Distant Shores with Peter Davidson

 by Martin Belam, 5 January 2005

If you were going to take out an advert on the strip at the footer of The Guardian's front page to advertise your new 9pm drama...

ITV advert for Peter Davi(d)son's new drama Distant Shores

...you'd probably want to spell your leading actor's name right, wouldn't you?

69 Comments

distant shores-where is it filmed please?

It is filmed in Craster, Northumberland

I live there! and was involved in it as an extra

http://www.crasteronline.co.uk

parts of distant shores are also filmed on Lindisfarne, or Holy Island as it is also known, of the northumberland coast near berwick and seahouses

What is the character "Duncan" 's real name?

'Duncan's' real name is Tristan Gemmill. For more info on him go to http://uk.imdb.com

It also used the village shop in Embleton.
Lovely shots of Craster and of Dunstanburgh Castle, the finest ruin in the country! Although I now live in the south of England, I belong to the north and try to get there atl least once a year.I have known it a long time as I am now in my eighties and have visited it all my life

Is Distant Shores an on-going series or will wednesday's episode be the last?

some guests of ours were staying with us when it was being filmed last year - we took them to Craster, just a nice run out from where we are and they were over the moon to actually get a glimpse of Peter Davison by the harbour. I think more films should be located in Northumberland, it is a stunning area, both inland and coastal, with such a rich heritage.

CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT MUSIC WAS USED IN THE LAST EPISODE INCIDENTAL & ALL OTHER ONES...............

what is the theme tune for distant shores?
and who is the singer.

Took me back to childhood holidays at Berwick visiting Lindisfarne and Dunstanburgh Castle.
Very enjoyable. More please.

duncan is fitttt!

Watched all 6 episodes of Distant Shores and really enjoyed all of them. Cast was excellent, storyline excellent, scenery excellent.
Not sure if a second series is possible with the unexpected death of Duncan, do hope so but he will be a major loss to the programme.

Loved the programme. Looking forward to the next series.

Please can anyone tell me who the music from the last episode was by? And where can you get it?!

What exactly happened to Duncan in the last episode. I know the boat was leaking but its a bit fuzzy as to how he met his end???? There was no body found so maybe he'll make a return next series... here's hoping !!

We have been visiting Craster for many years now and walking to the Castle. The visit is not complete if we cannot get any kippers. However, we can buy Craster kippers at Waitrose, here in Cheltenham.
I really enjoyed the series, and I hope that there will be a sequel.

If it was all filmed at Craster and around there, why does the ferry to the mainland bear the name of MV Raasay, operated by CalMac, the ferry service for the Hebrides and west coast of Scotland ? Were the ferry scenes filmed near Oban ? Or did the programme makers hire the boat for it to come all around Scotland to the N.E. of England ? Anwers please .........!!

On of the songs played was You Raise Me Up -sung by Irish singer Brian Kennedy.Hes one of Irelands best kept secrets.Buy some of his music you wont be disappointed and visit his web site-its about time he was more well known.

Who played lisa

The IMDB might help with some of these questions...

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0416363/

Lisa was played by Samantha Bond - http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0094039/

I loved this programme and all of the music was beautiful, does anyone know if there's going to be a soundtrack done or what any of the songs were?

unfortunately could not see last episode. Anyone tell me what happened.

Lovely Series,lovely scenery,lovely music,lovely storyline,lovely cast especially the lovely Peter Davison. Lets hope they decide to make a second Series.

Distant Shores ARE going to be making a second series, the people have already been down to Craster to have a look at how it has changed since the last time they filmed.

I think Duncan will come back in the second series, as it is vague to wethere or not he has really died, althought in a past episode duncan told harvey that the ghosts go to that special island in the sea - and when hes out on the boat he sees the island.

It is clever how they filmed it, when peter jumped off the boat - that was in scotland, but wen he swam back, that was in boulmer, northumberland.

clever

Also, some good behind the scenes pictures on craster online;

http://www.crasteronline.co.uk/news/distantshores.htm

In reference to R Cumming:

This section of the film was actually filmed in Scotland, and I think that was an error of the program. There were several errors in the program that only people who know the area well would have spotted, for example, you cannot see the harbour directly from the jolly fisherman - althought peter davison waved to a woman who was in the harbour in episode 4.

The boat scenes were all done in scotland, but the "hildasay ferry port" was filmed in boloumer and they were cleverly edited together to make it look like the same place

please could you tell me the song title of the music that was played at franks funeral in the last episode, thanks much'ly rita

What a superb series. I'm a typical grumpy old man who found himself laughing and thoroughly enjoying this programme. I even looked foreward to episodes and arranged my timetable around a TV programme on Wednesday evenings - something I've never done before.

