Netflix Returns to Leith: Dept. Q Season Two Is Rolling, and Edinburgh's Creative Economy Is Watching

Production has started on the second series of Dept. Q, the critically acclaimed crime thriller that put Edinburgh streets in front of a global Netflix audience. For Leith businesses and Scotland's screen sector, this is more than a good story. It's a economic signal worth paying attention to.

TV crews have taken over Leith Links as Netflix pushes ahead with season two of Dept. Q, the Scandinavian-rooted crime drama that became one of the platform's more quietly successful international picks. Cameras are rolling in Edinburgh again, and the production footprint that comes with a major streaming series, location fees, catering contracts, accommodation bookings, equipment hire, and local crew wages, flows directly into the city's economy.

Screen tourism is not a soft concept. VisitScotland has tracked the measurable uplift that productions bring to filming locations, with research showing that identifiable on-screen locations can drive visitor numbers up by 50 percent or more in the years following broadcast. The Outlander effect on Doune Castle is the most cited Scottish example, but the principle applies just as readily to Leith as it does to a Stirlingshire fortress. Foot traffic follows a camera.

Scotland's screen sector has been building serious momentum. According to Creative Scotland and Screen Scotland's most recent figures, the industry generated over £567 million for the Scottish economy in 2022, a record at the time, with inward investment from international productions accounting for a growing share of that total. Netflix, in particular, has committed meaningfully to UK and Scottish production in recent years, and Dept. Q returning for a second run is evidence that Edinburgh competes comfortably for that investment.

For Leith specifically, the symbolism is useful. The area has been in sustained economic transition, with independent businesses, food and drink venues, and creative enterprises reshaping the waterfront and surrounding streets. A globally distributed Netflix series using Leith Links as a backdrop is not bad for the postcode. It puts the neighbourhood in front of audiences in markets Edinburgh's tourism board spends considerable effort trying to reach.

The wider creative economy argument is straightforward: every major production that chooses Scotland over a rival location validates the infrastructure investment that Scottish Enterprise, Creative Scotland, and Screen Scotland have made in studios, skills, and support programmes. It also makes the next pitch to the next streamer slightly easier to land. For the local businesses around the Leith Links area right now, it is worth knowing those crews need feeding, parking, and somewhere to be for the next several weeks.

What this means for you: If your business is anywhere near Leith Links, a film or TV production unit is a ready-made commercial opportunity: catering, supplies, short-term services, and accommodation are all in demand during shoots. More broadly, if you run a hospitality, retail, or visitor-facing business in Edinburgh, it is worth registering your location with VisitScotland and Screen Scotland's location library so you appear on the radar for future productions. Screen tourism has a long tail. The visitors who come because they saw your street on Netflix arrive months and years after the cameras leave.