Harlan Coben brings another of his novels to Netflix with Fool Me Once.
Starring Michelle Keegan, this eight-episode thriller takes you on a rollercoaster ride as Keegan’s character questions her sanity when she sees her murdered husband alive.
Fool Me Once was filmed primarily around Manchester, and we’ve got all the details on how you can visit the hit Netflix show’s filming locations by train.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
Netflix’s Fool Me Once filming locations
Check out these filming locations for Fool Me Once, most of which were filmed around Manchester.
Runway Visitor Park
Closest station: Manchester Airport
Located at Manchester Airport, the Runway Visitor Park is where Maya and Joe first meet. If you’re headed to any of the Fool Me Once filming locations in Manchester, you can easily get from London to Manchester by train in just over 2 hours. Or, if you’re flying directly to Manchester from the States, catch this filming location before hopping on the train directly to Manchester city center. The transfer takes 20 minutes, and trains leave every 10 minutes to Manchester Piccadilly station.
Arley Hall & Gardens
Closest station: Knutsford
Arley Hall & Gardens, a gorgeous country home built in the 1800s, worked double duty as a Fool Me Once filming location. It served as both the Farmwood Estate, a.k.a. Judith’s home, and as part of the funeral set pieces for Joe’s service.
Does Arley Hall & Gardens look familiar? It’s hard not to glance at its beauty and immediately recognize it as the home of Tommy Shelby. Arley Hall & Gardens is also a Peaky Blinders filming location.
Philips Park
Closest station: Ashburys
For anyone keeping score at home, the other set pieces for Joe’s funeral were filmed at Philips Park in Manchester.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix © 2023
Alexandra Park, Oldham
Closest station: Oldham Central
In the Fool Me Once novel, Joe was killed in Central Park. For the show, the production chose Oldham’s Alexandra Park as the filming location. A stroll through this tranquil Victorian park shows why it was a fitting replacement for Central Park.
Peveril of the Peak
Closest station: Manchester Oxford Road
The Peveril of the Peak is an iconic Manchester pub and a popular date night haunt in real life and in Fool Me Once: both Maya and Joe, and Detective Kierce and his girlfriend, have a pint there.
Castlefield Viaduct
Closest station: Deansgate
Not far from the Peveril of the Peak, the Castlefield Viaduct was also used for filming in Fool Me Once. Owned by the National Trust, this historic landmark is open to visitors.
Arcade Club
Closest station: Bury Interchange
Europe’s sprawling, multi-level gaming bar, Arcade Club, is featured in the opening titles of Fool Me Once and during a scene where Maya searches for answers to Claire’s death.
Image Credit: Vishal Sharma / Netflix © 2023
Bolton School
Closest station: Bolton
Bolton School is a private educational institution. While Joe may have only attended it in Fool Me Once, a very real Sir Ian McKellen is one of its notable alumni.
Stockport Air Raid Shelters
Closest station: Stockport
Corey’s hideout was created with a bit of movie magic. Part of it was constructed on the grounds of Arley Hall & Gardens. The other half was filmed in the Stockport Air Raid Shelters, a series of bunkers and tunnels used during wartime.
Monton Sports Club, Eccles
Closest station: Eccles
Monton Sports Club is a century-old hangout for cricket, tennis, squash, lacrosse, and more. In Fool Me Once, it takes on the name Winhurst Sports Club.
🚆Trainline Trivia: Monton Sports Club isn’t the only Harlan Coben filming location. Along with Fool Me Once, Monton Sports Club was featured in Netflix’s The Stranger.
Salford Lad’s Club
Closest station: Deansgate
The famous Salford Lad’s Club is the location of the dance hall in Fool Me Once. It’s an institution, opened in 1903, and the place to be if you’re part of the young, hip crowd.
Brooklyn Crescent, Cheadle
Closest station: Gatley
Maya’s brother’s home is in the Cheadle area, just south of Manchester. If you do find yourself strolling about Brooklyn Crescent, pay mind that house number 17, along with all others, are private properties.
Chepstow House
Closest station: Manchester Oxford Road
Peep Canada House in the background of the scene where Molly and Kierce meet — that was filmed outside of central Manchester’s Chepstow House. It’s across the street from the Peveril of the Peak pub, where Molly and Kierce go after the dance lesson at Salford Lad’s Club.
Gold Medal Fish & Chips, Ashton-under-Lyne
Closest station: Ashton-under-Lyne
The traditional fish and chips takeaway scene in Fool Me Once? It’s a real chippy called Gold Medal Fish & Chips in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Alderley Park Conference Center, Cheshire
Closest station: Alderley Edge
In Cheshire, the Alderley Park Conference Center — located within the Alderley Park technology campus — is the filming location for the Bimbal headquarters.
St. Ann’s Church, Manchester
Closest station: Manchester Victoria
St. Ann’s Church in the heart of Manchester made an appearance in Fool Me Once’s fifth episode. Consecrated in 1712, this church is still in daily operation, featuring an organ from 1730 and an Italian painting from 1561.
Chancery Place, 50 Brown Street, Manchester
Closest station: Manchester Piccadilly
Following the shot of St. Ann’s Church in the fifth episode, Chancery Place at 50 Brown Street appears in the sixth episode. This was the exterior of the Crawmond Place building.
