“Can their team – rather, their found family – survive what life throws at them next?”
Speaking about the new season, Maimie McCoy, who plays Lucienne Hassell, said (via PBS): “The whole [season] has a totally different feel to it. It feels like it’s been elevated.
“As all the characters are developing, the scope, scale, and ambition has gone up another notch.”
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However, it’s not only the gripping storylines that have captured viewers’ attentions – the series also features some stunning locations, including some iconic Dutch landscapes.
But just where is the show set, and where has it been filmed? Find out everything you need to know here.
Where is Van Der Valk filmed?
The show is filmed largely around Amsterdam and other parts of the Netherlands.
Van der Valk’s boat The Spartacus and Café Scheltema both feature heavily, with the latter being the location where the team often runs through the various cases and Van der Valk hits upon numerous breakthroughs.
Previous locations include outside the NEMO science museum, a forest with a goat farm, the Botanical Gardens and a 1960s convent.
In a feature discussing the second season with The i, creator Chris Murray spoke about the show’s use of iconic Dutch landscapes, including the regenerated docklands, a famous statue of 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and a rooftop pool at the luxury hotel W Amsterdam.
Other prior filming locations include the Muziekgebouw, a glass and concrete concert hall that can be found in the Eastern Docklands, and the A’DAM Tower, which houses bars, restaurants and more and can be seen in the background of numerous shots.
Outside of Amsterdam, the show has also visited Utrecht and The Hague, with Murray telling The i: “Amsterdam is quite difficult to film in. The canal-lined streets are quite narrow, and it’s hard to get permission to get a production crew in for long, so we look further afield to find places that are more accessible.”
The anatomy department of Utrecht University has also featured, as has Eemshaven port, which can been found in the province of Groningen on the country’s north coast.
Where is Van der Valk set?
Van der Valk is set in Amsterdam, and the location is key to the show’s identity. The series takes viewers on a tour of the city, exploring the old centre as well as the more modern areas.
In a featurette ahead of the first season, Marc Warren teased that the show would let viewers experience “some very unusual locations that people wouldn’t have seen before”, while his costar Maimie McCoy called Amsterdam a “vibrant, really really sexy, really modern city”.
If you’re looking for something else to watch, visit our TV Guide or take a look at the rest of our Drama coverage.
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