Series / The Bay

The Bay is a 2019 British crime drama that takes place in Morecambe, Lancashire, United Kingdom. The show centers around the investigative team of the Morecambe Police department, headed by D.I. Tony Manning. Seasons 1-2 centered around the work of DS (later DC) Lisa Armstrong (Morven Christie), and her partner, Ahmed "Med" Kharim (Taheen Modak). Christie left the series after season 2, and her character was replaced with DS Jess Townsend (Marsha Thomason).

Much of the show is filmed in and takes place in and around the Morecambe area, as well as nearby Manchester, and other areas in Lancashire.

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The Bay provides examples of:

• Aborted Arc: Several particularly in Season 2.
  • Armstrong is demoted to DC and is on probation. Manning tells Med to watch her like a hawk and report any mistake however minor. But by episode 3, Med and Armstrong are working like equals and nobody seems to mind that Armstrong is being forward again. Of course, after Episode 4, it's pretty much all back to normal. Nobody even mentions her demotion or suspension after DS Med is killed.
  • The team from Manchester brought in to investigate the killing of Med starts poking stiffly into DI Manning's potential errors and failures that may have led to the incident. But by the final episode, that completely disappears.
• The Apprentice: DC Med starts out as a trainee FLO, shadowing DS Armstrong throughout the Meredith missing children case.
• At Least I Admit It: DS Armstrong seems to hope that by coming clean in the end, she will get off with a slap on the wrist. When DI Manning suspends her, she acts personally hurt and tries to pull on friendship strings to no avail.
  • Of course, part of why she does come out and finally admit it is because Med has already discovered it. Also, she committed an Accidental Public Confession by mentioning it just as Jess Meredith is coming out and overhears it. She's racing to admit it personally before either Med or Jess report it.
  • The Unapologetic: DS Armstrong insists that she didn't really do anything wrong, since in her mind, it didn't affect her work on the case, her impartiality, or her effort towards solving the case. However, Manning and Kharim both point out that police resources were diverted towards uncovering missing details that the evidence she destroyed would have made unnecessary.
• Boxing Battler: Saif Rahman in Season 3. Justified in Episode 6 flashback to his murder.
• The Boxing Episode: More like season, in Season 3.
• Control Freak: Downplayed and later inverted and justified. DS Armstrong's mother Penny is concerned that despite her tough facade, her daughter isn't really on top of everything as well as she likes to pretend. Penny postpones moving in with her boyfriend Tom over her concerns in Season 1. In Season 2, she's immediately suspicious of Andy's return, and tries various ways to get him out of the picture lest he cause problems for Lisa again. In the end, in Andy's case, it is justified.
  • Completely averted with Lisa and her kids, when she tries to have a nice family dinner to chat about her kids' lives, and neither of them are game and immediately leave the table.
• Cop Killer: In Season 2, DS "Med" is deliberately run over by a car, twice. Somewhat subverted in that it's not clear that the killer knew they were a police officer.
• Destroy the Evidence: A rare case of a police officer doing it; and not even to cover up a crime.
  • Mark Bradshaw burns Breakwater documents in the barbecue after the police show up after Stephen's murder.
• Didn't See That Coming: Armstrong is about to question Rose about getting Grace her job at the scrapyard, but Rose instead suddenly mentions she knows about "the missing money" from the family company. DC Armstrong and the CID knew nothing about any missing money, since the company had been tight-lipped about its financial records. Armstrong plays it cool, simply saying "What about the money, Rose?" and then arrests her when she admits she stole from the company. This is a surprise win as it makes Rose far more cooperative both in the murder investigation and in the Breakwater investigation.
• Disregard That Statement: DI Manning presents Bill Bradshaw with documents showing he signed off on background checks on the shady figures behind Breakwater. When Bradshaw demands to know how he found them, Manning stammers. It turns out they were from an unauthorized leak. Manning knew this and was hoping they'd compel Bradshaw to talk, but instead, it torpedoes the line of inquiry and Bradshaw's solicitor pulls him out.
• Distinguishing Mark: At first, and for most of the season, the only lead on Marshbrook's killer is a tattoo that his son (who witnessed the murder) spotted on the killer's wrist.
• Drowning My Sorrows: DI Manning in Season 2.
• Earned Stripes: Med wears nicer suits after he is promoted to Detective Sergeant.
• Fate Worse Than Life In Prison: Viktor Zima, the hired killer of Stephen Marshbrook, happens to also be wanted in Russia for murder. DC Armstrong suggests that if he doesn't want to talk to them, she can always reach out to the Home Office and have him extradited. He subsequently buckles like a belt.
• Friendly Rivalry: Inverted. Ritchie was the one who introduced Saif to the boxing club, and was his sparring partner, until Saif's success eclipsed Ritchie's, and he was ultimately deemed an insufficient challenge for Saif's ability.
• The Grovel: Subverted in that Andy isn't so much groveling, as wheedling his way back into Lisa and the kids' life.
• I Am Not Your Mother: Rose Marshbrook hides the fact that Oliver is not her son, but the result of her husband's infidelity. She comes close to telling him, but ultimately changes the topic.
