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LESLEY SHARP is back as Hannah Laing in the second season of Before We Die.

The actress played a detective searching for her missing lover in the first season of the Channel 4 thriller, based on a Swedish show of the same name, with season two set to explore much more drama.

Before We Die filming locations

The original Before We Die was set in Sweden but the Channel 4 version was mostly shot in the UK, with some scenes from season one also being shot in Belgium.

For season two the show will, again, mainly take place in Bristol, with additional scenes being filmed in Belgium and Spain.

Bristol

Eagle Eye Drama, the creative group behind Before We Die, shot the majority of the show in Bristol.

The first season of the show was filmed in September 2020 at locations including Stokes Croft, Clifton, Brandon Hill Park, York Road, Clarence Road and The Horsefair.

Executive Producer Jo McGrath said: "We wanted to set it in a port city, as that is important to the drug trafficking storyline."

"We were looking for something a little less familiar and Bristol is one of those cities that actually has been used as a backdrop for filming a lot, but you wouldn’t know it because a lot of series are filmed there but not set there."

She added: "Bristol is such a visually interesting city and editorially it fitted with our storyline."

Executive producer Walter Iuzzolino also spoke to Radio Times about filming in Bristol, and said: "We just thought it was such an interesting, quasi-European with all this renaissance grandeur and the sea and the lovely posh Notting Hill-ish type village of Clifton.

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"For us, it was a very interesting stage to set a drama like that so it was an exciting thing for us to be honest."

With Hannah and her colleagues returning to action for Before We Die series two, many of the filming locations from the first six episodes will also serve as the backdrop for the new episodes.

Season two of Before We Die begins on Channel 4 on Sunday, June 25 at 9pm, with episodes continuing nightly at the same time.

Spain

At the end of season one Christian, Hannah's son, and his girlfriend Bianca, who also happens to be in the Mimica family, fled to Costa Rica.

The scenes set in Costa Rica were actually filmed in Almeria, a town in southern Spain.

Issy Knopfler, who plays Bianca Mimica, revealed how her and Patrick Gibson, who plays Christian, had to look the part of runaways who had been in the sun for the while.

She told Channel 4: "We landed in the middle of the night and Paddy and I turned up pale, despite having supposedly lived in Costa Rica for three months.

"I remember standing in a swimming costume in southern Spain at half past midnight, getting spray tanned by people I'd only just met, knowing that Paddy was in the next room having the same experience.

"Pretty glamorous!"

Belgium

Additional shooting for season one of Before We Die took place in Belgium, and it's thought the makers of the show have done the same for the new episodes.

The scenes, which were mainly for the drug trafficking storyline in the first instalment, were shot in Brussels.

Director Jan Matthys said: "For me, part of the challenge was making Belgium match with the other scenes in Bristol - which was interesting.

"We became specialists in 'Anglifying' Belgium.

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"It was simple things such as putting double yellow lines on the streets which made it instantly Bristol.

"I love the magic of my craft and this was a good way to bring the series to life."

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