British detective series Bookish partly shot in Belgium

The makers of the British detective series Bookish will shoot scenes at an industrial site along a canal in the north of Ghent this week. The series, created by the co-writer of Sherlock, will also feature scenes shot in several other Belgian cities. In total, 60 filming days in Belgium are planned.

Bookish is about a bookseller in 1950s London who becomes an amateur detective solving crimes for the police through his knowledge of books. The series is created by Mark Gatiss, who co-wrote Sherlock, the popular series in which Benedict Cumberbatch plays Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic sleuth in modern-day London.

Production is partly in the hands of Flemish production company Happy Duck Films, led by director Dries Vos, who made the Flemish TV series De Dag.

Scenes from Bookish will be shot in Charleroi, Namur, Sint-Niklaas and, from Tuesday, Ghent. The scenes in Ghent are filmed at an industrial site along Nieuwevaart, on the northern bank of the Verbindings canal, north of the city centre.

“We looked for very specific locations that evoke the atmosphere of 1950s London,” Vos told Radio 1. “The premises where we will shoot in Ghent will represent old film studios in the series. We had to make a few minor adjustments, but the buildings evoke exactly the atmosphere we were looking for.”

_{​#FlandersNewsService | Mark Gatiss at the Olivier Awards 2024 in London © PHOTO ANA M WIGGINS / AVALON}