After the success of Richard Gadd’s “Baby Reindeer,” Netflix has released another crime thriller, this time a dark comedy, titled “Bodkin.” The series is currently the third most watched on the platform, only four days after its release.
Created by Jez Scharf, the series follows a similar plot to Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” following two podcasters and a journalist in a coastal town in Ireland who are investigating the disappearance of three people.
The series stars Will Forte, Siobhán Cullen, Robyn Cara, David Wilmot, Chris Walley, Seán Óg Cairns, Peter Bankole, and Kerri McLean. However, as it usually happens with some shows with weird storylines, many viewers are wondering if there’s truth behind the series. Here’s what to know.
‘Bodkin’: Is the show based on a true story?
While in the trailer, it stated that the show was “based on a true story…overheard at a pub”, it is entirely fictional. As we said, the series was created by British writer Jez Scharf, whose previous works include Mister Biscuits (2018), Groucho Nietzsche (2014), and The UnDream (2013).
Executive producer Alex Metcalf confirmed to Tudum that the story is not real, and the town is also fictional. “It’s a fake town, it’s a fake place. It’s all fake people. The mystery itself, we worked very hard to find something that is in no way adjacent to a real true crime story. The fictionality of it was very deliberate,” he explained.
The series was directed in part by Bronwen Hughes (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul,13 Reasons Why), and it has received mostly positive reviews. So far, the series has a 68% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Where was ‘Bodkin’ filmed?
As we said, the town of Bodkin doesn’t actually exist. Most of the filming took place in the Irish fishing village of Union Hall, located in West Cork. Other scenes were shot in Glandore Village, which is located less than two miles from Union Hall.