Channel 5’s latest crime drama, Cooper & Fry, is already generating buzz as viewers meet an unlikely detective duo navigating a rugged landscape full of secrets. The series, starring Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill, brings to life the contrasting personalities of DC Ben Cooper — the community-minded rural officer — and DC Diane Fry, a guarded detective newly transferred from Leeds under tense circumstances.

Inspired by the bestselling novels of Stephen Booth, the drama blends personal history, slow-burn mystery, and atmospheric landscapes to build a world where the past weighs heavily on everyone involved. Beyond the gripping cases, the show’s stunning backdrop has also caught viewers’ attention — leading many to ask: where exactly is it set, and where was it actually filmed?

A Fictional Town Set in the Peak District

In the series, Cooper and Fry operate in Edendale, a fictional town within Derbyshire’s Peak District — an area known for its dramatic hills, isolated moorlands and small close-knit communities.

Over the course of the episodes, the detective partners find themselves managing complex investigations while adjusting to each other’s working styles. Fry, accustomed to an urban police force in Leeds, must confront the challenges of countryside policing, which often involve long-buried histories and communities where everyone knows one another.

Author Stephen Booth has long emphasised the importance of “place” in his novels. In interviews, he has explained that the Peak District offered the perfect symbolic balance of “light and dark,” with its split between the White Peak and the Dark Peak providing a natural contrast for crime stories. He has also noted that the inspiration for Edendale came from a vantage point known as Surprise View, near Hathersage — a location offering sweeping panoramas of the Hope Valley.

A Landscape That Shapes the Story

Cast members have similarly highlighted the landscape’s dual nature.
Robert James-Collier described the Peak District as “beautiful but foreboding,” adding that the terrain often reflects the emotional state of the characters. For Diane Fry, whose past remains marked by trauma, the isolation of the hills mirrors her internal battles.

Director Ryan Tohill, who led production on the opening episodes, said he approached the series with the intention of creating an “unsettling” rural mystery — one where the environment itself feels like a character with secrets of its own.

So Where Was the Series Actually Filmed?

Despite its Peak District roots, Cooper & Fry was largely filmed in Ireland, particularly in Dublin and parts of County Wicklow. Production documents show that filming took place during the summer of 2025, with Dublin doubling as the fictional Edendale’s wider world.

Additional rural scenes were shot in Wicklow, known for its rolling countryside and dense forests. Director Jesse Quinones, who helmed later episodes, celebrated the opportunity to film in his mother’s home city of Dublin and praised the cast and crew for transforming the Irish locations into convincing British countryside.

Reports suggest that a small amount of supplementary filming may have taken place in the actual Peak District, though exact spots have not been publicly confirmed.

A Cast Bringing the Novels to Life

The series pulls together an ensemble of familiar faces:

• Robert James-Collier (Coronation Street, Downton Abbey) as Ben Cooper

  
  
  

• Mandip Gill (Doctor Who, Hollyoaks) as Diane Fry

• Lorcan Cranitch (Cracker) as DI Paul Hitchens

• Barry O’Connor (Shetland, Inspector George Gently) as DS Todd Elland

Additional cast members include Charlotte Bradley, Niamh McCann, Clara Simpson, Emer Heatley and others — building a community as layered as the landscape they inhabit.

A New Crime Drama to Watch

Cooper & Fry premiered on 18 November on Channel 5, adapting four early novels from Booth’s series: Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind to the Bones, and Dancing with the Virgins.
For fans of rural crime drama with emotional depth, it promises an immersive world shaped equally by character conflict and the shadows of the countryside.

FAQ

Where is Cooper & Fry set?
The drama is set in the fictional town of Edendale in the Peak District, Derbyshire.

Was the series filmed in the Peak District?
Only partly. Most filming took place in Dublin and Wicklow in Ireland.

What books is the series based on?
It adapts four Stephen Booth novels: Black Dog, Dying to Sin, Blind to the Bones, and Dancing with the Virgins.

Who stars in Cooper & Fry?
Robert James-Collier and Mandip Gill lead the cast as Ben Cooper and Diane Fry.