![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_James-Norton.jpg\")
(Image: ITV\/Studio Canal)<\/p>\nPlaying Nice was a hit with viewers when it first aired in January and is the perfect drama to watch over the Christmas period, filmed across stunning Cornwall locations(Image: ITV\/Studio Canal)<\/p>\n
Set in our stunning county and based on the best-selling novel by J.P Delaney, ITV’s Playing Nice is the perfect TV drama to lose yourself in this festive season.<\/p>\n
The four-part series first hit our screens back in January and was an instant success with TV buffs, who described the plot as “fascinating” and labelled the show as “addictive”.<\/p>\n
Playing Nice was filmed in some of Cornwall’s picturesque spots in 2023, with shooting locations including St Ives<\/a> and Padstow<\/a> as well as Mawgan Porth beach<\/a> and Park Head near Wadebridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n Actor James Norton, known for his roles in Happy Valley and Grantchester, takes on the lead role of Pete Riley, while Niamh Algar stars as Maddie Wilson, James McArdle portrays Miles Lambert and Jessica Brown Findlay plays Lucy Lambert.<\/p>\n Playing Nice was adapted for television by Grace Ofori-Attah and produced by StudioCanal and Rabbit Track Pictures, which is James’ production company. He also holds the title of an executive producer on the series.<\/p>\n The ITV<\/a> programme has a rating of 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and received numerous glowing reviews upon its release, despite the plot being slightly shocking.<\/p>\n “Playing Nice is a tense drama with a fascinating plot,” one fan wrote online, while another said: “I loved it, the acting was fabulous and would watch it again (through my fingers at some points). Fabulous drama!”.<\/p>\n A third ITV viewer commented: “I came across this after seeing it mentioned on social media. Curious, I decided to check it out, and wow – it’s incredibly addictive! The engaging storyline had me hooked.”<\/p>\n Another viewer agreed, saying: “I would highly recommend, a must-watch.. the setting, the story, the characters are brilliant and a few twists and turns. Worth the watch!”<\/p>\n The complete synopsis for Playing Nice states: “Set against a sweeping Cornish landscape, two couples discover that their toddlers were switched at birth in a hospital mix-up, and face a horrifying dilemma: do they keep the sons they have raised and loved, or reclaim their biological child?”.<\/p>\n “Living a waking nightmare, Pete and Maddie are jettisoned into the world of the other couple; Miles and Lucy. At first it seems all four are agreed on a solution, but it soon becomes clear that hidden motives are at play. How far can each couple trust the real parents of their child – or even each other?”.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Cornwall drama Playing Nice breaks record despite complaints<\/a>READ MORE: ITV Playing Nice viewers all say same thing minutes into gripping Cornwall based drama<\/a><\/p>\n “As Pete and Maddie are stretched to breaking point, they realise they will stop at nothing to keep their family together.”<\/p>\n Playing Nice is available to stream on ITVX.<\/p>\n Want the latest Cornwall breaking news and top stories first? Click here to join CornwallLive on WhatsApp<\/a> and we’ll send breaking news and top stories directly to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Playing Nice was a hit with viewers when it first aired in January and is the perfect drama…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[96,347,3590,391,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-316105","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-itv","10":"tag-padstow","11":"tag-tv","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"James](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_James-Norton-in-new-ITV-drama-Playing-Nice-which-was-filmed-in-and-is-set-in-Cornwall.jpg\")
James Norton in ITV drama Playing Nice, which was filmed in and is set in Cornwall(Image: ITV\/Studio Canal)<\/p>\n![\"Niamh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0_Niamh-Algar-as-Maddie-in-Playing-Nice.jpg\")
Niamh Algar as Maddie in a Playing Nice scene filmed at Penzance’s Jubilee Pool, which oddly appeared to be very close to north Cornwall(Image: ITV)<\/p>\n