The Stolen Girl: Filming locations as diverse as a posh Manchester school, 'beautiful' France, and UK prison you can visit
The gripping thriller finally lands on a free-to-air channel after previously airing on Disney+
The Stolen Girl made its mark when it first landed on Disney+ in 2025, and now the thriller – along with its stunning filming locations – is available to watch for free on ITV and ITVX.
The six-part series introduces yummy mummy Elisa Blix who, like every parent, tries to juggle her job and childcare without having a nervous breakdown. But when she makes the “seemingly ordinary” decision to let her nine-year-old daughter Lucia go on a playdate with her new best friend Josie, it turns out to be the biggest mistake of her life. Well, almost…
When she says goodbye to her daughter, she has no idea that she is about to be thrust into every parent’s worst nightmare. The next day, Elisa goes to pick up Lucia only to discover that the beautiful house was a holiday rental – and Lucia has disappeared along with Josie and her mum Rebecca. What started out as her daughter’s first sleepover has turned into an abduction.
Although the drama begins in the UK, an urgent manhunt unfolds across Europe. So what filming locations were used in the ITV thriller The Stolen Girl? Here’s everything you need to know…
Where is The Stolen Girl set?
The Disney+ thriller series The Stolen Girl, now available on ITV, is set in and around Manchester, as well as the fictional village of Eyton in Northern England. Manchester is where the Blix family live and work. Mostly anyway, Elisa Blix works as cabin crew and travels around the world.
A significant portion of the plot also takes place in Southern France. This is where the abductor hides out after stealing the schoolgirl Lucia.
It was adapted from the original novel Playdate by Alex Dahl, which was set in Scandinavia.
Where was The Stolen Girl actually filmed?
The Stolen Girl was primarily filmed in Greater Manchester, as well as Southern France. Lucia Blix’s school was filmed at Cheadle Hulme, while the Blix family home was filmed in Stockport.
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Cheadle Hulme can be found in the historic county of Cheshire. It’s two miles from Stockport and about eight miles from Manchester. To put it mildly, it’s posh. Cheadle Hulme is a wealthy, pretty, and desirable suburban area… There’s even a Waitrose! In fact, property experts have ranked it among the most desirable towns in the UK.
The school both Josie and Lucia attend in the thriller was filmed in Cheadle Hulme School. It’s an incredibly grand, private day school in Cheshire. Fees for the infant school alone cost £4,278, and rising for the junior school and sixth form.
Other major scenes were shot in and around Stockport, and Manchester city centre, including the suburb of Whalley Range. Additional filming locations in the UK included The Glass House in Fulwood Park, Liverpool, Blackpool Airport, Marsden in West Yorkshire, and the Port of Dover.
Key filming locations in The Stolen Girl:
- Selma’s flat was filmed in Whalley Range, Greater Manchester.
- The school was located in Cheshire’s Cheadle Hulme.
- The Blix family home was located in Fulwood Park, Liverpool (see more below).
- Manchester’s iconic Sunlight House doubles as the news agency where investigative reporter, Selma Desai, worked.
- A detached red brick property in Stockport served as Elisa’s house.
- The Glass House in Fulwood Park, Liverpool, featured as Rebecca’s home.
- Marsden in West Yorkshire was used for the fictional village of Eyton, where Elisa grew up in a commune.
- The Stolen Girl production visited Kent to film a car boarding a ferry at the Port of Dover ferry terminal.
- Shrewsbury Prison.
- Blackpool passenger airport, which is only used for commercial flights, was used for the UK and French airports.
- The Manchester Metroplitan Police Station was filmed at the Dalton Building on Manchester Metropolitan University’s All Saints Campus.
- In the second episode, Elisa stops on the road that separates the Lower and Upper Rivington Reservoirs in Lancashire.
- The pastry shop where Rebecca meets Delphine is Gâteaux & Chocolats on Rue Lamalgue in the South of France. A bar called Le Bidule, located across the street from the Church of Our Lady of Good Voyage in La Seyne-sur-Mer, near Toulon, as also used.
Where is Rebecca’s ‘stolen’ family house?
Talking about the house used as Rebecca’s home, Supervising Locations Manager Kevin Jackson explained: “We see Elisa drive up a driveway which opens up to this huge, beautiful house. That was the original thought. But we weren’t finding anything that gave us that feel.
“Then we visited The Glass House in Fulwood Park. It doesn’t have an impressive driveway but, when you open the door and go inside, it’s the most stunning house you’ve ever seen with floor to ceiling windows right around. The script called for a wow factor house.”
The Glass House in Fulwood Park is a modern pavilion-like house in a mature landscaped setting in Liverpool.
The Stolen Girl filming locations on ITV: Where did Elisa Blix live?
The Blix family house is a beautiful detached red brick property in Stockport. Producers were looking for a large family period home within easy reach of central Manchester, which they could hire as a filming location for two months. They found this “exquisitely decorated detached red brick house in Stockport”. It is owned by interior designer Kate Bowls, who had to move into alternative accommodation for the duration.
All manner of changes were made to the property for the series, not least the removal of the existing kitchen windows and doors. They replaced them with new ones, as well as taking down fences and painting the property’s large gates.
What prison was used in the show?
Australian actor Xavier Samuel stars as Marcus Turner in The Stolen Girl, and he spent nearly all of his filming experience on location in a prison! Although we won’t reveal any spoilers here, we can reveal that Marcus is linked to a dark secret in the Blix family’s past.
In reality, cast and crew filmed the scenes at Shrewsbury Prison, The Dana in Shropshire. It is a former Category B/C men’s prison (not high-risk enough for Category A but cannot be trusted in open conditions). It closed in 2013 and is now a tourist attraction offering guided tours, ghost hunts, and overnight experiences.