Almería
Closest station: Almería
The only filming location for Fool Me Once shot outside of the UK, Almería, Spain, was used for the flashback scenes depicting Maya’s time in the army.
Image Credit: Vishal Sharma/Netflix © 2023
What to know about Fool Me Once on Netflix
Everything you need to know about Harlan Coben’s Netflix thriller.
What is Netflix’s Fool Me Once about?
Fool Me Once is an eight-episode Netflix series focusing on Maya Stern, a recent widow, who sees her murdered husband, Joe, playing with their daughter on their home’s nanny cam. Maya’s sister, Claire, also died under suspicious circumstances. The tale takes twists and turns as it unravels secrets and uncovers deceit, as the family seeks to answer two burning questions: Is Joe still alive, and if he’s not, are his and Claire’s deaths connected?
Is Fool Me Once worth the watch?
If you’re a Harlan Coben fan or someone who lives for the twists and turns of a solid thriller-drama, Fool Me Once is worth watching. If you judge a book (or Netflix series) by its review score, Fool Me Once has a 6.8/10 on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 69% from critics and 45% from the audience.
How many episodes are there of Fool Me Once?
Netflix’s Fool Me Once is a single-season show with eight episodes. It’s an easily bingeable series with a conclusive ending — or, as we like to call it, the perfect type of one-and-done show to queue up during a long train ride around Europe.
Who is in the Fool Me Once cast?
Fool Me Once on Netflix stars Michelle Keegan as Maya Stern, Adeel Akhtar (Netflix’s Murder Mystery 2) as Sami Kierce, Richard Armitage as Joe Burkett, and Emmett J. Scanlan (Peaky Blinders) as Shane Tessier.
Is Netflix’s Fool Me Once based on a book?
Yes, Fool Me Once is based on the novel of the same name by mystery/thriller author Harlan Coben. Published in 2016, it joins Coben’s other novels – such as The Stranger, Stay Close, The Innocent, Hold Tight, Gone for Good, and The Woods – as books-turned-movies in Netflix’s “The Harlan Coben Collection.”
Is Winhurst a real place?
No, Winhurst is not a real place in the UK. The Fool Me Once Netflix show is set in the fictional town of Winhurst and filmed around Manchester, England. The Fool Me Once novel is set in suburban New Jersey and New York City.
Image Credit: Vishal Sharma/Netflix © 2023
Is Joe alive in Fool Me Once?
Well, he was alive in Fool Me Once, but then… not so much. Joe is not alive at the end of Fool Me Once, having been gunned down in the park. We’re led to believe he might be alive thanks to the nanny cam footage, but it was all a ruse.
Fool Me Once ending explained: who killed Joe?
Major spoilers ahead: Maya killed Joe in Fool Me Once. She found out that Joe killed her sister, Claire. Joe killed Claire because she discovered he had killed Andrew and Theo, and that Burkett Pharmaceuticals was intentionally putting harmful drugs on the market. The only reason Claire knew about Joe’s murders is because Corey told her; Claire was trying to persuade Corey not to report that Maya killed civilians while at war.
And then, Maya gets killed by Burkett Pharmaceuticals’ CEO.
Moral of the story? “Don’t kill anyone because it really convolutes the plot” is a good takeaway.
How did Maya find out Joe killed Claire?
Maya discovered that Joe killed Claire by testing the bullet used to kill her. She found out that it came from a gun only she and Joe had access to. Maya asked Joe to meet at the spot where he murdered Claire, only for her to stage a mugging and shoot Joe.
What is Caroline's role in Fool Me Once?
Caroline Burkett, played by Hattie Morahan (Sex Education, Luther: The Fallen Sun), is Joe’s sister and Maya’s sister-in-law.
Why was Shane so creepy in Fool Me Once?
It certainly seems like Shane was meant to throw us off the scent in Fool Me Once. Like any good whodunnit, this Harlan Coben story needed a red herring, and Shane’s creepy behavior was likely meant to deliberately confuse the audience.
What was the mistake in Fool Me Once?
Fans have pointed out that Fool Me Once hasn’t exactly fooled viewers, at least where possible mistakes and plot holes are concerned. For instance, the nanny cam was gifted a day before Joe was seen on it; how did Izabella deepfake the footage so fast? Another oversight: if Shane wasn’t the killer, then why was he creeping on Maya by tracking her car? And, of course, what happened to Maya’s student who was ditched in a helicopter?
Will there be a season two of Fool Me Once?
Netflix hasn’t announced a second season of Fool Me Once. The first season solves the mystery, and other Harlan Coben Netflix adaptations are also standalone entries. So, it’s doubtful that Fool Me Once will have a second season. As the saying goes: “Fool me once, stream on Netflix; fool me twice, standby for details.”
Download the Trainline app and explore more of your favorite movie and television show filming locations in the UK:
- London, England, where Love Actually and Paddington were filmed.
- Oxford, England, where Saltburn was filmed.
- Wells, England, where Hot Fuzz was filmed.
- Edinburgh, Scotland, where Trainspotting and A Castle for Christmas were filmed.
Header Image Credit: Matt Squire / Netflix © 2023