Filming locations in Dorset

Dorset's coast of golden sandstone cliffs and pebble beaches gave the slow-burn crime drama Broadchurch its brooding stage. One small harbour town carried the whole series, and seeing it in person, you understand at once why it loomed behind nearly every scene of the murder investigation.

That town is West Bay, near Bridport on the Jurassic Coast. The sheer golden cliff of East Beach rises over the harbour, instantly recognisable as the backdrop to the show, and the harbour, beach and cliff path are all free and open year-round. The cliffs are unstable, though, so keep well back both from the edge above and the base below.

The classic shot is from the cliff path itself, climbing for the postcard view back over the town with the harbour tucked beneath that towering wall of rock. It is a short walk that delivers the series' signature image, and on a grey, blustery day it captures the very mood that made Broadchurch what it was.

West Bay sits on a coastline made for more than one screen pilgrimage. The Jurassic Coast is a UNESCO World Heritage stretch famous for fossils, and Chesil Beach, the great shingle bar, runs east from here, so a Broadchurch trip naturally widens into a weekend of cliff walks and beach-combing.

Treat it as a relaxed coastal break rather than a quick stop. Base around Bridport or West Bay, walk the cliff paths, hunt for fossils along the Jurassic Coast, and let the murder-mystery backdrop be the excuse for a proper few days on one of England's most striking shores.