Ashton locations star in new Netflix drama

New Netflix drama ‘Fool Me Once’ brought film crews to Ashton-under-Lyne with Ashton Old Baths and a beloved chippy receiving starring roles.

Filming at Ashton Old Baths began in spring 2023 and saw the building transformed into a police station. Centre manager Fiona Ogden described the experience as “very exciting”.

Due to it being built in 1870, she said that a priority throughout the filming process was that the building itself wasn’t permanently affected by any of the props.

Fiona highlighted how happy it had made her that the production staff "understood the sensitivity of the Grade II listed status".

She continued: “It was quite a long process between Netflix contacting us and their team coming down here to film. We’ve had a few other film crews here before – we’ve had ITN and a few smaller productions – so we understood that, although it’s great when you get that first email, they do have a lot to go through and assess.”

She said the plan had initially been to use some of the rooms inside the baths. However, on arrival, they felt the exterior was a perfect fit for what they were wanting. 

Staff members at Ashton Old Baths weren’t told which celebrities would be on site but were ‘over the moon’ to find themselves face-to-face with Michelle Keegan.

“She was lovely and was very interested in the history of the baths, so I took her round and gave her a historical tour which she really enjoyed.”

Filming took place across two dates and Fiona said she had been surprised at just how many people were a part of the production crew.

“They had to take over the whole car park, I’d say at a guess 20 to 30 [vans] parked there but then the opposite car park had yet another 20 to 30. There were so many of them, such a lot of staff.”

The Gold Medal Fish and Chip Shop was the second location featured in the Harlan Coben thriller.

The Gold Medal has been an Ashton institution since the 1970s, serving up golden portions of fish, chips, puddings, and sides for more than 50 years. And 50 years down the line, the shop still looks almost the same as it did when it first opened.  

This is perhaps why the shop is a prime location for film crews to film scenes in – the down to earth, wooden walled and plastic chaired styling gives off a perfect mood for a meeting scene between actors, echoing scenes seen in the greasy spoon cafes of London, of which many have retained a similar classical styling. 

The scene was therefore set for when Fool Me Once, the new Netflix series adapted from Harlen Coben's novel of the same name, started filming in and around Tameside. It was only the second episode before the location crew decided to film in the esteemed chip shop. 

Bernadette Sheehan, from the Gold Medal, talked to us about how this came to fruition, saying: “The crew came in wanting to take a few pictures at first and spoke to the owner, as they were thinking of filming here for a new series. We said yes as we had had filming done in here before, so we picked a date, and they were here for the whole day to film the one scene. We had closed up the shop all day and we were in the back of the shot, having to pretend we were busy. The guys that came down were just the ones in the scene, no Michelle Keegan unfortunately!” 

The scene that was filmed in the shop was a sit down between the detectives leading the investigation into a character's death. In the scene, Bernadette can be seen with her colleagues in the background pretending to work behind the counter. 

The chip shop is evidently in high demand for both the food and the ambiance it brings as well, and Bernadette told us more about why this is. 

“People come in here and as soon as they sit in these seats, they can remember everything. This place has been going since the '70s. There is a lady that comes in who used to work here and she says nothing has changed. People that used to come in here now bring their grandkids and so on. This place is unique really, there are not many places like this and that’s probably why film crews always ask us to film in here. In the past, we have had other shows and documentaries.” 

Gold Medal has been host to an array of TV shows and a documentary as well, even seeing the likes of Tyson Fury gracing the shop. 

Bernadette also praised Netflix, saying: “Netflix were very good when they came in, all the crew and the directors and such.”

Michelle Keegan with Fiona Ogden, Ashton Old Baths centre manager