Development "I made a short film of it six years ago with the majority of the people who are still involved — Jonathan Entwistle, who directed the film (and some of the series), and Dominic Buchanan, who’s a producer. At that point,
Charlie hadn’t actually finished the comic, so I along with everyone else who was a fan of it, waited for them all to come out."—
Jessica Barden, January 2018 The series was based on the work of the same title by Charles Forsman. Originally self-published as a series of mini-comics, the series was published as a graphic novel by
Fantagraphics Books in 2013. It was republished in hardback in 2017, in anticipation of the television series. While Forsman was publishing the mini-comics, Jonathan Entwistle contacted him about adapting it to a visual format – the original idea was to make an American film, and later a
web series was considered. A film was pitched to
Film4, and Entwistle was given funding for a
short. it featured some cast and crew who continued their roles for the television series. Entwistle directed and Dominic Buchanan was producer;
Jessica Barden played Alyssa. However, instead of
Alex Lawther, James was played by
Craig Roberts. Though the short was well-received, no production companies wanted to invest in the idea as a full-length film. The programme's plot differs from that of Forsman's comics. In print, the two kill a satanist serial killer, whose wife was a police officer; instead the television series features police officers Eunice Noon and Teri Darego, and does not show the serial killer to be a satanist. but Forsman sees the ending as ambiguous.
Continuation The first series covered the entirety of the storyline in Forsman's original comics. Writer
Charlie Covell said "I think there are a number of stories we could tell" and that she would "love to write more". Actor Alex Lawther stated in an interview that he would be "very excited" about a second series, as it would give Covell "a chance to explore something from her imagination". A second series was announced on 21 August 2018 on the official
Channel 4 Twitter account. Covell stated in October 2019, before the second series' release, that she does not intend to produce a third series for the programme. Covell went on to say "I think, for me, that's it now. Yeah, that's done. I think to try and eke more out would be wrong, I like where we've left it."
Filming The first series began filming in April 2017 and concluded a few weeks before the show's release in October 2017. Though filmed in England, the programme has an American tone to it; Entwistle was inspired by
Twin Peaks and
Fargo. Episodes were filmed largely in suburban areas and across
Surrey, with locations such as
Guildford bus station, The Square shopping centre in
Camberley,
Woking and
Longcross Studios. There was also some scenes in
Bracknell in Berkshire. Entwistle uses mostly
close-up shots, particularly in early episodes where most frames feature only one character. He uses this for deadpan humour, by moving from face to face to get shots of characters' reactions. The second series began filming in March 2019. Production for the second season moved to southern
Wales and the greater
Bristol area. The woodland café was constructed within the
Forest of Dean. Key locations in Wales were
Port Talbot,
Swansea, the
Brecon Beacons National Park and the
Afan Forest Park. ==Release==