The Irish director of the hit Netflix series Stay Close described filming on location in Blackpool during Covid lockdown as “eerie”.
Dubliner Daniel O’Hara said it was strange shooting the series, based on the Harlan Coben novel of the same name, with no buzz about the seaside resort.
He revealed: “I live in Scotland and I remember the first day we went there my phone pinged advising people from Scotland not to go to Blackpool.
“Blackpool itself, which is normally so lively, was completely dead and deserted and locked down, that was a bit eerie.
“Then we managed to get 80 extras for the carnival night scene in Vipers (nightclub) and every single extra had to be tested.
“It was kind of weird, nobody had been in a group that big for over a year, it was kind of surreal.”
Daniel teamed up with his old college pal Dave Moore for the musical theatre version of Radiohead’s Creep for the third episode of the series.
He told Dublin Live: “Before he was on radio he was working as a music producer and composer. We had this idea to do the song which was kind of bonkers.
“I rang Dave on a Friday night and asked if he could pull it off; we were rehearsing it the next day and within a week it was ready.”
Daniel revealed he has optional rights to a graphic novel which he’d love to make into a feature film, but for now he’s basking in the success of Stay Close.
He said: “What’s been brilliant about Netflix is the reach, it’s just boom, you hit a button and it’s going out in 200 countries and there’s millions watching it.
“I know one or two people who said sod it I’m going to stay up all night and just watch it all in one go
“Whatever is next will hopefully have the same scale reaching an audience this big.”
