7 famous TV series filmed in Yorkshire

Sarah Wainwright’s trilogy is set in Yorkshire – and the BBC, which makes the programme, is not the only company to find our county attractive as a setting.

Here are some hit series set right here.

Happy Valley

TV series of the moment, Happy Valley is set in the Calder Valley of West Yorkshire and was filmed in many of the towns around the area. Hebden Bridge, Bradford, Todmorden, Sowerby Bridge, Leeds, Heptonstall and Keighley among many other places can be spotted throughout the series.

It stars Sarah Lancashire as Catherine Cawood – a police sergeant in the West Yorkshire community of Calder Valley, also known as Happy Valley for its high incidence of drug-related problems.

Gentleman Jack

Another Sally Wainwright series and again set in her beloved Yorkshire. Gentleman Jack tells the story of Anne Lister, a landowner in 1830s Yorkshire and is based on excerpts from her diary.

Shibden Hall in West Yorkshire was Anne Lister’s house and you can visit it today. You can also visit other locations featured in the series including Grays Court in York, Temple Newsham in Leeds, Bramham Park, Harewood House, Wentworth Woodhouse, the National Railway Museum in York and Rievaulx Abbey.

The series starred Suranne Jones as Gentleman Jack and Sophie Rundle as Anne.

Victoria

Much of the series was filmed in Yorkshire the county’s stately homes playing roles as England’s regal residencies. Harewood House is a substitute for Buckingham Palace and Castle Howard as Kensington Palace. You can also see Wentworth Woodhouse, Bramham Park and Brodsworth Hall featured.

Castle Howard was also used in Bridgerton.

West Pier in Whitby was a film location as was Flamborough Head standing in for the Isle of Wight. The Merchant Adventurers Hall, Fairfax House and York Crown Court also featured.

Jenna Coleman played Victoria and Tom Hughes was Prince Albert.

Scarborough

Scarborough was a British television sitcom set in the seaside town. The series was aired on BBC One and revolved around the lives of a group of friends. Scenes were filmed in the town and locations including Luna Park, Peasholm Park and the Newcastle Packet Inn, called The Good Ship in the series where the characters met.

The series was written and directed by Derren Litten, who wrote the award-winning ITV series Benidorm, and starred Catherine Tyldesley and Jason Manford.

All Creatures Great and Small

The series follows the life of vet James Herriot as he practices around Yorkshire. It was based on the books of the same name written by real-life vet James Alfred Wright which told tales of his work around the county.

Both the original TV series and the more recent TV series feature scenes from around Yorkshire. While the original series sees Askrigg in Wensleydale step in for the fictional village of Darrowby, the more recent adaptation uses Grassington.

Emmerdale

The TV soap is set in the fictional village of Emmerdale in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. A number of different places have doubled as Emmerdale beginning with the Dales village or Arncliffe from 1972 to 1976.

From 1976 until 1997, the soap was filmed in Esholt but when the number of episodes a week increased and production began to take up more time in the village, filming moved again.

A purpose built set was built on the grounds of Harewood House.

Gallows Pole

The series tells the fictionalised story of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners at the onset of the industrial revolution in 18th-century Yorkshire. Hartley assembles a gang of weavers and land-workers to embark upon a revolutionary criminal enterprise.

Filming locations included the village of Heptonstall, near Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.

A Touch of Frost

The detective drama starring David Jason is set in the fictional town of Denton and is entirely filmed in Yorkshire. A lot of filming was done around Wakefield, Pontefract and Castleford with many outdoor scenes filmed on the coast in Scarborough.