Netflix back in Bolton to shoot Harlan Coben’s The Woods

This time, Bolton is playing host to the cast of the upcoming Netflix crime drama The Woods.

Filming started in Bolton on the day Netflix announced they were adapting another novel by the writer Harlan Coben.

Based on the bestselling 2007 novel, The Woods follows top barrister Paul ‘Cope’ Copeland – a man who’s life was turned upside-down when, 20 years ago, his sister Camille disappeared from a summer camp under mysterious circumstances.

Michelle Keegan ((Ian West/PA)

Now a father to ten-year-old Cami, Cope seems to have his life back in order. But things take a dark turn when a man’s body is discovered – a man who was supposed to have died 20 years previous alongside Camille.

Now knowing that this man had survived the first incident, Cope begins to suspect that his sister did, too. The Woods follows Cope down this rabbit hole as he unearths years of lies, cover-ups, and family secrets, all of which threaten to destroy the life he has managed to built.

The eight part series stars Tom Bateman in the role of Cope, with Michelle Keegan co-starring as Lucy Silverfield – Cope’s first love, and the woman who will join him on his search for the truth about his sister.

But this isn’t the first Harlan Coben adaptation to be filmed in Bolton – in fact, the town has a long history of providing a backdrop for his works.

In 2020, Billboards advertising Netflix’s The Stranger went up in Times Square New York – a far cry from the Bolton and Bury locations where the show was shot.

The Stranger adapted Harlan’s 2015 novel of the same name, wherein a man’s life unravels after a mysterious stranger reveals to him a fact about his wife.

The series shown on Netflix was produced by Red Productions.

The company has previously told The Bolton News: “RED Production Company are proud of their Northern roots, basing themselves in Manchester and filming in and around the North.

“For over twenty years RED have filmed several dramas in the area, including the recent Years and Years and current productions Traces and The Stranger.  Bolton has a great feel of a large town without being too big like a city centre. 

Production vans (Image: Dan Dougherty)

“It is also very film friendly and always so accommodating to our crews across all our shows.”

The new thriller is being produced in partnership with Quay Street Productions, with Nicola Shindler, who formed Red Productions, acting as executive producer.

And 2024 saw film crews return to the North West for an adaptation of Fool Me Once, with scenes filmed inside Bolton School.

Bolton School (Image: NQ)

As with much of Harlan’s work, Fool me Once deals with dark, macabre themes, as Maya Stone – Also played by Michelle Keegan – comes to terms with the murder of her husband.

That is – in a classic Harlan Coben twist – until she finds evidence that he may still be alive.

The book is set in New York, but the adaptation translated the action to Manchester.

Michelle Keegan spoke to Radio Times at the time, saying: “The book’s set in New York, so it’s totally different now, because they’re in Manchester.

Production vans (Image: Dan Dougherty)

“It sort of grounded it for me.”

And last year Netflix crews were back filming key scenes for an adaptation of Harlan’s Run Away, starring Gavin & Stacey actress Ruth Jones and Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt.

The drama quickly became the number-one rated show on Netflix, with many viewers likely unaware that they were watching scenes filmed in Rivington and Oldham’s Alexandra Park.

Harlan signed a multi-billion dollar deal with Netflix in 2018, giving them the right to produce adaptations of 14 of his novels, with Harlan acting as executive producer.

The Rivington (Image: Google Maps)

The shows tend to be released on January 1, with Run Away, Fool Me Once, and The Stranger being released on this date in 2026, 2024, and 2020 respectively.

Bolton’s popularity with crime show producers of various stripes is in part attributable to the old court building on Le Mans Crescent, which is often used for courtroom scenes. The exterior of the building is popular too, notable for its Grade II listed architecture.

This was the case when Cillian Murphy made an appearance on the street in 2021, decked out in Peaky Blinders garb, as he filmed scenes for the hit show.

Cillian Murphy in Bolton

The producer of the first series of the Sarah Parish crime drama, Bancroft, which was filmed in the town said he had deliberately chosen Bolton because of its crescent, town hall and civic centre architecture which created a Paris/ New York feel.

Phil Collinson said, at the time of the release of Bancroft: “We didn’t want this to feel like every other police show you watch. We looked at film noir and some American influences. And so we went to Bolton very deliberately. Bolton has an incredible Victorian crescent, town hall and civic centre. It really feels like Paris or New York around there with the old cobbled streets and big sandstone buildings.

“Then once you get inside there are long marble corridors and great big open spaces.

“The CID office is a large old room with pillars in it. Lots of old, dark wood. We tried to make it feel like the present inhabiting locations with lots of history bearing down on them.

“So this modern world is crashing together with the past. A sense the past is around you all the time. A happy by-product of that was we got really handsome locations. The whole things feels special. Steeped in history.

He added: “The locations are a big star of this show and really important to the atmosphere of the whole thing.”

This action doesn’t show any sign of slowing down, with Netflix crews spending an entire week on the street filming scenes for The Woods.

Cllr Nadeem Ayub, executive member for culture, said: “Film crews love coming to Bolton because of the fantastic architecture on Le Mans Crescent.

“It’s such as beautiful location to come and film around.

“It’s great for Bolton too – it puts us on the map and it puts us in the limelight not just in the UK but worldwide as well.

“It brings plenty of business to the town centre too, not just directly, but the crews also go around the shops in the town centre and spend money.”

These things considered, is it any wonder people call Bolton the Hollywood of the North?