Echo Beach and Polperro

Echo Beach, first broadcast in the UK in 2008, was a brand new idea. Although it was a soap, the show was there to link up with a comedy series called Moving Wallpaper. The show preceded Echo Beach, following the “story writers” deciding on the story lines for that weeks filming. The programmes were cleverly linked with items and plots discussed in Moving Wallpaper appearing in the Echo Beach episode that followed. The Cornish town of Polperro provided the backdrop of the fictional town of Polnarren, with many locations used around the local area.

The Cast – Echo Beach

The Echo Beach cast brought in a lot of famous faces from popular dramas in the UK. Between the 14 regular members of cast they have appeared in Eastenders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Neighbours, as well as less well known programmes such as The Bill, Heartbeat and Footballers Wives.

Ex-eastender Martine McCutcheon played Susan Penwarden, the main female character. Married to Mark (played by Hugo Speer), Susan lived in the small, Cornish town of Polnarren. Laura Greenwood and Ed Speelers played her two children, Grace and Jimmy. They both had appeared in films with Ed playing the lead role in the film Eragon and Laura staring in both V for Vendetta and The Brothers Grimm.

In Episode One, Daniel Marrack, played by ex-neighbours actor Jason Donovan, returned to Polnarren with his two children, Abi (played by Hannah Lederer-Alton) and Brae (played by Christian Cooke). Daniel and Susan had been in love many years ago, and so the story developed. An explosion at the caravan park, a paternity test and young love with the backdrop of Polperro and Cornwall made for addictive watching.

The Music of Echo Beach

The best-known track from the show was the title music. Originally performed by Martha and the Muffins, but the version for the programme was re-recorded by Gabriella Cilmi. The show also used many popular tracks to keep the show modern, but also mixed in some classic tracks, often linking from the Moving Wallpaper show.

Filming in Polperro

As the soap was to be set in Cornwall, the Surrey based studio wouldn’t be suitable for the outside shots. The area around Polperro and Looe were chosen for most of the town shots. Many of the large houses you see in the soap are located on the hills above the town of Polperro. Both Harbour areas provided the perfect Cornish feel for the soap, although the beaches weren’t ideal for the surfing scenes.

For this and the panoramic scenes of the beach the producers turned to Watergate Beach. The Beach is a favourite with surfers, so offered the perfect chance to film the characters enjoying the stereotypical favourite Cornish past time.

The Future of Echo Beach

It appears that after the first season Echo Beach has been cancelled, the producers deciding that the Moving Wallpaper programme was much more successful. Although nothing is certain, it appears that Moving Wallpaper will return for a second season with the team working on another project, possibly a Zombie programme.