There’s a lot to be said about the instant, unsettling atmosphere viewers will feel watching Sky Original crime drama, Under Salt Marsh. Airing from 30th January on Sky and NOW, Kelly Reilly (Jackie Ellis) is one of the immediate, vulnerable and agitated presences in the six-episode series.
The detective-turned-primary school teacher not only appears to be suffering from trauma, she seems to have the classic crime drama trope of carrying many secrets – one of which is made clear to viewers quite early on.
You might wonder if the fragile Jackie will abruptly shatter into a million pieces when she happens to be the person to be the person to come across the body of one of her pupils, nine-year-old Cefin, on a dark, wet evening. But, the biggest threat in Under Salt Marsh isn’t just the killer, it’s the foreboding, omnipresent challenge of climate change.
While Cefin lays dead in a drainage ditch, residents of the fictional, Welsh coastal town of Morfa Halen where the drama unfolds, are gearing up for the impossible task of protecting the town from a huge storm that could see it engulfed by rising sea levels.
While the filming locations for the show are undoubtedly breath-taking, their bleak, damp, foreboding nature is like an extra evil character – you feel like they’re working with the fast-encroaching sea to do nothing as everyone drowns along with Cefin.
The carefully selected setting is certainly a powerful and emotive tool to deliver one of the show’s key themes: we’re struggling against climate change with very few defences.
Those tuning into the show might be left wondering whether its filming locations really are under threat of one day being submerged in water – this was certainly something I wondered about when I watched with a sense of unease rising as rapidly as the series’ sea levels.
Is the Under Salt Marsh town really going under water?
While the murder storyline of the show is fictional, sadly, the real filming locations are under genuine threat of one day disappearing under water and being taken by the sea. As we’ve already pointed out, Morfa Halen is fictional, but the real seaside village of Fairbourne, in the Mawddach Estuary, stood in for it and was used as the its location.
Sitting beautifully against on the opposite side of the Mawddach Estuary from Barmouth and with the ragged backdrop of Snowdonia National Park looming in the background, Fairbourne, for the time being, also boasts a two mile stretch of golden sandy beach.
According to BBC reports, the village has been identified as being at high risk of future flooding due to climate change, and residents have been told it is beyond saving. The report suggests that in 2014, Gywnedd Council announced it would not maintain flood defences indefinitely and the village would no longer be inhabitable by 2054.
Instead, it could become decommissioned, with every existing aspect of it dismantled and turned back into marshland.
(Image credit: Sky UK Limited/Ludovic Robert)
Other areas of Wales appearing in the series include Anglesey, Llanbedr and the Menai Bridge. A climate change map shows large parts of Cardiff, Newport and lower-lying parts of Swansea and Port Talbot could be among other areas hit by catastrophic climate change flooding within the next 30 years.
In north Wales, Llandudno, Prestatyn, Rhyl, Shotton and Queensferry have been identified as vulnerable. Borth and Ynyslas on the Ceredigion coast are also in danger, and Llandudno also made the list of at risk areas.
Actress Kelly Reilly has spoken about what it was like filming in Fairbourne and the surrounding areas, and what she felt about Morfa Halen.
She says, “It’s fictional but inspired by real rural communities in coastal towns across Wales, threatened by climate change and flooding. We filmed on location, which added authenticity.”
“The environment reflects Jackie’s emotional state and the fragility of the community. Water is symbolic – rising tides, washed-away evidence, the feeling of helplessness.”
The environmental message is present but not preachy. It’s up to the audience to interpret, but it’s undeniably part of the story’s urgency.”
The first two episodes of Under Salt Marsh are released on Sky Atlantic on Friday, January 30th. The rest of the series will then be released weekly on Fridays.
