Filming of Netflix drama Stay Close starring James Nesbitt is taking place in Formby today

Feb 21, 20213 min read

Fans of The Stranger and Safe, will be happy as the next Netflix show based on @HarlanCoben's books will be STAY CLOSE – starring Cush Jumbo, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt and Sarah Parish is being partly filmed in #Formby over the next few days.

Filming is taking place from today, Sunday 21st February until Wednesday 24th but maybe even up to Friday 26th at the old Shorrocks Hill Country Club site at the junction of Lifeboat Road and St Lukes Church Road and Bushby's Lane. The building has been recently painted a shocking pink colour which stands out prominently in the woods.

Entrance sign to Shorricks Hill has been covered over

Shorrocks Hill painted bright pink

Filming in action with a crane and light at the top

Traffic and parking is quite heavy so please avoid the area if possible and if you are parking, please do not block people’s driveways.

Bushbys Lane

St Luke’s Church Road

A spokesperson from National Trust Formby said: “Filming will be taking place in an area adjacent to Lifeboat Rd with stop-and-go traffic management in place between 12.30pm-2pm. The car park will be open as usual, however you may have to wait for a few minutes.”

Bay 3 in Lifeboat Road car park

“Please be aware that Bay 3 of Lifeboat Road car park will be closed, for a production company to use as a base to film locally. There's ample parking in Bays 1 & 2 for local visitors to pop down for their daily exercise. Thankyou for your patience.”

The team behind The Stranger and Safe are reuniting for their fourth Harlan Coben drama titled Stay Close, an adaptation of Coben’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel of the same name.

Author Harlan Coben is no stranger to Netflix viewers as over the past few years they’ve had the opportunity to watch such adaptations of his work as The Stranger, Safe and The Five.

Netflix’s Stay Close will be based on Harlan Coben’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel of the same name which was published in 2012.

Here is the official logline for Netflix’s adaptation of Stay Close:

“The story follows three people living comfortable lives who each conceal dark secrets that even the closest to them would never suspect; Megan, a working mother of three; Ray, the once promising documentary photographer, now stuck in a dead-end job pandering to celebrity obsessed rich kids, and Broome, a detective who’s unable to let go of a missing person’s cold case. Lorraine, an old friend from Megan’s past, delivers some shocking news which will impact on all three characters. As the past comes back to haunt them, threatening to ruin their lives and the lives of those around them, what will be their next move?”

The three main leads in Netflix’s Stay Close are Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight, The Good Wife, Deadwater Fell), James Nesbitt (Bloody Sunday, The Missing) and Richard Armitage (The Stranger, The Hobbit, Hannibal). They will be playing Megan, Broome and Ray respectively.

photo courtesy of Netflix

All three of them expressed their joy about taking part in this exciting project from Harlan Coben in a recent press release from RED Productions:

Cush Jumbo (Megan): “I’m so excited to work alongside Netflix, Nicola and the whole team on Stay Close. Can’t wait to get my teeth into such a brilliant British thriller.”

James Nesbitt (Broome): “The team at RED are a northern powerhouse of world-class TV. They are a benchmark for quality drama, and I’m thrilled to be part of such a great production. The scripts drew me in from the get-go and I am looking forward to starting filming”

Richard Armitage (Ray): “I can’t wait to return to Manchester to work with Nicola, Danny, Harlan and the team again. I love Harlan’s style and this plot and character will be brilliantly challenging. At a time when we have remained apart; ‘Stay Close’ promises to break all the rules.”

The new series will be produced by RED Company Production who also brought the Harlan Coben adaptations. Sarah Doole, the newly appointed CEO of RED Production Company, added in a press release: “Harlan’s book and Danny’s screenplay create an irresistible cocktail of crime drama – who knew such thrilling secrets and lies lurk in our suburbs? RED is very proud to be bringing this terrific storytelling to Netflix.”