Edinburgh as a Character

At the heart of Case Histories is the architecturally impressive setting of Edinburgh.

Historically a banking city and one of the centres of the Enlightenment, Edinburgh was historically referred to as the Athens of the North.

The first of the three novels was adapted having originally been set in Cambridge.

"It may seem strange at first to have relocated from Cambridge to Edinburgh," says Case Histories' author, Kate Atkinson. "I was concerned that relocation wouldn't work because the book is very Cambridge, but it translates really well. I'm really pleased with the way Edinburgh has come out because it's actually a character in its own right."

There is naturally an urge to compare Case Histories with other crime series set in Scotland such as Rebus and Taggart.

Atkinson notes, "I think commonly when Edinburgh's used in films and in TV, it's this very dark side that's shown. It's often used for period dramas and tough crime shows because it has a sooty look and type of threatening darkness, but there's another side to Edinburgh that's nothing like that at all."

"Kate writes about a very middle class Edinburgh," says producer Helen Gregory. "The show embraces this bourgeois element. We went with a romantic, European feel to the city rather than saying, 'We're in a gloomy place where bad things happen.' We wanted it too look beautiful, enticing, to sparkle even. This isn't Rankin; this isn't Rebus. Case Histories is about a different kind of place."

And that Edinburgh felt utterly appropriate for Jackson Brodie.

"Kate has set him up as someone who has this romantic dream of living in France and even though we can't explore that, we've seeded it through Edinburgh and in the way we've chosen his home," Gregory explains. "That side of his character has tied in very well with the European feel of the city. It's not a narrow world."

"The city's an odd mix of the provincial and the cosmopolitan; a huge number of foreigners live in Edinburgh," Atkinson adds. "So for Jackson I think it actually also opens up the potential for change"

Jason Isaacs agrees. But he also noticed that, whilst on location the 'locals' were not always local.

"The odd thing is that it feels as though there are no Scottish people here in Edinburgh," he laughs. "There are in our show, but everywhere I go I'm surrounded by either the English or the Eastern European. People have just come here decided it's nicer than where they live and have just stayed. It's gorgeous."

For the producer Helen Gregory, shooting in Edinburgh throughout late autumn and winter meant certain considerations had to be taken into account, particularly the number of daylight hours required for production.

"We knew even though there is an amazing winter sun in Edinburgh, you can't guarantee that you'll have it. We were prepared for the fact that our backdrop is often quite dark," she says. "We looked at ways of constantly keeping colour and warmth alive in the design. Even though it's not an overly colourful show, there should always be a sense of it wherever you are, even if you are in the darkest, most desolate place."

Edinburgh's geography also aided the crew in offering a number of very different locations within close proximity to one another.

"We use the city centre, but we also use the countryside and the coast. To access all of that conveniently in one shoot has been fantastic."

"It's a gorgeous city - you just can't take your eyes off it," Isaacs says of Edinburgh. There's this extraordinary epic hill at one end, the castle the other end and a huge park. Everywhere you go there is extraordinary architecture and there's history and beautiful greenery and the sea. Edinburgh has slightly upstaged me a couple of times, I'm sure!"