LOCATION staycations are set to be big news in 2025, with a host of films and TV series featuring the very best of England’s towns, cities and stunning countryside as backdrops to on-screen action.
Lisa Minot lifts the lid on how you can explore the locations for some of 2025’s movie and telly moments.
Beyond Paradise, Looe, Cornwall
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FANS of the BBC One comedy crime drama can enjoy a third series in 2025.
Set in the fictional Devon seaside town of Shipton Abbott, the series sees former Death In Paradise Detective Inspector Humphrey Goodman back in the UK after his stint on the equally fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie.
The show, starring Kris Marshall and Sally Bretton, is filmed in and around the town of Looe in south-east Cornwall, with its picturesque harbour, wide, sandy beaches and scenic woodland.
The New Guildhall in Fore Street features as Shipton Abbott’s police station and there are plenty of shots of East Looe Beach, its sands sheltered by the town’s unusual Banjo Pier, shaped like the instrument.
READ MORE TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
See visitlooe.co.uk.
STAY: Family-run The Oaks Holiday Park has gorgeous wooden glamping pods sleeping two adults and two to three children. A three-night stay is from £254 in total. See airbnb.co.uk.
Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, North London
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OVER the summer, people in Haverstock Hill and Hampstead in North London spotted film crews shooting the fourth and final Bridget Jones film, which is due out next Valentine’s Day.
Starring Renee Zellweger and Hugh Grant, it picks up Bridget’s story after the death of Mark Darcy, with Leo Woodall playing a new flame.
Bridget author Helen Fielding lives in Hampstead, as do such stars as Ricky Gervais and Harry Styles.
The 790-acre Hampstead Heath features walking trails, ponds and great views of London.
Hampstead’s high street has lots of independent and quirky shops.
For a beer, try the wood-panelled Holly Bush pub, with its cosy fires.
STAY: The Premier Inn London Hampstead on Haverstock Hill features the chain’s new Premier Plus rooms. A double is from £49 a night in January. See premierinn.com.
The Thursday Murder Club, Berks & Bucks
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WHODUNNIT fans can look forward to the Netflix film adaptation of Richard Osman’s best-selling debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, towards the end of 2025.
The movie was filmed on location throughout Berkshire and Buckinghamshire and this year saw movie titan Steven Spielberg, director Chris Columbus and the cast including Helen Mirren, Celia Imrie, Pierce Brosnan and Ben Kingsley at St Mark’s Church in Englefield, West Berks.
The village of Little Missenden near Amersham also features in the film, with its local pub, The Red Lion, used for both indoor and outdoor scenes.
The village with its 1,000-year-old church and riverside location is a popular destination for film-makers.
As well as regularly hosting Midsomer Murders crews, Little Missenden was featured in Disney’s Cruella movie and as a backdrop for Lewis Capaldi’s video for Wish You The Best.
STAY: Double rooms at the The Crown Inn in Little Missenden from £131 per night. See thecrownamersham.com.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part II, London and Lake District
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THE eighth film in the Mission: Impossible series will hit screens in May, after extensive filming throughout Cumbria and London, which included daredevil stunts by its star Tom Cruise.
Fans can follow in the footsteps of Tom’s character Ethan Hunt on The Mission: Impossible Tour of London, which includes key filming locations and a stop at The Anchor, the 17th-century bankside pub where Ethan enjoys a pint in series opener Mission: Impossible. See britmovietours.com.
The first Dead Reckoning film also featured the Lake District, with Tom performing his own film stunt at Buttermere, parachuting into the lake after jumping from a train and speed-flying – similar to paragliding – from the top of High Crag.
STAY: The Bridge Hotel at Buttermere, Cockermouth, has rooms from £99 per night. See thebridgehotel.uk.
The Salt Path, South West Coast Path
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THE inspiring story of Raynor Winn’s journey along the South West Coast Path in The Salt Path, set for release in April, shines a spotlight on the coastlines of Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset.
Filmed on location in south-west England, Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs play the leads to tell the story of a couple who, after losing their home, and getting a diagnosis of a terminal illness, go on a year-long coastal trek along the 630-mile South West Coast Path.
It is based on Raynor’s book, which became a best-seller, spending 85 weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller chart.
STAY: Haven’s Rockley Park resort sits alongside the South Haven Point in Poole on the mouth of the Rock Lea River.
There are indoor and outdoor pools as well as entertainment.
Four nights’ in a bronze-status caravan is from £79 in total. See haven.com.
