Where was Sky TV’s Atomic filmed? Behind the locations of the new action-adventure series, Canada Reviews

There’s no dearth of streaming titles that delve deep into the high-risk business of drug smuggling. At first glance, Atomic feels the same, with Game of Thrones alum Alfie Allen playing Max, a street-smart errand boy delivering some dodgy shipments for a drug cartel.

But when he makes an unlikely alliance with a stranger named JJ (Shazad Latif), the duo realises their shipment might not be your average bag of narcotics but something more nuclear in scope. This results in a cat-and-mouse game between the cartel and the authorities, as our heroes are pursued across the Saharan desert and North African settlements.

The cast and crew of Atomic braved arid landscapes and sweltering temperatures to bring this story to life. These are the locations where they filmed it all.  

Atomic was entirely filmed in this African nation

As the cartel and law enforcement tail Max and JJ on dusty, long, and winding roads, the fast-paced storyline makes several pit stops across Morocco, Libya, Lebanon, and Guinea-Bissau. In actuality, the series set up base only in Morocco, relying on usual tourist hubs like Casablanca and Marrakesh, along with more remote rural communities like Tameslouht and Sidi Badhaj.

Scouting for locations began almost a year before filming. As the show’s locations supervisor, Calvin Hayward recalls, ‘Trying to find all the different countries and matching landscapes – finding Libya, Syria, and Guinea-Bissau all in Morocco – was a great challenge. When we achieved that, it was specifically rewarding.’

Culture consultants were hired to avoid dated Middle East and African stereotypes, while production designer Darryl Hammer relied on stills, documentaries, and Denis Villeneuve’s haunting war drama Incendies ‘to achieve an authentic, non-clichéd version of the worlds where our characters live.’

Hammer adds that many miles were driven to map out Max and JJ’s road trip from Bissau to Syria, describing Morocco’s heat and dust as ‘next level’. In the end, it all worked out with some convincing replacements for non-Moroccan locations. For instance, Casablanca stood in for Beirut in some scenes while the crew also managed to build a life-sized replica of Palmyra, an ancient Syrian city famed for its ruins today.

‘Morocco is not easy, but it is rewarding if you are prepared to spot the immense beauty of the place,’ Hammer sums up the arduous but enriching shoot for Atomic.

Casablanca, Morocco

Unlike the 1942 black-and-white Hollywood classic Casablanca (which was shot entirely in LA soundstages), Atomic makes good use of the port city’s historic architecture, crowded bazaars, and modern skyline. The city also doubles for scenes set in Beirut and Guinea-Bissau, where the Venezuelan drug cartel bases its operations.

A residential complex in the city provides the interiors for the university where Samira Wiley’s Cassandra Elliot teaches as a physics professor. The glorious Port of Casablanca and its warehouses also set up shots for the high-risk shipments in transit.

A notable Casablanca location in Atomic is an old, abandoned newspaper printing factory once used by French-language tabloid Maroc Soir (Morocco Evening). The press is converted into a bomb-building warehouse, with director Shariff Korver also insisting on dressing a section as a church. Locations supervisor Calvin Hayward explains, ‘Finding an ordained religious space for a scene with a drug smuggler and a nuclear bomb was proving challenging.’

With shooting near religious spaces in Morocco requiring special permission and overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, the newspaper printing press came in handy for building a dilapidated church.

Marrakesh, Morocco

Marrakesh is where most of the action happens, with the Atomic crew making good use of alleyways, markets, prayer rooms, and local houses. The Tinsmiths Square (Place des Ferblantiers) in the town’s Jewish district also appears in its ever-bustling glory. This public square is renowned for its artisans who showcase their metalwork, Moroccan lanterns, and other craftworks.

Production designer Daryl Hammer enjoyed the Marrakesh sojourn for how the city and its surroundings delivered ‘some welcome contrasts in the landscapes’.

‘We’re lucky to be able to use this beautiful city and showcase some of its stunning colour and textures, as well as its underbelly,’ Hammer added.

Oumnass and Agafay Desert, Morocco

While Morocco shares proximity with the Sahara and Atomic’s storyline is also set in the vast African desert, the actual filming happened at the Agafay Desert, particularly the parts near Oumnass village. The opening shot of the premiere and most of the finale are set around the wind-eroded dunes and valleys of these desert regions. Eagle-eyed viewers will also be able to spot the outlets of khettaras, underground tunnel systems that collect water for irrigation.

Tameslouht, Morocco

Atomic’s ability to tap into the interiors of Morocco is evident from how it goes beyond the usual two-city trip to Marrakesh and Casablanca.

This is evident from how some significant set pieces were built at Tameslouht, a mountain village some 17 kilometres away from Marrakesh. Once a Sufi religious hub, the settlement is also the birthplace of tangia, a meat stew synonymous with Moroccan cuisine.

In the series, the village forms the basis of JJ’s home, which is pieced together in significant flashbacks. Tameslouht is where the former terrorist’s past comes to light, offering some much-needed empathy and redemption for the tragic hero.

What are other areas in Morocco where Atomic was filmed?

Max and JJ’s high-altitude getaway was filmed at the Ben Slimane Airport, a tiny speck of an airstrip that’s believed to have once been a U.S. airbase. The rural commune of M’Nabha is where Max and JJ are tailed by a band of terrorists (and miraculously saved by a child that JJ rescued earlier). Sidi Badhaj, a small northern town, provided the basis for some checkpoints and crash sites for the desert odyssey.

Who stars in Atomic?

Alfie Allen and Shahzad Latif lead the series as Max and JJ, two civilians brought together by fate and tasked with an unexpected responsibility to prevent nuclear conflict. While Max is a drug dealer who knows how to cut corners in a deal, JJ is a former fundamentalist terrorist who hides a tumultuous past.

Allen is known to Game of Thrones audiences as the morally grey antihero Theon Greyjoy, apart from also having supporting roles in Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit and the first John Wick film. Latif previously starred in Spooks and Star Wars: Discovery, along with playing Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in Penny Dreadful.

Meanwhile, Samira Wiley and Stuart Martin play the law-enforcement officials hot on Max and JJ’s desert trail. Wiley is best known for playing the inmate Poussey Washington in Orange is the New Black and Moira in The Handmaid’s Tale. Martin appeared in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon films, and this year, he was even rumoured to be in the running to play the new James Bond. 

Is there a trailer for Atomic?

Yes, and you can watch it below. 

When can I stream Atomic?

All episodes of Atomic’s first season stream on Sky TV from August 27 (Wednesday).