Please Don't Google That Postcode: 2026's Most Glorious Telly Location Fibs, Ranked

There are two types of telly viewer. The first watches a drama and thinks, “ooh, Brooklyn looks lovely.” The second squints at the screen and says, “hang on — that's the retail park behind the Toby Carvery.” We are firmly in camp two. And in 2026, the telly map is more creatively unhinged than ever.

This is the year of the geographical gaslight: shows that insist a rainy Welsh dock is New York, a Leeds cul-de-sac is sunny California, and a quarry outside Blaenau Ffestiniog is a hostile alien world. We're not angry. We're impressed. So, in the spirit of location bingo, here are 2026's most audacious dupes — roasted, ranked, and quietly adored.

The rules of the game (and why we're not really cross)

Let's be fair: telly has always told little white lies about where it is. Tax credits, permits, weather, the small matter of actually being able to park a crew of 60 — all of it pushes productions to double up. A street in Cardiff can be Brooklyn if the camera is pointed the right way. A National Trust staircase can be three stately homes before lunch.

But 2026 has taken the fib to a new level of cheek. These aren't subtle dupes. These are dupes with a cheeky wink and a “please don't Google the postcode”.

5. The Welsh quarry that is absolutely, definitely Mars

New sci-fi drama Red Horizon sold us a barren red planet, all dust, dread and dramatic silence. Lovely. Except the establishing shots are about as alien as a Sunday carvery. That's slate country, that is. The giveaway? A very terrestrial sheep grazing in the mid-ground of episode two, and a horizon that looks suspiciously like the A470.

We'll allow it. If aliens did land in north Wales, they'd probably be polite about it and ask where the nearest chip shop is. Five stars for ambition.

4. The Leeds cul-de-sac doing suburban America

The Lakeside Pact is set in a sun-drenched American cul-de-sac. It is, in reality, a new-build estate in Leeds. You can tell because: (a) it rains in every exterior scene, (b) the “mailboxes” are clearly decorative and non-functional, and (c) the houses are close enough that neighbours could pass a cup of sugar through the bathroom windows.

The show keeps insisting on “sidewalk” and “trash can”. We keep seeing wheelie bins, a To Let sign and a bloke in a dressing gown putting out the recycling. It's the most British California we've ever seen, and we'd watch a whole spin-off about that cul-de-sac's WhatsApp group.

3. Cardiff docks as Brooklyn

Pier Nine wants to be a gritty Brooklyn wharf drama. It is Cardiff. The rain is the first clue. The second is a seagull that sounds like it's asking for a cwtch. The third is a corner shop with a neon “OPEN” sign that is very clearly a Londis.

To be fair, the skyline at dusk almost works — until a character says “New York” and a passer-by in the background says “alright, butt?” The geography is a mess. The vibes are immaculate. We're choosing to believe Brooklyn is just Cardiff with better PR.

2. The Peak District as the Scottish Highlands

Glenmore is a moody Highland inheritance drama: mist, heather, brooding lairds. Except those hills are too round, that heather is suspiciously purple in a way that says “managed verge”, and there isn't a single midge. Not one. In Scotland? In August? Pull the other one.

The giveaway is the pub: flat roof, carvery, and a sign advertising “2 meals for £12”. The Highlands don't have that. The Peak District absolutely does. We still got emotional when the will was read out, so the dupe worked.

1. The Greater Manchester back alley doing 1920s New York

And the winner — the most shameless, the most audacious, the most “how dare you” — is The Gilded Lane, a period drama about jazz-age Manhattan that appears to have been shot almost entirely in a back alley off Oxford Road. The cobbles are real. The red brick is real. The wheelie bin reflected in the window is very real.

They've slapped some CGI skyscrapers on the horizon and hoped we wouldn't notice. We noticed. We also noticed the “Beware of the Trains” sign, the chippy in the background, and a pigeon with an attitude problem. It's the telly equivalent of wearing a baseball cap and pretending to be American. Glorious.

Honourable mentions: the landmarks that keep moonlighting

• Glasgow's Squinty Bridge has now appeared in shows set in London, Boston and a completely invented fantasy kingdom. It's a versatile little icon.
• The Liver Building does an awful lot of courthouse work for a building that is not a courthouse.
• One Premier Inn has been a boutique hotel in Provence, a Berlin apartment block and, somehow, a spaceship.
• The same National Trust staircase turns up in three different stately homes. The family portraits must be on wheels.

Why the dupe is part of the charm

Here's the thing: we don't actually want perfect. Telly is a bluff, and being in on the bluff is half the fun. Spotting the local landmark is the same joy as catching a boom mic or a coffee cup in a medieval scene. It's a wink from the production team: we know, you know, isn't this silly?

And in 2026, with so many shows fighting for attention, a gloriously blatant location dupe is its own little calling card. It gives us something to talk about at work that isn't the weather. It turns a Tuesday night drama into a group-chat game of “that's not Manchester”.

Your turn: the GloryTV location bingo

So we're building the GloryTV Location Bingo map — a completely unscientific, deeply affectionate atlas of the UK's most overworked locations. We want your sightings. The car park that played a Berlin airport. The retail park that was definitely a dystopian wasteland. The village hall that has hosted more weddings than Las Vegas.

Send us your best spots and the shows that fibbed about them. We'll be back with the follow-up, and we promise to credit the sharp-eyed genius who spotted the Toby Carvery in a sci-fi epic.

Until then: keep squinting, keep pointing, and never trust a skyline.