As the new Netflix crime thriller Fool Me Once starring Michelle Keegan has landed, viewers will be able to spot a host of familiar locations.

Fool Me Once landed on screens on January 1st and many Harlan Coben fans have already begun getting stuck into the gripping new series, if they haven’t managed to binge watch it already.

It stars local actress Michelle Keegan as Maya Stern, who is coming to terms with the death of her husband Joe Burkett, played by Richard Armitage.

Just two weeks after his death, she makes a horrifying discovery as she notices a familiar figure on the nanny cam placed in her two-year-old daughter’s bedroom.

Maya begins a desperate quest to find answers and has to face up to some deep secrets and deceits from her past.

The eight-part drama was filmed in various locations across the North West for six months in early 2023. It’s based on the novel of the same name by Harlan Coben, which is set in New Jersey, in the US.

But Netflix have transported the on-screen story to the UK.

Producer of the show Jessica Taylor told the Manchester Evening News the series had been gaining huge momentum in the build up to its release on Netflix, on New Year’s Day.

Viewers from across the globe can now watch a gripping drama filmed across the North of England, with intriguing locations around Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

Jessica explains that key locations shot for the series as they avoided more obvious Manchester landmarks, because the show is intended to be set in a fictional place rather than in the city.

The production team searched for lesser known locations to use in key scenes including Oldham Park, underground tunnels in Stockport, Bolton Grammar School and Phillips Park Cemetery in Miles Platting.

Homes of the characters are located in the affluent areas of Alderley Edge and Bramhall which bring the fictional town of Winhurst to life.

Speaking to the MEN, Jessica said: “From the start we create this world of Winhurst, it’s a generic town, but it’s quite an affluent area with high-end houses, but we soon discover the underground parts too. In Harlan’s book it is set in New Jersey, but it adapts itself really well to be an English setting.

“What we always try to do is use locations we’ve not really visited before, which can be difficult because Manchester is so prominent in filming now.

“Because we wanted it to be generic, and Manchester is so distinctive we didn’t pick anything too Manchester, although it’s hard to avoid the trams!

“We want it to look epic, we want people to watch and be impressed by how it looks. It does look very rich and beautiful, and at the centre of it all is this beautiful person, Michelle as Maya, she just sells it all and the story rattles along at some pace.”

Here’s a look at some of the places across Greater Manchester and Cheshire that were used in the filming of Fool Me Once.

Runway Visitor Park

Used for the opening scene, this is where all the action in the show kicks off. Viewers get to see how Maya and Joe first met as they are seen at a glitzy dinner party held under the wings of the iconic Concorde plane.

The scene was filmed at the Runway Visitor Park at Ringway, located next to Manchester Airport. The spectacular setting has also been used for such events in real life.

It’s home to the Concorde all year round and is open daily to welcome visitors, where they can climb aboard and take a look around.

The space is also used for private hire events including awards ceremonies and charity dos.

Arley Hall

This stunning country estate, near Northwich in Cheshire, is used as the fictional Farmwood in the series and is where the Birkett family live.

This grand stately home and its surrounding gardens is home to character Judith Birkett played by national treasure Joanna Lumley. The cottages on the estate were also used in the filming and Lumley even set up home in one herself during the filming.

Jessica explains: “Joanna’s character is only ever seen in her house really so when we went to do the first recce we asked if she would like to stay there in the grounds and she said she’d love to.” The flashback scenes of Maya’s and Joe’s wedding were also filmed at the hall, in the chapel.

And it seems this setting also met Harlan Coben’s approval as Jessica said: “Harlan always says, ‘I want it to look really English’ and when we showed him Arley Hall he said, ‘that’s what I’m talking about’.”

Alderley Edge

This is where Maya’s posh house is located. Maya is often seen in her modern stylish and very large home set in the fictional Winhurst. The house is a real residential property in Alderley edge, Cheshire.

Jessica says: “Maya has this beautiful big house, and we filmed this in Alderley Edge in a very modern design house that spreads over three floors with its own swimming pool. We don’t see a lot of Alderley, but we do see a lot of the country lanes around there.

“We took over a residential house for three weeks, and this is where you see the Nanny cam scene, as well as discussing stuff with her best friend Shane. There is also a gun room at her property, but naturally we had to build this into the house as we don’t tend to have those in this country.”

