ITV Playing Nice filming locations as Happy Valley star praises 'very beautiful' setting

The beach at Mawgan Porth, Cornwall. (Image: Moment RF/Getty Images)

The new psychological thriller, Playing Nice, is set to hit ITV screens, but where was the gripping drama filmed?

The show's storyline delves into the lives of two couples - Pete (James Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar), and Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay) - who discover their toddlers Theo and David were switched at birth.

James' character, Pete, a former journalist turned full-time dad, finds his world shattered by this revelation.

This four-part series, adapted from the best-selling novel by JP Delaney, examines themes of parenthood, class, masculinity, and the nature vs nurture debate. The first episode airs at 9pm on Sunday (January 5) on ITV 1, with the entire series available on ITVX.

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James Norton, who also served as an executive producer, says Cornwall is "very much intrinsic to the series" and praised the county as "very beautiful". 

Where was Playing Nice filmed?

New ITV drama Playing Nice is an adaptation penned by Grace Ofori-Attah (Image: ITV)

Despite the book being set in London, the series was primarily filmed in Cornwall. Cornwall Live reports the production team chose Cornwall for its unique setting for the four-part drama.

Locations manager Poppy Gordon-Clark, a native of Cornwall, had a keen sense of which cliffs, beaches and sites would be ideal for filming.

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James Norton as Pete with Theo in Playing Nice (Image: ITV)

Filming across Cornwall took place in late 2023 and early 2024, with production crews working outside of tourist season to avoid the influx of holidaymakers.

The cast and crew of the latest hit series have been spotted across Cornwall, with St Ives and Padstow serving as backdrops, while Mawgan Porth Beach provided the perfect waves for surfing sequences. Park Head in North Cornwall set the scene for a pivotal moment in the drama.

James Norton, who not only stars but also serves as an executive producer, took to the waves with guidance from Pete at King Surf during his time at Mawgan Porth. Off-screen, he shared that he, along with co-stars Niamh, James McArdle, and Jessica, relished their moments together, often hitting the surf over the weekends.

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Reflecting on the experience, James Norton said: "I love filming in Cornwall! It's been an amazing experience.

"Miles and Lucy's home is located on the top of a hill overlooking a beautiful beach and on the second day of filming James McArdle [plays Miles] and I had to surf for a scene which was really fun.

"We had the dramatic Cornish landscape to work with and we filmed on some of the most beautiful cliffs and coastline in the country."

Playing Nice was filmed in St Ives (Image: (Image: Getty))

"St Ives is very beautiful and we went pottering around the town during lunch breaks. It's a really special thing to entrench ourselves in the community".

Co-star James McArdle shared his own take: "It's been amazing! The actual filming has just been a real inconvenience to my Cornwall adventure haha!

"We all learnt to surf and it's been incredible. We had a local surfing teacher who adopted us and every day I looked forward to being able to getting back into the sea."