New TV show set in Bucks County premieres Friday: Where they filmed, and what to expect

A new TV show set partly in Upper Bucks premieres Friday, March 14 on Apple TV+.

"Dope Thief," directed by Marcela Said, Ridley Scott and others, follows two Philadelphia friends (Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura) who decide to pose as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents to rob small-time dealers — until the wrong target lands them in the crosshairs of a major drug empire.

The show is based on a book of the same name by Dennis Tafoya, whose experience as an emergency medical technician inspired the plot, according to a 2010 interview with Publisher's Weekly.

"When I was an EMT in a Philadelphia emergency room, biker gangs used to rent farmhouses and set up speed labs in the countryside not far away," Tafoya said. "One night, one of the labs burned, and we got calls all night from people asking how to take care of burns. A few days later, a badly burned body showed up in the woods.

"That stuck in my head, and ever since I’ve wondered how somebody ends up in a burning meth lab in the middle of the night, and if you’ve come to that place, is there any way back?"

The show filmed at several Ottsville-area sites, including a farmhouse and Brig O'Doon Coffeehouse. The farmhouse may be featured in an explosion in the show, according to the Bucks County Herald.

For decades, the Ottsville area — particularly Upper Black Eddy — was a hub for methamphetamine laboratories, according to Morning Call coverage at the time.

Jess Rohan can be reached at jrohan@gannett.com.