- "Get out of the cold and damp. Find somewhere warm and easy. I can make it happen."
- ―Cassian Andor, to Maarva Andor
Niamos was a world in the Vorzyd sector of the Outer Rim Territories dominated by oceans and beaches. Initially a place for those lying low to gravitate to, it soon fell under the occupation of the Galactic Empire, which laid down new laws. The fugitive Cassian Andor traveled there in 5 BBY, posing as the tourist "Keef Girgo," but soon found himself in trouble when he was falsely accused and arrested by Imperials and sentenced to six years at the Niamos Courthouse. Andor was imprisoned offworld but eventually escaped with inmate Ruescott Melshi and returned to Niamos to retrieve valuables he had left behind. After making a call to the planet Ferrix, Andor parted ways with Melshi.
Description
- "You look like you're sweating."
"Well, it's hot." - ―A shoretrooper confronts Cassian Andor
Niamos was located in the Outer Rim Territories.
Niamos was a terrestrial planet[7] located in the Vorzyd sector's Niamos system within the Outer Rim Territories. Situated at the coordinates R-6 on the Standard Galactic Grid,[1] it lay along the Salin Corridor hyperspace route[3] between the[8] planet[9] Veelo[8] and the Columex system, the latter being a junction with the Perlemian Trade Route[10] super-hyperroute.[11] Niamos had a Type I atmosphere,[5] breathable to humans and various alien species.[4] A resort world[12] decorated with oceans and beaches,[13] the planet hosted a warm climate, with palm trees growing on the surface and fauna including birds.[4] The song "Niamos!," an intergalactic hit[14] by 4 BBY,[15] and Niamos Mix, a food served on the planet Batuu[16] in 34 ABY,[17] shared their names with the planet.[13]
History
Bounty betrayals
- "Ugghh! Aurra Sing! Guess you're still angry over that job on Niamos."
"Oh, did you abandon a partner in the middle of a job on Niamos? Forgot about that."
"Good. Not healthy to carry a grudge." - ―Jango Fett and Aurra Sing
Sometime no later than 33 BBY,[19] the bounty hunters Jango Fett and Aurra Sing did a job on Niamos. In the middle of the job, Fett abandoned the other hunter, an act neither of them forgot about.[18] Around 33 BBY,[19] Sing crossed paths with Fett on the mining planet Roxuli. As the pair initially fought, they remarked about a grudge being left after Niamos, and Fett later implied that Sing's selfish interests were the reason he ditched her.[18]
Attempted tourism
- "I'm just going to the store. It's right there."
"You need to calm down, sir. Droid assistance please." - ―Cassian Andor is arrested by the Empire
By the time of the Galactic Empire, Niamos was a hotbed for tourists[7] as well as felons who needed to avoid attention and authorities. However, it was later occupied by the Empire, which brought new laws to the world.[13] In 5 BBY,[20] the fugitive Cassian Andor traveled to Niamos to lie low after having been involved in a major heist on the[4] planet Aldhani.[21] Intent on outrunning his past and bad decisions for a relaxing life,[22] he posed as the tourist "Keef Girgo" and stayed in a[4] large airy hotel suite with a woman[23] named Windi. One day, Andor was checking a box of valuables he was hiding above the suite's shower, intending on going for a walk afterwards. When he let Windi know upon her waking up, she asked him to stop by the beachfront store Arkie's for several items.[4]
Cassian Andor is confronted by a shoretrooper near Arkie's.
Andor made his way along the beachfront to Arkie's when a group of people running from Imperial shoretroopers darted past him, prompting him to nervously rush aside from the area. The fugitive then approached Arkie's at Pier Nine when a shoretrooper noticed him looking aroud. The trooper began questioning him, falsely accusing him of being one of the runners[4] and flexing his authority[24] over the "tourist." Andor was subsequently grabbed by a KX-series security droid and arrested.[4]
Imperial injustice
- "I… I'm sorry, there's something wrong."
"I wouldn't. You've got enough trouble without a Resisting Judgement charge."
"I'm just a tourist."
"Oh, apologies all around then. This used to be a six-month sentence. Six years." - ―Cassian Andor argues with the Imperial judge
Cassian Andor is sentenced at the Niamos Courthouse.
