Channel 4's new show Deadwater Fell is a dark thriller set in a little village that gets rocked by the deaths of almost an entire family. While it is based in the fictional Scottish village of Kirkdarroch, it was actually filmed on the West Coast of Scotland so it provides a very realistic backdrop for the drama to unfold.
Many of the scenes were shot in Dunlop in East Ayrshire and Kilbarchan in central Renfrewshire, which are two small villages just outside Glasgow. Originally from Ralston in Renfrewshire, David Tenant - who stars as Tom Kendrick, a GP who is accused of murdering his wife and three children - said the location was one of the things that attracted him to the show. "It was hugely appealing to me to get to spend some weeks back in Glasgow. I still have family there and of course it’s a city that I grew up around and has always meant a great deal to me," he told Channel 4.
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Speaking about filming there, David revealed: "It’s not anything like where I grew up, but it feels like a very recognisable place. I don’t know if that’s specifically Scottish but it’s the kind of community you could imagine being anywhere or in many places throughout Scotland."
Writer and Creator Daisy Coulam revealed the pretty yet isolated location is almost symbolic of the storyline itself. When asked about the reasoning behind filming in Scotland, she said: "Well, the village itself sort of becomes its own character. Kirkdarroch is a very isolated and remote place surrounded by forest and it’s stunning but there’s something symbolic about it that represents our story really: the idyllic look of it hides something more sinister." She continued: "A lot of our characters are isolated with secrets, or isolated from loved ones. The village itself and its outer beauty represents that."
In the first episode, which aired on 10 January, some scenes take place on Culzean Beach and Irvine beach. Following the show's isolated theme, the former is a secluded beach nestled under 18th century Culzean Castle in Culzean Country Park, backing onto dense woodland and cliffs.