Built in 1877, it remains one of the largest and most complete surviving Victorian prisons in Britain. Despite closing in 2013, it’s been preserved at scale. It closed as part of a national restructuring to reduce the prison estate’s budget. The prison was known for being severely overcrowded – by 2008, it was holding 326 inmates in only 178 authorised places.
Nowadays, you can pay £15 to visit the prison. Prison Entry allows you to “move freely through the vast wings, stepping inside cells, walking the landings, and spending time in key spaces that shaped daily life behind bars”.
There’s also a Cell Escape Room, a Prison Escape, a Guided Tour, a Ghost Tour, and a Night Behind Bars. Rather you than us!
What key filming locations were used in France for The Stolen Girl?
Most of Holliday Grainger’s scenes were filmed in and around France. Specifically, in a stunning but remote house surrounded by leafy gardens. The scenes were filmed in a 17th-century manor in the south of France.
Domaine d’Orvès in La Valette-du-Var was used for these scenes. The Domaine d’Orvès is an arboretum, Provençal country house and a remarkable garden surrounding a 17th-century bastide (a planned, fortified town built in southwest France between the 13th and 14th centuries). It’s located in the commune of La Valette du Var on the outskirts of Toulon in the Var region. The French Ministry of Culture classify the location as one of the Remarkable Gardens of France.
Set in the heart of an eight-hectare estate, it is open to visitors wishing to explore the art and culture. There are also guided tours available. between April to September.
The beautiful green gardens were the key filming locations for some of the most emotional, and highly-charged scenes in The Stolen Girl’s finale.
‘This amazing beautiful Bastide that was so gorgeous’
Talking about The Stolen Girl filming locations in France, actress Holliday Grainger said: “I quite enjoyed learning French as I’ve never spoken French before so that was quite an interesting challenge!
“We were in France for five weeks. I think I only did three days in Manchester and the rest was in France, which was great. For most of the time we were at this amazing beautiful Bastide – this huge house that was so gorgeous and perfect for a bohemian family home. The idea of Nina and the life she was expecting made so much sense in the house with this beautiful artwork and the kids’ rooms with murals. Walking through the town to a French bakery for fresh bread and pastries for the kids. When you’re there, you kind of fall into that world.”
Meanwhile, Fred Blix actor Jim Sturgess – who didn’t get to film in France – described filming in Manchester. He said: “We were given this incredible house to film in, and the crew had done the most amazing job of creating Fred and Elisa’s life. There were so many photos on the wall of us, as well as kids’ drawings and paintings and mess. The minute we got into that space; the family relationship started to feel very real.
“It was also nice to go back to Manchester. I have a deep connection to the city because I grew up with all the music and culture and went to college there for that reason. Going back there in a professional capacity was a full circle moment for me.”
The Stolen Girl on ITV filming locations: ‘It’s set in two different countries’
Screenwriter and executive producer Catherine Moulton reveals she lived in Manchester for a long time because she went to university there, and loved “contrasting it with the gorgeousness of France”.
Executive producer John Woodward added: “One thing that is very specific that we really loved about it, is that it has very unusual locations – two very distinct places. One is ‘posh Cheshire,’ as I call it – quite a comfortable, middle-class world outside of Manchester where the family is. Then you’ve got this completely different world in the South of France. Both are unusual.”
Supervising Locations Manager Kevin Jackson explains the appeal of The Stolen Girl filming locations. He explained: “The fact it was set in two different countries made it feel different to other dramas. [It’s] really striking the difference between the two locations. There were some challenging locations too – the two main houses in the series are very specific and there are airport scenes.”
Describing his overall vision for the series, he continued: “We did a lot of walking around because a lot of it is set in Manchester City centre. It was great to get a feel for things. A great example is Selma’s flat. We always spoke about it being in the Northern Quarter because she’s a young, trendy professional and that’s where the young trendy professionals live, but we couldn’t find a flat. Based on what they were after, I said, we’ll find it in Whalley Range in a large house that’s been split into flats. Sure enough, we dropped 100 letters into properties there and the first house that came back to us, we ended up using.”
TV shows filmed in Shrewsbury Prison
The Apprentice series 17
Tasked with hosting immersive events at two of the top tourist attractions in the West Midlands, the apprentices took on the responsibility of selling tickets, booking events, and organising food and drink. Shrewsbury Prison was one of the two top tourist attractions.
Happy Valley season finale
Season 3 of the multi-BAFTA award-winning drama was filmed at the prison in March 2022. Taking place seven years after the events of the second series, lead role Sergeant Catherine Cawood was coming close to retirement – but her nemesis Tommy Lee Royce escaped prison and sought his revenge.
Without Sin
The ITV thriller Without Sin was another TV show filmed in Shrewsbury Prison. It starred Line of Duty actress Vicky McClure as Stella Tomlinson. Grieving mother Stella developed a relationship with the man she believed murdered her daughter.
Celebrity Hunted
In July 2022, helicopters were seen on the hunt over Shrewsbury for 10 celebrities as they made their escape from Shrewsbury Prison whilst being pursued by a team of elite hunters.
Susan Calman's Grand Day Out
Susan Calman and her camper van Helen hit the road to find themselves amongst the stunning Shropshire hills. During her time there, Susan tackled one of Shrewsbury Prison's escape rooms.
Man like Mobeen season 4
Mobeen found himself within the walls of Shrewsbury Prison for his TV show in 2023. He was on a mission to befriend a gentleman known as 'Memory Stick' and persuade him to hand over vital information...
Time
The excellent BBC One three-part drama series was also filmed at Shrewsbury Prison. The BBC took over the prison for a total of two months to film the Jimmy McGovern prison drama starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham.