At the Niamos Courthouse, Andor joined a queue of sentencings under a judge and prosecutor. When called up, "Girgo" was given several[4] exaggerated charges[25] which he attempted to protest to. However, he was sentenced with six years in prison, an increased sentence due to the Empire's recent Public Order Resentencing Directive that had come as a response to the Aldhani heist.[4] Andor and the other sentenced people were then taken away and transported to different Imperial penal facilities. Andor went on a transport taking convicts to the prison complex on[26] the moon Narkina 5[21] while another transport took convicts to the[26] astronomical object[10] Belsavis.[26]
Eventually Andor escaped from the Narkina 5 prison complex, along with the inmate Ruescott Melshi, and managed to get a ride to Niamos with a couple fishers. Andor recovered his box of valuables at the hotel suite, which was since occupied by an alien couple. He then made a call to his friend Xanwan on[6] his adopted homeworld of Ferrix[21] to send a message across to his adoptive mother, Maarva Andor. Xanwan, however, informed Andor that his mother had recently died. The call ended thereafter, and "Girgo" spoke with Melshi, who parted with him to spread the message about the prison they were in.[6]
By the time of the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, the bounty hunter Vail Tormin maintained a fortune on Niamos.[27] In 3 ABY,[28] Sliro Barsha, the director of the ISB who was fronting a criminal syndicate known as the Zerek Besh, hired Tormin to track down the thief Kay Vess. When Tormin had become unsuccessful and wanted out of the contract, Barsha threatened her fortune on Niamos in order to keep her working for him.[27]
Inhabitants
- "Pier Nine, Pier Nine, runners heading south!"
"I can wait for you here, if you want."
"Friends of yours?" - ―A shoretrooper, and Cassian Andor
Niamos was inhabited by numerous humans and other species like Blutopians, Lacertilos, and another alien species,[4] notably those who wanted to lay low from authorities.[13] Seabirds dwelled on the world as well.[4] The fathier jockey Sanna Kale was native to Niamos and rode in the Canto Cup, a fathier race on the planet Cantonica[27] that took place in 3 ABY.[29]
Locations
A beachfront on Niamos
- "I'm gonna take a walk."
"Well, we need stuff. Arkie's up the beach. He'll be open."
"I was planning to go the other way."
"Mmm, Arkie has the new flavors." - ―Cassian Andor and Windi
Niamos had seafronts with shallow stairs along them for seating as well as piers. Just up from the beach were walkways, lines of palm trees, and large buildings like stores, such as Arkie's, and hotels. During the Empire's occupation, there was a large courthouse where sentences were delivered out to dissidents[4] and a landing pad to take convicts offworld on transports.[26]
Behind the scenes
Debut
- "Finally! We can unveil that, in the #StarWars universe, Cleveleys is NIAMOS. Episode 7 of #Andor has landed and you can see Cleveleys in all it's glory!"
- ―Cleveleys News, on Twitter
Niamos first appeared in "Announcement,"[4] the seventh episode of the first season of Tony Gilroy's live-action Disney+ series Star Wars: Andor. Directed by Benjamin Caron, the episode premiered on October 19, 2022.[31] The location was initially teased in a special look for the series on Disney+[32] on September 8 of that year.[33]
Filming
- "It was actually the first thing I shot on Andor. I said to Diego at some point, 'Can you hear what I'm saying, because my lips feel like they don't work.' But it was great."
- ―Duncan Pow recalls filming his Niamos scene
The filming locations for Niamos included two locations in England. The beach and promenade was shot at the North Promenade of Cleveleys on the Fylde coast, with the local Café Cove posing as Arkie's. The courthouse was filmed at Carmel College, a closed college in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. The indoor scenes there were shot in the Grade II listed buildings known as the Boathouse and the Julius Gottlieb Memorial building. The starship courtyard in "Narkina 5" was filmed at an open-air amphitheater.[35]
A brass marker installed by Wyre Council to mark the filming location.