Alexandra Park

This park in Oldham is where the murder scene takes place. Viewers watch the terrifying moment Joe is murdered as his wife Maya screams for help.

Jessica, who is originally from Oldham herself, knew it would be the perfect setting. 

She explains: “One place we did use a lot was Alexandra Park in Oldham, it’s a beautiful park and really underrated. This is where we filmed the flashbacks for Richard’s murder scene – although it rained all night!

“In the book it’s supposed to be Winhurst Park, so we wanted to base it on somewhere a bit like Central Park in New York. It’s got all these beautiful Victorian follies and a bridge, we wanted to capture the prettiest aspects of it.”

Stockport Air Raid Shelters

These were used for Corey’s den – the quirky hacker CoreytheWhistle, played by Laurie Kynaston.

Corey has a den that’s a bit like a Tardis. On the outside, it looks just like a woodmen’s hut, but inside it leads to tunnels and passages that travel for miles underground.

The exterior hut was created in the grounds of Arley Hall but the underground passages were filmed in Stockport. These old war bunkers are now a visitor attraction in the town centre.

Jessica said: “They are underground tunnels, old bunkers from the war and they’re amazing. “Corey is like a computer hacker, so he has all these underground tunnels and servers and at one point is chased down them.”

Bramhall

A real residential property in Bramhall is used as the home of the Walker family in the show.

Viewers learn that Maya’s sister Claire Walker, played by former Emmerdale star Natalie Anderson, was also murdered. In Fool Me Once we see the family she has left behind, her husband Eddie Walker, played by Marcus Garvey, and their teenage children.

Jessica says: “This was a family home and it was decorated beautifully in greys and creams, but that doesn’t work on screen so we had to redecorate and add different furniture.

“They didn’t personally like it though, so it was all returned exactly to the way it was when we finished filming.”

Castlefield Viaduct

This city centre location is where the chase scene takes place. Many people may recognise this Manchester modern garden area.

Now owned by the National Trust, the old railway line has been transformed into a visitor park.

Jessica said: “I was really excited to get up there. We had actually gone to Castlefield to look for a disused warehouse for a scene, but as I looked up and saw the bridge I thought “that would make a brilliant location”.

“We went up and we’ve filmed up on the top of the bridge. It’s really industrial, it’s got all that industrial ironwork. We’ve been the first to use it for filming and that’s really exciting.”

Peveril of the Peak

This iconic Manchester boozer is used for a pub scene when Detective Sami Kierce heads out for a drink with his girlfriend.

Jessica says: “It’s like a proper old pub inside and that’s just what we wanted.”

Phillips Park and Arley Hall

In the show we see flashbacks to two funerals. Philips Park Cemetery at Miles Platting was the setting for Maya’s sister’s funeral.

Meanwhile, Joe’s funeral was filmed in the grounds of Arley Hall itself. Jessica explains: “We built a mausoleum, we turned a stone folly already in the grounds into that and added some graves.”

Barton Aerodrome to Delamere Forest

Maya is a former army officer who now works as a private helicopter instructor. Viewers see her take off from Barton, in Eccles, and fly over Delamere Forest.

Jessica says: “She actually flew the helicopter from Barton to Delamere Forest, it has dual controls, so we filmed her in the helicopter and as we set off she flew for real.”

Michelle added she enjoyed the experience and even flew past her own house. She said: “I wasn’t doing any Tom Cruise moves like flipping upside down. But I can now say that I flew a helicopter.

“Once it’s in the air and you’re going forward you’re just gliding then and it’s very smooth. I quite enjoyed it. I didn’t like landing. I thought that was quite terrifying but as for going through the air, it’s very therapeutic.”

Spain

While the majority of filming was done around the north west in the UK, some of the army scenes were shot over in Almeria in Southern Spain. This is because the crew wanted to show somewhere with a hotter climate for the flashbacks.

Jessica explained: “It has these great big areas that are almost desert-like, where they used to film all the old Spaghetti Westerns. We needed somewhere as the army base in a hot climate so this worked well. We did a big stunt here, where we had to blow up a car.”

Bolton Grammar

This grammar was used as Joe’s old school in Fool Me Once. Making sure not to cause any disruption to the school and its pupils, crews filmed over weekends and into the school holidays.