Where is Beyond Paradise season 2 filmed? Is Shipton Abbott a real place?
If you've been watching Beyond Paradise you might have found yourself enamoured with the locations used. So with that in mind, where was Beyond Paradise filmed?
This Death in Paradise spin-off drops the luscious Caribbean locale of its original series in favor of something even more paradisaic, according to the name. It's supposedly Beyond Paradise! And with Beyond Paradise season 2, we're getting to explore more of the town of Shipton Abbott and its surrounding areas.
Beyond Paradise is a spin-off of DiP featuring season 3-6 lead Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall), who is now living with his fiancée Martha (Sally Bretton) in her hometown of Shipton Abbott. It's not an identical replica of its predecessor series, with fewer murders and a time travel plot twist throwing some curveballs.
Just like Death in Paradise, Beyond Paradise uses a string of fabulous locations.
Shipton Abbott, on the Devonshire coastline, isn't actually a real place — the show's creators made it up just like they did with Saint Marie in Death in Paradise. But that doesn't mean it's all green screen and CGI, as the show was filmed in real locations (though not all Devon locations, as you'll soon discover).
So where is Beyond Paradise actually filmed? We'll run you through the key locations...
Where is Beyond Paradise filmed?
Looe in Cornwall
Looe doubles for Shipton Abbott, the fictional heart of the show. Indeed, the first few moments of the opening episode we see a string of shots of Shipton Abbott, which in reality is Looe.
Looe, then, is the primary filming location for Beyond Paradise, with many locations around this Cornish town used for various scenes in the show: filming was spotted in the fire station, a restaurant and the town center according to Cornwall Live.
The Shipton Abbott police station in reality is the Guildhall in Looe.
A coastal town in southeast Cornwall, Looe is fairly small but is known for its extravagant traditional New Year's Eve parties which draw huge crowds to the town's seafront. The town is separated into two halves by a river, and filming was spotted on the bridge that spans West Looe and East Looe.
No doubt lots of Beyond Paradise fans will now be booking holidays in Looe.
For Beyond Paradise season 2, Looe was once again used for Shipton Abbott. Kelby actor Dylan Llewellyn said "Looe is always a great location - there's lovely, welcoming people there."
Port Eliot House and Gardens
In episode three a painting is stolen from a beautiful house in a dramatic art heist. In reality, the house is Port Eliot in St Germans, Cornwall. The official website describes it as "the ancestral seat of the 11th Earl of St Germans and home of the Eliot family". It also describes the location as "a secret corner of England". Although how secret it will remain after being in Beyond Paradise is open to debate!
Buckfastleigh railway
An important location in Beyond Paradise season 2's first episode is Shipton Abbott railway station, as Humphrey Goodman and his officers investigate a murder on a locomotive train.
In reality, Shipton Abbott railway station is Buckfastleigh railway station in Devon, which in July 2023 was temporarily turned into Shipton Abbott station where the detectives embark onto the train.
Buckfastleigh station also houses an otter sanctuary and butterfly farm, though presumably neither animals are the suspects for DI Goodman's first case of season 2.
Maidencombe Beach, Torquay, Devon
Episode 4 of Beyond Paradise season 2, sees a wonderful beach take center stage and we can reveal that beach is Maidencombe Beach in Torquay, Devon. The episode sees a priest from a Catholic boarding school suddenly disappear after taking a trip to a local beach. Humphrey and Esther then investiage whether the priest was murdered on the beach or is in fact still alive. In real life Maidencombe Beach is a truly beautiful spot and well worth a visit.
Tamar Valley on Devon/Cornwall border
Another location used in Beyond Paradise, as reported by the Tavistock Times Gazette, is the Tamar Valley, with filming having taken place in August 2022.
The Tamar Valley is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or AONB, so perhaps it's the "paradise" where the "deaths" of Beyond Paradise will take place. At one time, Tamar Valley hosted Europe's biggest mine, and it also houses multiple ancient towns and a steam railway.
There's another Tamar Valley in Tasmania, and a valley simply called Tamar in Slovenia, but the BBC crew didn't jet over to the other side of the world just to shoot a few scenes.
Bere Ferrers & Weir Quay, Devon
Bere Ferris is a village in southern Cornwall, with a population just shy of 3,000. It's also a civil parish, which includes multiple smaller places including Weir Quay.
Both Bere Ferris and Weir Quay have been reported as two filming locations for Beyond Paradise, with the former likely used for residential scenes and the latter as a nondescript waterfront.
Weir Quay is, coincidentally, where the Tamar River (which runs through the Tamar Valley, as described above) reaches the tidal estuary — in other words, a body dumped in the river there would reach the Quay. Maybe that's the plot of an episode.
University of Plymouth
It's been revealed that the University of Plymouth features in a number of shots in the series. Humphrey and Esther are seen at one point chatting outside the university's cafe.
Cheesewring
A new location featured in Beyond Paradise season 2 is the Cheesewring, a distinctive tor on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall that's iconic for being several large stacked rocks on top of each other.
Kris Marshall said "I loved that place; it was really windy and the rain from the moors comes from all directions like that scene in Forrest Gump where he's in the jungle and there's rain coming from everywhere". Expect a dramatic scene to take place at the Cheesewring.
Sea
In Beyond Paradise season 2, modes of transport play a bigger role as the venues for murder, and the sea is an especially big one.
Zaha Ahmadi discussed the process of getting out to a fishing vessel which they filmed on: "to get to the fishing vessel, we had to go out on the rib that the RNLI use, so Kris and I went out with some crew and on our way back dolphins swam beside us".
Beyond Paradise is on BBC One.
