Naman Shrestha
Adapted from the eponymous best-selling novel by Holly Jackson, Netflix’s ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ is a British teen whodunnit series created by Poppy Cogan. It acquaints us with a brilliant high school senior named Pip Fitz-Amobi, who notices that the gruesome murder of a popular and beautiful high school senior named Andie Bell haunts the town of Little Kilton even after five years. It is revealed that the murderer was none other than her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who took his own life after the crime.
Given so many webs in the complicated murder-suicide case, Pip believes that there is more to it than meets the eye. Since she believes Sal was innocent and the real killer walks among them, Pip begins to fear for her life. Thus, wanting to expose the truth, she takes matters into her own hands and investigates the case. Starring several talented young actors like Emma Myers, Zain Iqbal, and Asha Banks, the mystery drama show unfolds in the fictional town of Little Kilton, adding another layer of mystery when it comes to the actual shooting site of the series.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Filming Locations
Shooting for ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ takes place in different places across England, including Bristol, Somerset, and Gloucestershire. Commencing in June 2023, the principal photography of season 1 went on for more than a couple of months before getting wrapped up in September of the same year. From what we can tell, the cast and crew had a lot of fun during the production of the inaugural season of the show.
Somerset, England
Since the show’s primary setting — the town of Little Kilton — is fictional, the production team of ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ had to find a perfect place to stand in for that. After scouting for locations across England, the town of Axbridge in Somerset was considered ideal for doubling up for Little Kilton. Talking about it, Dolly Wells, the director and executive producer of the show, stated, “We were keen to shoot the show on location and to shoot it in the summer. We tried to find a version of Little Kilton which reflects the atmosphere in the book and the screenplay. What was important to us was a town that is not too small and not too big, the right size for the correct amount of suspects. We were also very keen to have a sense of the woods that surround the town, thematically that was really important.”
Emma Myers, who steps into the role of Pip Fitz-Amobi, also shed light on why they settled on choosing Axbridge as the shooting site. She said, “You want Little Kilton to seem perfect on the surface, like Twin Peaks in a way. We chose a town that when you come through the main high street, it twists and turns, and the houses are very bright colours, but it is surrounded by very woody hills. It feels very British but it has an edge.” Furthermore, Zain Igbal, who portrays Ravi, talked about how impressed he was with “the way they changed the town of Axbridge to become Little Kilton was incredible.” The crew members reportedly “changed all the shop signs, they put up the full mural (of Andie).”
Bristol, England
Besides Somerset, the filming unit of ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ also sets up camp in Bristol, a city and ceremonial county situated in South West England. For taping the school scenes, they utilize the campus of the Redmaids’ High School on Westbury Road in the suburb of Westbury-on-Trym. The neighborhood of Redland and the Redcliffe Caves on Phoenix Wharf in the Redcliffe area also serve as prominent filming sites for the suspenseful show.
However, reports suggest that The Bottle Yard Studios served as the home for the crew as all the production offices, costumes, props, and storage were based at the film studio. Situated on Whitchurch Lane, the production facility is home to 11 distinct sound stages of different sizes, 35,000 square feet of furnished production offices, a green screen space spanning 5,000 square feet and various other amenities necessary for the production of different kinds of projects.
Executive Producer for Moonage Pictures, Frith Tiplady, shared the benefits of taping a portion of the show at the complex. She stated, “From the undeniably talented local crews to the fantastic facilities available at The Bottle Yard, Bristol was the perfect home for A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. The Bottle Yard’s location meant we could easily access much-needed rural landscapes for our chocolate box village and brooding woodland, which is home to Pip, her friends, and the deceptively dark and twisted world of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Our crew was roughly 60 people with a 30-person cast, and filming lasted 12 weeks, all in the Bristol region.”
Gloucestershire, England
Additional portions for ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ are also taped in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, especially in South Gloucestershire. For instance, the cast and crew members were spotted taping a few pivotal sequences for season 1 in and around the Avon Valley Railway on Bath Road in Bitton, just outside Bristol.
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