The real story behind the ITV drama Maryland and why it was not filmed in the Isle of Man

A new ITV drama set in the Isle of Man has aired this week - but it was not actually filmed there.

Maryland centres on two sisters who have grown apart over the years, but through tragic events learn to love and respect one another all over again.

Each sister flies out to the Isle of Man to find and repatriate the body of their mother.

They discover she has been living a double life, leaving their father at home in Manchester, whilst creating another world for herself.

But, despite being set there, the show was not actually filmed on the island, and instead the production team used Howth Peninsula near Dublin and the Isle of Wight.

Why was it not filmed on the Island?

The then Minister for Enterprise told the Isle of Man Today newspaper the show was not filmed on the Island because of its lack of provisions for corporation tax.

The UK has a tax credit scheme which provides companies with up front funding, provided they are within the UK corporation tax net.

The Manx government cannot give this same up front payment.

An idea was floated that other support could be given via road closures, equipment and crew - but was never fully agreed.

Writer Ann-Marie O'Connor said although she had lived in Ireland and had family from the area she was "disappointed" not to have filmed on the Isle of Man.

"I love Ireland although I was really disappointed not be able to use the Isle of Man," she said.

"I would have loved to film there. There’s a real specificity to the island.

"But I think we’ve done a really good job of selling the Isle of Man with Ireland and the locations that we found."

The show stars George Costigan, Hugh Quarshie and Dean Lennox Kelly.

The series began on Monday 22 May, and airs for three nights on ITV, all episodes are available on ITVX.

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