Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront, Kowloon

After getting hold of a powerbank to charge his drained phone, Jonah is able to retrieve the last voice message left by his wife as he walks along the waterfront.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Chungking Mansions, Tsim Sha Tsui

One of the few 'interiors' of this show that was actually shot on location. Jonah goes to Chungking Mansions in order to find a charger for his phone, which has remained bereft of life since before he left the UK.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - View from the Lion's Pavilion, The Peak

This is the view from the Lion's Pavilion on the Peak. The tiny stone lion is part of the pavilion balustrades. No, that's not an orange filter being used on the camera lens, it is a common light seen here in the evenings and is down to air pollution.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Central Walkway, Hong Kong

Another of the characters introduced in the first episode is the investigative journalist who is trying to get some dirt on the local political shenanigans. This scene was filmed along the covered walkway that runs from Jardine House and IFC area down to the Central Ferry Piers.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - FEHD Quarters, Sai Yee Street

David Chen lives with his daughter, Lau, in a rather spacious apartment by HK standards. I've since read that pretty much all of the interiors were filmed back in the UK at the beginning of 2018, however, I should say that the building used in the show is an old Colonial Govt quarters, so the size of the studio set might actually be fairly close to reality given the generous size of Govt accommodation of old.

Anyway, this is the old accommodation block for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. The FEHD came into being after the abolition of the (democratically elected) Urban Council, but I suspect the building has been around a bit longer than that given its architecture.

We get quite a few nice views up Sai Yee Street and also along Mongkok Road - you can see the roof of the walkway from the East Rail station as it turns a 90 degree angle just outside the apartment building.

View from apartment area along Mongkok Road walkway

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - VPoint Rooftop, Causeway Bay

Jonah meets with the Assistant British Consul to sort out the details of the accident and they head to a rooftop bar in Causeway Bay at the top of a fairly new building called V Point. I believe the venue is actually called "Alto" but knowing Hong Kong it will have changed a few months down the line to something else. This building is still so new (built 2016) that Google maps still has it marked down as (one of) its predecessor, Bloom House.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Hong Kong International Airport, Chek Lap Kok

Well, just a few posts ago we were at the departures section of Terminal 1, for this show we catch a quick glimpse of the arrivals part as Jonah gets to the front of the taxi line and is promptly queue jumped by the person behind him. I'm not sure I have ever been queue jumped at the airport, but it has definitely happened to me plenty of times elsewhere.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - East Point Road, Causeway Bay

We are first introduced to Lau, David Chen's daughter, as she sprays some graffiti on the floor in Causeway Bay. She is one of the young people protesting against one of the Chief Executive candidates (played by Kenneth Tsang).

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Kowloon City Road, Ma Tau Kok

Jonah waits for David to come out of the station so he can challenge him and find out who he is. This was filmed walking down Kowloon City Road to the junction with Ma Tau Kok Road to the south. The wall behind Anthony Wong in the last image marks the roof to the entrance to the Kai Tak tunnel (you can see a reverse angle on this old post).

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Freder Centre, Ma Tau Kok

The police station that Jonah (John Simm) attends - in order to identify his wife's body - is actually an industrial building located immediately south of the old airport area. This is also the same place he first sees his wife's other husband, David Chen (Anthony Wong).

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Siu Lang Shui Road, Tuen Mun

Although nicely edited to appear as the same approximate location, the car accident was actually filmed about as far away from Shek O Road as you can possibly get in a vehicle - along the Siu Lang Shui Road directly south of Castle Peak. I've never been here so I have no idea what the two water towers are for - perhaps related to one of the industrial processes located at nearby Pillar Point?

Anyway, the crash itself happens a little further along from these towers, where a service road turns off to the north.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Shek O Road, Hong Kong

The action starts with an aerial view of the wife's car as she drives along a rather picturesque country road - Shek O Road. The small settlement in he distance is Shek O with its famous beach on the right.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Big Buddha Statue, Lantau

Another establishing shot that is worth including is the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island. It's always an impressive sight no matter how long you have been in Hong Kong.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Tong Shui Road Pier, North Point

Another brief shot, setting up the Hong Kong location, was snapped on the Tong Shui Road pier in North Point. This T-shaped concrete pier is the same one that was used for Ghost in the Shell. The view across to Kowloon in the second image was also shot from this same vantage point.

Strangers - John Simm (2018) - Sung Kong, Shek O

On to the next subject of the blog and this time it is an ITV series (consisting of 8 episodes) starring John Simm and Anthony Wong Chau-sang as two guys who married the same woman (Dervla Kirwan). Said woman has been killed in Hong Kong under suspicious circumstances.

For some reason the show has been marketed as White Dragon in non-UK territories which is a bit of a pants name to be honest. I prefer the Strangers title as it relates to the general story better.

When the show first came out a few months ago there were a few online critics of it who questioned how realistic it is but, to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed it. As someone very familiar with HK way of life I could nitpick the hell out of it but despite this I still found the story to be very good and well worth watching. The production has captured some really amazing sights and sounds of HK

It is a nice twisty story and the cinematography is outstanding - showing HK off in all its colours. It seems to be a show that will sustain the blog for quite some time to come so, as I have done with previous shows, I'll tackle it on an episode by episode basis and try not to throw out too many spoilers.

There are a whole bunch of establishing and mood-setting shots for this show and for the most part I will probably stick to the major scenes. The problem is there are so many nice images to use that I just can't resist and will probably just chuck stuff up as I see fit...and so the very first shot is a view of Sung Kong island (islet?) from Shek O beach.