Bergerac director finds Jersey a real revelation

As the filming of the third series of Bergerac is under way, the director and a local crew member consider the important part Jersey plays in the TV show.

The first time director Paul Wilmhurst visited Jersey was to look for filming locations and he said it had been "a real revelation".

He said: "It feels very friendly, relaxed, it's like England but not England, as there's this slight sort of French continental vibe, but it's not too heavy, and I'm loving that and loving being here.

"There's something ironic really because I was reading about the crime statistics here and there aren't a lot of murders in Jersey, they don't really happen.

"I guess there's something about Bergerac that makes it kind of appealing in a way that you take somewhere very peaceful, and there's a sense of community, and a sense of people knowing each other, and then you tell these quite dark stories.

"It makes it a bit more sinister in a way."

Islander Finn Lumsden worked as a trainee on the second series and was invited back for the third.

He said: "I think we've managed to prove that it is possible, even if you're from Jersey, to get into this industry and really excel.

"It's quite amazing, I think I'm more starstruck now to when I started, it just feels great being able to leave the house and come and do this at home, which I never really thought I'd be able to do.

"It's a great privilege to be filming and especially Bergerac and it's just such a good heritage for the island."

Visit Jersey analysed the benefits it considered the new Bergerac series had brought to the island since it started filming in 2024.

The tourism group said one in four visitors to Jersey in 2025 had watched that first series and a YouGov survey found people who had watched both series were three times more likely to consider visiting Jersey in the next two years.

Visit Jersey said the production team spent £1.5m in the island's tourism and hospitality businesses, including 1,990 hotel room nights, during the filming of the first two series.

During those productions a total of 16 trainees from Jersey were employed, 380 islanders appeared on screen, 35 local crew members were employed and six actors from Jersey were cast in roles, the organisation added.

Wilmshurst said the new episodes involved an unsolved murder case in which a body was found in a cave on a beach with ritualistic elements 20 years ago.

He said: "It's one of those things where it's like, it could be one of this group of friends, it could be someone who taught them, there's a politician who's involved and maybe there's something going on in the police.

"So there's a lot of kind of feeling of who can I trust, where do I turn, what's really happening, and what is a fantasy and what is a real memory and what is evidence."

On Tuesday night St Helier Honorary Police closed the tunnel for an hour while some filming for the new season took place.

They said the filming took place inside the tunnel around dusk, which had enabled the production team to make the most of the lighting conditions needed for the scenes being captured.

A spokesperson joked officers could not reveal what was being filmed and curious people would have to watch the new season to find out.

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