• Impending Doom P.O.V.: After DS Kharim is run over, the car stops. We see from his perspective as he stares trepidatiously at the motionless brake light of the car... and then the backup light lights up.
• Informed Small Town: Morecambe in spades. A bit odd considering its proximity to a larger metro area. Frequently, this ends up directly impacting the main character.
  • DS Armstrong anonymously hooking up with Sean Meredith before his kids' missing persons case.
  • Armstrong's daughter ends up hitting on, befriending, and getting in too deep with a creepy drug dealer, who turns out to also be the supplier behind the Merediths' secret income source.
  • The Marshbrooks' firm did the estate work for DC Armstrong's father's passing.
  • Erin Fischer turns out to be close mates with Saif Rahman's secret girlfriend, Molly Williams.
  • The Williamses' body shop ends up being where Chris takes DS Townsend's car for repair.
  • Both Armstrong and Townsend end up using their kids (or kids in their household) as help in narrowing down people of interest among their age group.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: DS Townsend when she finds Mariam passed out drunk in the bedroom.
  Mariam Rahman: I've just had a bit too much to drink. Who can blame me?
  DS Townsend: No one is judging you, Mariam.
  Shazia Rahman: (appears) Oh, you're kidding me! Have you no shame?
• Introduction by Hookup: A major subplot of Season 1 is DC Armstrong having hooked up with a guy in an alley the night before, and then the next day discovering he's the father in the missing persons case she's been assigned to.
• Jerkass: DS Clarke; it seems his only lines in the show are him being a snarky prick.
  • In S2E1, at the end of a team briefing, he digs at Armstrong, referring back to her Season 1 improprieties. DS Hobson pointedly calls him a "wanker."
    Clarke: Try not to shag anyone this time.
  • He carries his attitude over to S3E1, making a crack about the victim's brother for having a criminal record. Again, Hobson later shoves him off.
    Clarke: Not exactly a good Muslim boy, is he?
    later, after being chided by Townsend:
    Clarke: I see we've got the PC squad in.
    Hobson: Fuck up, Clarkie.
• Like Mother, Like Daughter: In Season 1, rebellious Abbie is suspended from school for fighting. After Lisa admits to her that she was suspended from the police force, Abbie remarks getting suspended must run in the family.
• Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Oliver is The Speechless for much of the first and second episode, after having witnessed his father murdered in cold blood. DC Armstrong brings in some of his toys, including his tablet. She spots him drawing, and it turns out he is drawing a tattoo he saw on the killer's wrist.
• Offscreen Inertia: Inverted. We know that Med first met Lisa as her apprentice during the Meredith case, during which, she was suspended. As of Season 2, she has just been reinstated, demoted, is on probation, and now ranks under Med. But later, when talking with Lateesha, she makes it sound like Med and Lisa had many crime solving adventures together between those two events.
• Professional Killer: Stephen Marshbrook's murderer.
• Put on a Bus: Armstrong between Seasons 2 and 3. Her replacement, Townsend, finds Armstrong's police badge in her desk drawer, and it's explained Armstrong moved to London to work for the National Crime Agency.
• Punishment Detail: For her glaring break of trust over Sean Meredith, DS Armstrong is suspended. By Season 2, she has been demoted — and Med has been promoted over her. She then has to basically work under Med, her former apprentice, as her boss, which she struggles with.
• Really Gets Around: Sean Meredith not only has a fling with Armstrong, but it turns out he's also sleeping with his coworker's wife on the side.
• Red Herring: The investigation into the family company in Season 2 that leads to the death of DS Med ends up not being actually related at all to the primary case of the murder of Stephen Marshbrook. Much of the season revolves around digging into the company to find a motive for his killing, but it's all ultimately unrelated.
  • In S3, Saif Rahman throwing the fight was not related to his murder.
• Removing the Rival: The killers goal in Season 2.
• The Runaway: Holly Meredith.
  • Conor Townsend in Season 3.
• Saving the Orphanage: The Bay Sports Club has turned a number of kids's lives around. Manager Vinnie is desperate to keep it going, and Saif seems like he'll be the club's savior
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Played with. DS Armstrong avoids being forthcoming about her tryst with Sean Meredith because, she tells herself, the case is more likely to be solved with her on it. This may be a Justified Trope as, even after she is suspended, she does end up solving the case and bringing in the final suspect.
• Secret-Keeper: Both Armstrong and Meredith in Season 1.
• Secret Other Family: Andy's other family (which also broke up) in Stoke.
• Sex with the Ex: Lisa and Andy in Season 2.
• Sibling Murder: Holly Meredith fights with her brother Dylan and pushes him down; his head cracks open on the cement stairs.
• The Stool Pigeon: Downplayed and inverted. Rose Marshbrook turns herself in for stealing money from the family company. After she gets off with a caution, DC Armstrong convinces her to turn over the company's records, blowing the lid off the Breakwater deal.
• The Un-Favorite: Zigzagged. Mark Bradshaw feels that he is this to his father, since he was passed over for partnership in the family firm in favor of Stephen, his brother-in-law. It turns out that it's actually because his father was protecting him from liability into certain shady dealings.
  • Grace Marshbrook is this to the family as well.
• Visit by Divorced Dad: Andy appearing in Season 2 ostensibly to get to know the kids he's ignored for ten years.