ITV confirms The Bay will return to Morecambe for a fourth series

ITV and Tall Story Pictures, part of ITV Studios, have announced the commission of a fourth series of the hit Morecambe-based drama, The Bay.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Written by Daragh Carville, who lives in Lancaster, the third series finished on Wednesday evening.

It saw Marsha Thomason join as Morecambe CID’s new Family Liaison Officer, DS Jenn Townsend, alongside regular cast Daniel Ryan, Erin Shanagher, Thomas Law and Andrew Dowbiggin.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In the storyline, DS Townsend is immediately thrown into the deep end when a body is found in the bay on her first day in the job. She must get under the skin of a grieving and complicated family if she has any chance of solving the premature death of an aspiring young boxer.

ITV’s head of drama Polly Hill said: “I’m delighted that we will be returning to Morecambe for another series of The Bay. Marsha Thomason delivered a brilliant performance as DS Jenn Townsend, and it will be exciting to see where Daragh takes her character in series 4. Thanks to everyone at Tall Story Pictures for creating and continuing to deliver such a distinctive series.”

Catherine Oldfield, executive producer at Tall Story Pictures, added: “We are delighted at how The Bay audiences have taken to new FLO, DS Jenn Townsend, played by the brilliant Marsha Thomason and how Jenn’s arrival and her personal storyline has breathed new energy into the show. Together with Daragh (Carville) and all our amazing cast and crew, we can’t wait to get going on the new series.“

Tall Story Pictures responded to the announcement by tweeting: "Yay!! Series 4 is go!! We are thrilled to be returning to Morecambe for another series. Huge thanks to the fantastic cast & crew of series 3 … & to all who watched this year - a massive massive thank you. We’ll be back on ITV next year."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Filming begins later this year on the new series with further casting news to be announced.

Thomas Law as DC Eddie Martin, Dan Ryan as DI Tony Manning, Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend, Andrew Dowbiggin as DS James Clarke/"Clarkie", and Erin Shanagher as DS Karen Hobson. Photo by Jed Knight / © Tall Story Pictures 2021Thomas Law as DC Eddie Martin, Dan Ryan as DI Tony Manning, Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend, Andrew Dowbiggin as DS James Clarke/"Clarkie", and Erin Shanagher as DS Karen Hobson. Photo by Jed Knight / © Tall Story Pictures 2021
Thomas Law as DC Eddie Martin, Dan Ryan as DI Tony Manning, Marsha Thomason as DS Jenn Townsend, Andrew Dowbiggin as DS James Clarke/"Clarkie", and Erin Shanagher as DS Karen Hobson. Photo by Jed Knight / © Tall Story Pictures 2021

The Bay’s latest series has been praised for its diversity both on and off screen, its accurate and moving portrayal of the funeral of a young Muslim man and how young deaf newcomer, Nadeem Islam, who was initially discovered via an article written about him by Colin Hambrook on Disability Arts Online, and was subsequently cast as Jamal in the show.

Sold in more than 130 territories across the world, ITV Studios is responsible for the international distribution of The Bay and is a BritBox North America Original.