ITV's new autumn drama The Blame drops DI Emma Crane (Michelle Keegan) and DI Tom Radley (Douglas Booth) into Wakestead, a seemingly ordinary English town where a murder investigation unravels a tangle of secrets and an unexpected love story. Wakestead doesn't exist — but nearly every backdrop in the series does, and it's all within easy reach of London.
The production's home base was Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire around 30 minutes north of the capital by train. Two of its pubs do heavy lifting on screen. The Salisbury Arms, a Grade II-listed inn with roughly 650 years of history and, allegedly, a few resident ghosts, is where the police gather for a pint. The Old Barge, a lively waterside spot known for its big beer garden and solid British cooking, is where Emma and Lewis meet.
For the drama's moodier woodland scenes, the crew headed to Epping Forest — some 6,000 acres of ancient woodland spilling from the edge of east London into Essex. It's a genuinely old landscape, protected for centuries, and easily reached on the Central line if you fancy walking the same paths as the fictional detectives.
Tom's apartment scenes were shot in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, while the ice rink sequence wasn't a set at all: it's Alexandra Palace in north London, the Victorian entertainment palace whose rink is one of the few places in the city where you can skate all year round, not just at festive pop-ups.
Why should a traveller care? Because this is a rare drama that doesn't fly its locations somewhere anonymous — everything you see is visitable in a weekend. You could catch a train to Hertford, lunch at The Old Barge, drink in a haunted 14th-century pub, then swing into London for a skate at Ally Pally with one of the best skyline views in the city. Add a wander through Epping Forest and you've stitched together a screen-tour itinerary without leaving the London commuter belt.
It suits anyone who loves a British crime drama and wants a low-effort, high-reward day trip or city break — no car strictly required, though the Hertford-Epping combination is easier with one. Full location details come courtesy of Condé Nast Traveller UK.
