It’s the new must-watch thriller from Netflix, and Missing You goes live from January 1. The new drama, with an all-star cast, was filmed on location across Manchester and the north west last year.
It reunites the same creative team behind last year’s huge Netflix hit, Fool Me Once, and is set to have viewers just as hooked.
The five-part-drama follows the character of Kat Donovan (Rosalind Eleazar), a police detective, who is searching for answers after the murder of her police chief dad (Sir Lenny Henry) 11 years before.
Like other recent adaptations of hit Harlan Coben novels, the action is transported from the US to the UK for the drama. The novel is set in New York city, but for the Netflix series Manchester provides the setting for a fictional metropolis in the action.
From the opening moments, viewers will be able to spot familiar locations across the city centre, as well as in other Greater Manchester towns and across the north west.
Here we take a look at some of the key locations to look out for in the drama, which is available to stream on Netflix from 8am on January 1.
Manchester city centre
Deansgate Locks and Castlefield streets feature in Missing You
(Image: Joel Goodman)
Manchester city centre looms large in the drama, with sweeping scenes of the city skyline seen throughout the show from the opening moments. As a city dweller, Kat is regularly seen out and about on the Metrolink trams through the city too.
She lives in a loft in Castlefield (more on that below), and there are plenty of dramatic chase scenes around the streets of her apartment, including on Hewitt Street, Bugle Street and Little Peter Street.
The action opens with revellers enjoying the outdoor bars along Edge Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, as Kat heads to enjoy a first date with Darryl (played by Busted star Matt Willis).
Dramatic scenes were also filmed on Hardman Street and around Spinningfields, while viewers will spot chase scenes down back alleys around Deansgate Locks and the Northern Quarter, while trendy city centre bars and clubs featured include MNKY HSE on Lloyd Street.
The detectives also have great taste in cafes – for a key scene is played out at the award-winning Pollen Bakery at New Islington, which also features in the drama.
Iconic loft apartment
Kat’s loft apartment is an iconic Manc spot
(Image: Netflix)
The character of Kat is seen in her oh-so-cool city centre loft apartment in the drama, which is on a street next to Deansgate Locks. But this is not just any loft.
For Mancunians will spot straight away that this is inside the historic Knott Mill, and was famously home to the late, great “Mr Manchester” Tony Wilson.
Factory Records boss Tony commissioned designer Ben Kelly, the man who also designed the Hacienda superclub across the road, to create the interiors of the loft apartment back in 1997.
It became such an iconic design that it will always be known as Tony’s loft, and has been described as “the original residential loft” of Manchester.
Manchester Art Gallery
James Nesbitt, as Calligan, sits in Manchester Art Gallery in Missing You
(Image: Thomas Wood/Netflix)
A key scene will see Kat meeting up with the dark and mysterious Calligan, played by Cold Feet star James Nesbitt, in her search for answers over her father’s murder. He asks her to meet him inside a spectacular art gallery.
The setting for this was Manchester Art Gallery on Mosley Street in the city centre. Kat is seen walking through the gallery to find Calligan sitting in front of one of the gallery’s most famous paintings – The Chariot Race by Alexander von Wagner.
As Calligan himself tells Kat in the drama, the huge, epic picture was painted in 1898 and portrays all the drama of a Roman stadium. Calligan says in the thriller he owns the painting and has loaned it to the museum.
Bolton
Film crews headed to Bolton’s historic town centre to shoot more of the crucial scenes as Kat hunts down answers in the drama.
Locations used for scenes included around Victoria Square and Le Mans Crescent.
Stockport
Rosalind Eleazar as Kat Donovan, Richard Armitage as Stagger in Missing You
(Image: Vishal Sharma/Netflix)
The interior of the police station where the police officers all work was shot in Stockport. And Richard Armitage, who plays DCI Ellis Stagger, said it was his favourite location on the series.
He said: “Often, they are just mundane sets of banks of computers, strip lighting and low ceilings. Our production designer, Vanessa Hawkins, used this old Victorian building, which I think was once an orphanage in Stockport. It has a balustrade balcony and real height so we have crane shots. You can see the whole of the police station from above and the layering of design within the room.”
He adds: “It’s brilliant. I absolutely love Stagger’s office. It reminded me of a scene from Columbo. It’s all dark wood and moody mid-century furniture. It’s so interesting because I think the building was derelict. They did an incredible renovation on it. “
Other North West filming locations
Great Budworth
Missing You filmed scenes in Great Budworth when Kat is on the hunt for a missing man
(Image: MEN)
Known as “Cheshire’s most beautiful village”, the action in the drama heads to Great Budworth in episode one as detective Kat attempts to track down missing man Rishi after tech experts discover he attempted to book a holiday cottage there.
Kat and her police colleagues search one of the pretty black and white cottages in the village in their quest for answers. The village has been used in a number of films and TV shows over the years thanks to its chocolate box charms.
Sefton Park
The bandstand in Sefton Park features
(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Residents of Liverpool will immediately spot that the distinctive bandstand used for a yoga scene in the opening episode is the one found in the historic Sefton Park. Although they may be a little surprised to see the view that the characters in the drama get to enjoy from it.
In the scenes, Kat and her friends Stacey and Aqua are seen doing outdoor yoga with a wide landscape shot showing skyscrapers in the distance, giving a Central Park vibe.
But it appears this was created as a result of CGI – as you can’t even see Liverpool city centre from Sefton Park, let alone Manchester’s skyscrapers.
Titus’ Farm – Glossop
The remote farm was found in Glossop
(Image: Netflix)
One of the show’s darkest characters, Titus Monroe, is played by Steve Pemberton, who we see on his dog-breeding farm in remote countryside. And it meant a return to Glossop for The League of Gentleman star for filming the Netflix drama, which brought memories flooding back.
Steve said: “Glossop is where I spent a lot of time in The League of Gentlemen. We worked in and around Glossop all those years ago, so as soon as we were driving into that location – the buildings, the architecture, the landscape – it all came flooding back to me.
“Obviously, Titus needs to be doing his shenanigans in a very remote place. We used two farms, one for the interiors and one for the exteriors. Farms can be quite scary places.”
He adds: “The machinery that they have on farms is so sinister. Machines with metal teeth and contraptions used for insemination. Everywhere you looked on this it looked like a torture chamber anyway.
“It had a great atmosphere, especially when we shot there at night. We have a climactic scene where there is all kinds of action and fire and weapons. It’s a great choice of location.”
Parkgate
The Missing You film crew pictured in Parkgate in the summer
(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Also look out for Cheshire’s quirky coastal village Parkgate in the series. Film crews headed to film at the retro seaside town (that no longer has the sea) in the summer.
One of Parkgate’s most iconic businesses, the Nicholls Famous Ice Cream shop, has a key role to play in the drama too. We see Detective Kat heading in to try and solve part of the puzzle surrounding her dad’s death.
Pictures captured behind the scenes also showed that cast and crew on the drama got to enjoy some of the famous ice cream in between takes.
The Lake District
Derwentwater features in scenes on Missing You
(Image: Thomas Wood/Netflix)
As the drama reaches its conclusion, Kat is seeen heading to the Lake District as she continues her quest for answers.
Epic scenes were filmed on the shores of Derwentwater at Keswick. Although eagle-eyed viewers will spot the rather fast time sequencing which means one minute Kat is in Parkgate in Cheshire, and minutes later she has made it all the way up to the Lake District.
Missing You will be available to watch from 8am on January 1, 2025 exclusively on Netflix.com