The coastal scenery in crime drama The Coroner was almost as addictive as its storylines, but where was the show filmed? BBC daytime drama The Coroner was created by former Eastenders writer Sally Abbott and began airing its first season back in 2015. The show stars Claire Goose (Stan Lee’s Lucky Man) as Jane Kennedy – a solicitor who moves back to her South Devon seaside hometown with teenage daughter Beth (Grace Hogg-Robinson, Cobra) in tow to take up a job as the local coroner.
Jane’s new job puts her back in touch with her childhood sweetheart Davey Higgins (Matt Bardock, King Of Thieves), who is now a local police detective. Jane and Davey join forces to investigate the unusually high number of suspicious deaths that occur in their otherwise idyllic coastal town, and as the pair get reacquainted the unresolved romantic tension between the former sweethearts soon rears its head.
The Coroner is set in the fictional seaside town of Lighthaven, which was inspired by Salcombe – a scenic South Devon resort town located on the banks of the Knightsbridge Estuary. Salcombe often acts as a stand-in for the fictional Lighthaven alongside several other picture-perfect towns and villages spread across the South Devon coastline, including Hope Cove, Dartmouth, Brixham, and Bigbury-on-Sea.
Some specific locations that feature frequently in the BBC series are The Old Customs House in Dartmouth which acts as the location of the coroner’s office and a community facility known as The Mansion in Totnes which stands in for the local Coroners’ Court. The Oldway Mansion in Paignton plays the role of Lighthaven’s town hall in The Coroner, while Jane Kennedy’s local pub The Black Dog Inn is actually filmed at a derelict pub formerly called The Crooked Spaniards Inn, which is found in the village of Cargreen in the neighboring county of Cornwall.
After The Coroner aired a second successful season in 2016, hopes were high that the BBC might move the crime drama from its daytime schedule to a more high-profile primetime spot. Unfortunately, the network instead made the odd decision to cancel the show after just two seasons and 20 episodes despite the great ratings and reviews it had received. However, fans who adored the scenic filming locations in The Coroner can get their fix in a whole host of British shows shot on England’s southwest coast. Both historical drama and fellow BBC show Poldark and ITV medical comedy-drama Doc Martin feature filming locations along Cornwall’s picturesque coastline.