Cleveleys was scouted for Andor's production after Location Manager[36] Jason Allen,[4] who was in fact local to the area, pointed the location scout to the place. The production there itself took place within the time period between April 28 and May 11 of 2021, with residents in the vicinity receiving letters around mid April about closures taking place and subsequent notices being put up around the area. Set up began on April 30 and it reportedly attracted a lot of attention. Locals first started noticing filming on May 5, with a camera equipped helicopter being used to take the arial shot of Niamos. The purposes of the film were undisclosed to anyone that saw, but various observers were able to deduce that it was for Star Wars by the time the set was finished, and crowds gathering near the shoots were told to keep quiet during filming. Photos and footage of the filming were also posted online during that time too. Filming continued through May 6 before the production crew finished and quickly left.[36]
The scene on Niamos where Andor and Melshi part ways was set up by Caron and cinematographer Damián García to be a visual callback to the sunset beach scene at the end of[34] the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which Gilroy had a part in making.[37] That scene was Melshi actor Duncan Pow's first filming for the show, and he later recalled how he found it really cold when filming on set.[34] Production staff reportedly had a good experience with the locals and thank you letters were sent to the residents after the filming was finished.[36] The Wyre Council, which included Cleveleys, hoped to use the area's Star Wars connections in its wider project to encourage tourism[38] and a mural was made at Cleveleys' bus station in 2024, which included references to Andor.[39] The project also involved a plaque at the spot where Andor was arrested by the Empire,[38] which was revealed on June 16, 2025, to commemorate Cleveley's role in show.[40] Cleveleys was also set, by late 2024, to be involved in a study by Open University on the impact of filming on the environment and communities of its locations.[41]
Galactic hit
- "When we got to Niamos, it was very, very clear that that was where this track belonged. There's that aerial, flying-over shot, and I said to Tony, "There's only one thing that can go here." We're here, party planet! We call that the "Galaxy Mix." It's actually the intergalactic version."
- ―Nicholas Brittell
The song "Niamos!" was originally made for a scene in Andor's first episode (pictured).
In "Announcement," the scenes of Niamos featured the eponymous song "Niamos!," which was scored by composer Nicholas Britell.[43] It took three forms in season one, "Niamos! (Morlana Club Mix),"[44] "Niamos! (Coruscant Lounge Mix)," and "Niamos! (Galaxy Mix)."[43] The Morlana Club Mix version was the first piece worked on[45] and featured in the season's debut episode "Kassa,"[46] which aired on September 21, 2022.[47]
Britell created the piece to last for an extended period of time and subsequently suggested to Gilroy that the track could recur in various contexts like an "intergalactic hit." Thus the other two mixes were made and Galaxy Mix was used for the Niamos scenes. Britell felt it was an obvious fit when first viewing the arial shot introducing viewers to Niamos's tropical locale without music.[42] The track was remixed by composer Brandon Roberts for Andor Season 2 under the name "Brasso,"[48] appearing in the third episode "Harvest"[49] on April 22, 2025.[50] An extended version of the remix was released by Roberts and Britell on Spotify under "NIAMOS! (Chandrilan Club Mix)."[51]
Non-canon stories
- "A beach planet?!"
"Yeah, isn't it great?" - ―Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine
Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader on holiday on Niamos, with R2-D2 undercover beside them.
Niamos appeared in "Vader's Vacation," a LEGO animated short part of the LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season series which was released on the Star Wars Kids YouTube channel on July 11, 2023. In the short,[52] canonically set between 3 ABY and 4 ABY,[53] Emperor Palpatine takes[52] his apprentice[54] Darth Vader for a booked private trip to the planet. Vader was immediately repulsed by the beach planet due to his dislike for sand and continued to be distracted by his decryption of a stolen datacard with the locations of every Rebel Alliance base. However, he eventually stopped decrypting and joined Palpatine in various beach activities, with different Imperial troopers on vacation around them too.[52]
Meanwhile, the rebel droid R2-D2 had been sent by Princess Leia Organa to recover the datacard and proceeded to follow Palpatine and Vader around the beach. R2-D2 eventually stole it out of Vader's pocket that evening while he sat on the beach voicing his satisfaction to Palpatine. The droid then reprogrammed the flight path of Vader and Palpatine's ship to take them to the ice[52] planet[54] Hoth. Organa congratulated R2-D2 over hologram, telling him he earned a vacation for his success.[52]
Appearances
- Jango Fett 3 (Mentioned only)
Star Wars: Andor — "Announcement" (First appearance)- Star Wars: Andor — "Narkina 5"
- Star Wars: Andor — "Daughter of Ferrix"
- Star Wars: Andor — "Harvest" (Mentioned in song "Niamos!")
- Star Wars Outlaws (Mentioned only)
Non-canon appearances
Sources
Notes and references
External links
- End Result of Star Wars Filming in Cleveleys on Visit Cleveleys (backup link archived on September 19, 2023)