More please ITV.

The ferry was the Skye to Raasay ferry, and as stated alsewhere, most of the sea shots seemed to be Skye/Scottish. As someone who has family near Craster and also in Skye I think I missed most of the plot identifying where the scenes were shot.

Catch up on the repeats not doubt!

Incidentally, I thought I saw Dunstan Square in the last episode.

What a great series, fantastic scenery. I'm sure I missed a lot of the storyline trying to figure out the location.
Has possibly changed my plans for sailing to the Med this year!
Regarding the music was it Russell Watson 'Raise me up' or was it indeed Brian Kennedy?
So sorry they killed Duncan off, or did they ? the plot thickens

Thanks

Please could you supply the name and titles of the 2 songs used in the last eposide on Wednesday 9th Feb
Thanks
Tina

Nah Dunstan Square wasnt used in the filming of Distant Shores.

Some film facts:

The inside of the Jolly Fisherman was actually a set built in Lindisfarne Gym, Alnwick as the owners of the pub wouldnt allow the crew to film as they wanted to close it for 2 weeks in the middle of May. The ITV crew liked the layout of the pub so much, they actually stook to it when building the replica in Alnwick.

The surgery was also filmed in Alnwick, the Shore house scenes were filmed in Howick, along with the dance on the beach scene. Dunstanburgh castle was used a lot for the hildasay fete, and a lot of filming was done on Holy Island for the beach/island shots.

Fishing boat scenes were filmed off the coast of craster, along with the main harbour scenes / outside of the village scenes.

The village shop was actually the inside of embelton shop, althought they had used a residents house and put a shop front on - so it looked as if there was a shop in Craster Harbour.

A lot of filming, as stated before, was filmed in Skye and Oman in Scotland, and most of the first episode in London, obviously.

The Cast was:
Bill Shore - Peter Davison
Lisa Shore - Samantha Bond
Kate Shore - Claudia Renton
Harvey Shore - Matthew Thomas-Davies
Duncan - Tristan Gemmill
Laney - Emma Fildes
Ben - Justin McDonald

If you need to know anything else about locations ect, feel free to email me. Im not too good with the music used, so I cant help there.

I have many behind the scenes pictures and footage, a lot of it on www.crasteronline.co.uk/news/distantshores.htm

It was definately Brian Kennedy along with Secret Garden-Its by far the best version of that song thats around

Wow what a refreshing change, wonderfuly written,
I'm so going to miss this series, any more in the pipeline?. Well done ITV, we loved it!

What a brilliant series,and such a good story line,just when i think everything on the tv is rubbish,and then distant shores comes along!to prove me wrong!

Distant Shores has been the best "feel good" drama for years. I dearly hope there will be a new series complete with Duncan (as my wife thinks he's a bit of alright). Please, please persuade the cast to do another series as it's the highlight of our week!!

Makes me want to make that final effort to throw caution to the wind and go and live right there! And the music .... wonderful. Has anyone found the soundtrack ?

The song at the funeral service was "You Raise me up" by Secret Garden featuring Brian Kennedy and Tacey Campbell-Nation. This is available as a single or on a CD by Secret Garden which has some lovely tunes on it. I purchased both at HMV.

I also recognised Crastor harbour as my mother and I visited there some years ago while visiting Almouth. It's a lovely part of the north-east and the people are very friendly.

I too want to know what happened in the last episode - as I missed it and others inbetween - is there going to be another series - please?!*
can I access the replies to other peoples questions?

I think the track people are looking for is at Amazon:

You Raise Me Up - Secret Garden with Brian Kennedy and Tracey Campbell-Nation


"can I access the replies to other peoples questions?"

Denise, everything is just published here in the open - if a question hasn't been answered it is because nobody has posted an answer

I know this forum is about Distant Shores but for thoes of you who are interested in Brian Kennedys music, he can be seen on Songs of Praise today singing You Raise Me Up.He often sings it unaccompanied at his concerts and it always goes down well.

We have watched with great enjoyment every programme and cant wait to see more. please bring on another set of programmes. we visited our daughter and son in law, stationed with the RAF on Unst. We fell in love with the Shetlands, cant wait for another trip from our end of the Country(Cornwall)

I really enjoyed watching Distant Shores and I hope they have another series. I thought it was reall interesting. At first I thought it was a bit like Doc Martin but it's not. The last episode made me cry when Duncan died. I felt sorry for Lisa because she hadn't known him long and she had fallin in love with each other. Duncan was the only goog lucking one on the island and who am I going to look at know.

