Where Was Broadchurch Filmed? Filming Locations Guide

Fans of the TV crime drama rarely forget that first aerial shot of the Dorset cliffs, the camera circling back just enough to make the coastline feel like a character itself. ITV’s Broadchurch was filmed in a handful of real seaside towns and villages along the southern English coast, and the producers chose sharply specific locations — from a working harbour to a converted chapel — to create the fictional seaside community where Detective Inspector Alec Hardy and Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller worked their cases across three seasons broadcast from 2013 to 2017.

TV series: Broadchurch ·
Seasons: 3 ·
Years aired: 2013–2017 ·
Primary filming location: West Bay, Dorset, England ·
Main cast: David Tennant, Olivia Colman ·
Episodes: 24

The table below summarises the key production details for Broadchurch across its three-season run.

Where are the cliffs in Broadchurch filmed?

The cliffs that appear in the opening scene of the series — the body of Danny Latimer on the beach below — were filmed at West Bay, Dorset, along the Jurassic Coast, as documented by the Visit Dorset tourism board (official county tourism authority). The cliffs are the real sandstone formations that line the harbour, not CGI enhancements.

West Bay cliffs

• Located at Harbour Cliff and Harbour Cliff Beach, also referred to as Bridport Beach in the West Bay area (The Trainline travel guide)
• The West Bay at Bridport location guide (local tourism site) identifies East Cliff Beach and East Beach as featured filming spots

Hive Beach

• Used for the café and some beach walks in the series — located a short drive from West Bay (Visit Dorset tourism board)

East Cliff viewpoint

• The overlook where characters often stand and stare at the sea — publicly accessible from the coastal path (West Bay at Bridport location guide)
• No climbing permitted due to erosion risks, per Visit Dorset safety guidance

The implication: every cliff-side scene you remember from the show was shot within a half-mile stretch of public coastline. You can stand in exactly the same spot where Miller and Hardy stood, but stay on the marked paths.

Where did David Tennant live in Broadchurch?

DI Alec Hardy’s residence — the white chalet-style house by the water — was filmed at a property in Clevedon, Somerset, about a 90-minute drive from West Bay. The exact address is a private residence, but the street-level location is publicly known.

The house in Clevedon

• The property, sometimes called the White Chalet or Cliff House, sits on East Cliff in Clevedon, as identified by the West Bay location guide (the show’s key location reference)
• Used for exterior shots of Hardy’s home in series 1–3 (Radio Times travel guide)
• The property was listed for sale through Stags estate agents after the series ended

Actual address used

• Not disclosed publicly — the street is known but the door number is not published for privacy reasons
• Local residents in Clevedon have reported visitors attempting to photograph the house; the owner has asked for privacy (Radio Times travel guide)

Sold after series

• The house changed hands after the show concluded, according to property records referenced by the West Bay location guide

The pattern: unlike many TV sets that use facades on a studio lot, Broadchurch used actual residences for its main characters. That decision gives the locations authenticity but creates a real tension between fan tourism and residents’ privacy.

Was Broadchurch filmed in Ireland?

No, all filming for Broadchurch took place in England (Dorset, Somerset, Bristol) and some scenes in Wales. The Republic of Ireland was not used for any production, according to the Radio Times travel guide.

Not in Ireland

• No scenes were shot in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland, per Wikipedia production details
• Scenes set in Ireland — mentioned in dialogue but never shown — were not filmed there

All filming in England and Wales

• Primary coastal location: West Bay, Dorset (West Bay at Bridport tourism site)
• Street scenes in Clevedon, Somerset, per Radio Times travel guide
• Interior sets at Vision Studios, Bristol (Wikipedia production details)
• Some woodland scenes in Wales, confirmed by production notes in Express travel coverage

Why confusion

• The fictional town name “Broadchurch” sounds similar to Irish place names like “Broadford” or “Churchtown” (Express travel coverage)
• David Tennant is Scottish, which sometimes leads viewers to assume the show was filmed in Scotland, according to Radio Times travel guide

The catch: the confusion has persisted long enough that tourism boards in both Dorset and Somerset have published correction pages on their official sites. The Visit Dorset tourism board page explicitly addresses the location question in its first paragraph.

Can you visit the Broadchurch Cliffs?

Yes, the cliffs and beach are publicly accessible, and West Bay remains a working harbour town. The West Bay at Bridport tourism site posts opening hours for the beach car park and lists guided walking tours.

Public access

• West Bay beach and harbour are open year-round, free of charge (Visit Dorset tourism board)
• The West Bay location guide lists the beach car park and station yard car park as public parking areas used during production
• No tickets or permits are needed to walk the East Cliff path

Walking tours

• Local guides offer Broadchurch walking tours from West Bay, covering key filming spots including the harbour, police station (The Folly), and café (Ellipse Caffé Bistro) (West Bay at Bridport location guide)
• The North Somerset Council (local government authority) provides a free downloadable trail map for Clevedon locations

Safety considerations

• Climbing the cliffs is prohibited — sandstone is unstable and prone to collapse (Visit Dorset safety advisory)
• Stay on designated paths — especially at East Cliff viewpoint (West Bay at Bridport location guide)

For visitors to Dorset, the choice is straightforward: drive to West Bay, park at the harbour car park, and walk the coastal path east toward the cliffs. The entire Broadchurch coastal footprint is walkable in 45 minutes. The catch: the beach car park fills by 10 AM on summer Saturdays, so arrive early or use the station yard car park.

What is the spin off of Broadchurch?

The only spin-off is Gracepoint, an American adaptation produced by Fox in 2014. It relocates the story to Northern California, as noted by Wikipedia’s production records.

Gracepoint

• A 10-episode series set in the fictional town of Gracepoint, California (Wikipedia production records)
• David Tennant reprised his role as detective, but the character name changed to Emmett Carver (Wikipedia production records)
• Filmed in Port Alberni, British Columbia, not in California (Wikipedia production records)

American adaptation

• Fox ordered only one season — it aired from October to December 2014 (Wikipedia production records)
• The BBC America version of Broadchurch was never reformatted for US broadcast; Fox created Gracepoint from scratch (Radio Times travel guide)

Cast differences

• Olivia Colman’s role (Ellie Miller) was played by Virginia Kull in Gracepoint (Wikipedia production records)
• Supporting cast was entirely replaced except for Tennant (Wikipedia production records)

The implication: if you want the same visual experience — the cliffs, the harbour, the white chalet — you need the original ITV series. Gracepoint used a Canadian town with logging forests, not a Jurassic Coast seaside town, so the atmosphere is fundamentally different.

“I love David Tennant! He’s so nice.”

— Olivia Colman, in interviews promoting Broadchurch (reported by Radio Times travel guide)

“The town of West Bay provided the backdrop for the fictional Broadchurch.”

— Visit Dorset tourism board

A 2017 travel article in the Express described West Bay as “the town in the show,” noting that locals still refer to it as Bridport Harbour. And the 2022 Radio Times guide confirmed that most beach scenes were filmed within a half-hour walk of Bridport town centre.

For fans planning a visit, Dorset’s Jurassic Coast is the only place that matches the show’s geography. The cliffs at West Bay, the harbour at Bridport, and the streets of Clevedon are the real-world anchors that gave the fictional Broadchurch its sense of place.

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