed a single take.”
Martyn and the rest of the RNLI lifeboat team also got to meet The Bay cast who he described as “really nice people”.
They even spoke to Daniel Ryan, who play DI Anthony Manning, and asked him to attend one of their boat naming ceremonies.
Martyn said “he was gracious enough to accept” and came along to speak at the naming ceremony, which took place last September.
It’s not the first time Morecambe RNLI crew have featured in The Bay, as they have played a small background part in all three series.
Filming for the new series of the show took place in Lancashire last year when cast and crews hit the streets of Lancashire with actors and production crew were spotted at a Heysham Village and other parts of Morecambe to shoot third season scenes.
ITV’s The Bay is a crime drama which is filmed and set in Morecambe.
Season three of The Bay was commissioned by ITV’s Head of Drama, Polly Hill who announced a slight cast change and said: “We are delighted with the audiences’ response to The Bay and look forward to them meeting DS Jenn Townsend played by the fantastic Marsha Thomason, who joins the team in series three.”
In the first episode of the series, DS Jenn Townsend, Morecambe’s new Family Liaison Officer, is immediately thrown into the deep end when a body washes up in the bay on her first day on 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, whilst also trying to fit in with Manning and the rest of the team.
At the same time, she has to navigate her blended family, who are struggling to settle in their new environment.
You can watch all episodes of The Bay on ITV player.
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