WOW!!!! what a great series and the gorgeous hunk Duncan was wonderfull. I enjoyed evert minutes of every episode. please please let there be more to come

I got You Raise Me Up from Brian Kennedy's "On Song" album, and Carrickfergus is on his "Live in Belfast album" too. His DVD of the live show is fantastic.

i have loved this series, and have since discovered Brian Kennedy who sang 'You Raise Me Up'. my mum said she saw him on Songs of Praise singing this. I have just found his album 'On Song' at HMV, which features that great track. i hear he has a new album out soon, read that on www.briankennedy.co.uk

hope they shoot another series soon!

Brian Kennedy is due to tour the UK -keep a watch on his web site as dates are to be announced soon.
Hes a great live performer and his concerts are always well worth making the effort for.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed Distant Shores. It was a refreshing change to the usual rubbish that is on T.V. nowadays. The cast and script were excellent. The scenery was beautiful. Wednesday nights won't be the same now the series has ended.
Well done to everyone involved in making Distant Shores. We look forward to series 2.

What can i say it was my friends TV debut he played Ben. It was a really good show i enjoyed wtaching and seeing my friend on telly.

I missed the last episode after avidly watching every single other episode, is there going to be a repeat on any of the other ITV channels or can someone tell me what happened

Loved this series.

Please please do another series.
Thank you so much to Peter Davidson and all the cast.
Well done.

Can any one tell me what happend at the very end of the last episode, I was up to the part when Bill was on the ferry and his wife found his doctors bag in the old car he had used while on the island, then the tape ran out.

Saw location filming one summer evening at Seaton Sluice sand dunes. Was this "Disrtant Shores" 'cos ther's a dune shortage near craster. Lovely to see Northumberland on telly. Great show!

Will Distant Shores be released on dvd? I could certainly watch it over again. Well done to all the cast and crew.

Can anyone tell me the instruments used in the traditional folk music on the series? Sounds like a similar range of instruments used in the Wicker Man.
I really enjoyed the series, especially the Wicker Man pastiche episode.

my brother played Harvey Shore he really enjoyed filming it and it was a great experiance for him. the cast and crew were fantastic and i would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who made my brother feel so at home. also you did a fantastic job

Forget Duncan, give me the gorgeous Peter Davidson anytime!.What a wonderful series, well written and something for everyone, I hope there is going to be a sequel!

There were two songs in the series by 'Mike Scott' of 'The Waterboys'. The one in the last episode is called 'Open' and was close to the end of the episode but not the final song. This was my favourite song of the whole series.

The other one is called 'What do you want me to do ?'. Can't remember which episode it was in but it was played when Bill and Lisa were sat in the car watching the Shooting Stars'
'Open' is on Mike Scotts's 2nd solo album called 'Still Burning' and 'What do you want me to do' is on his 1st solo album called 'Bring 'em all in'.

One of the best series on telly ever !!!

Matthew Thomas Davies, who played Harvey, gave a real gem of a performance. He always had the right expressions and helped turn a potentially ordinary drama into a classic. I hope we see more of him on our screens in the future.

Hi guys, im really glad you all liked Distant Shores so much, I will pass this web address onto Peter and the gang. We hope to come back and film in Northumberland again, i loved working on the sets and the people were great.

xx

Claudia, thanks for dropping by the site and leaving a comment.

I never saw the programme myself, but seeing the volume of comments it has excited here I guess I missed out on something really good.

Did anyone else die in the accident that killed Duncan? If not how come they all escaped?

I played Harvey Shore and I really enjoyed filming it I would like to thank all the cast and crew and I am glad so many people enjoyed watching it.

It started off as Bill shore and that other guy on the boat, they were the ones who were going to die until Duncan and Ben went out in the lifeboat and found them. Ben took Bill and that other guy away on the lifeboat, leaving Duncan to bring the fishing boat back home. What Duncan didnt realise was that the fishing boat had broken down, and that the rough weather would kill him. I still dont belive he is dead, so watch out in series two for his return

Does anyone have the final episode on video as the SKY+ was faulty that week and didnt record. My wife would be very grateful and it would improve my life, if you know what I mean. Cheers.

Really enyjoyed the series, but like some others on the web site the tape ran out just at the end. Please can anyone tell me what happened???? Last saw him (Peter Davidson) on ferry to go back to London with the rest on the harbour. Then annoyingly the video oplus hadn't workwed properly so it was cut off. Please can anyone tell me how it ended?

The episode where Duncan dies just aired here in Australia, we're so far behind it's not funny.
What was the song that Duncan sang over the radio as he was about to die?
Also was there ever a soundtrack to the series?

Thanks

Hi
Loved the first series and unexpectadly saw the first 3 episodes of seies 2 but had to record the next 3 episodes. Sadly my recording skills are not that great and I have missed out on the last 2 episodes and I would really like to find out how the series ended. Any help out there??

Keep up to date on my new blog