Maelstrom
Location filming - with thanks to Jeff Roy, Carolyn Meadows and Menna Campbell and special thanks to Bente Saxon of the Alesund Tourist Office.
Jeff Roy was such a fan of the series when it was first screened in Canada he wrote to Alesund and Bente Saxon sent him a map indicating key locations featured in the show.
Map showing locations
(Click for larger version)


Open a copy of the review

Many years later and Jeff is still fascinated by the series (one of his all time top 5 favourites).
In 2021 he sent me this detailed, episode by episode, critique of the series (and I do mean detailed - 16 pages!). 		Bente acted as 'Norwegian Liaison' on the series. She kept a copy of the Filming / Location Schedule, which she kindly copied for me.

It is only a typed "internal" document but fascinating to read nonetheless. I have scanned it and present it here as Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

DOWNLOAD FILMING & LOCATION SCHEDULE (489k)

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Website visitor Carolyn Meadows from the USA was so taken with the Alesund after watching the series that in the summer of 2009 she holidayed in Norway and visited the town.
Bente Saxon met Carolyn and kindly showed her round the principal locations.
As you can see from Carolyn's photos below, twenty plus years on and the place had hardly changed (nor had Bente!).
Astrid Linderman's House Bente Saxon with David Beames and Tusse Silberg Bente Saxon

Left: Great Aunt Astrid Linderman's House as filmed in 1984
and (right) hardly changed in 2009.

Left: Jordahl's house where Catherine Durrell stays as filmed in 1984 and ... right: as Carolyn found it in 2009.

Left: Bente Saxon pictured with David Beames and Tusse Silberg
and ... right: the 2009 model.
Ingrid's House as filmed in 1984 and Carolyn outside the house as it was in 2009. The boathouse in 1984 and ... now.
Fast forward ten years and another website visitor Menna Campbell and her family make the pilgrimage to Alesund from the UK.
Bente Saxon again took time out to meet the family and show them the principal locations. These are just a few of Menna's photographs. I still have a lot more to upload

Left: The offices of the local newspaper "The Sunnmorsposten" as seen in the series.
Right: The offices as they were in 2019.

Menna visited the Sunnmorsposten offices and her trip became the subject of a feature in the paper!

Some comparative shots at the airport. Planes landing and taking off were a staple feature in Bird's series.

Left: The church with a distinctive spire seen in the series.
Right: The church in 2019.
Perhaps even more interesting than the locations Menna also visited Bente Saxon's office ...
Michael J Bird Tribute Website

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