Going to Cardiff was a
pilgrimage for me. I had longed to return since 2008 when I didn’t know enough
about Torchwood, about the people I used to RP with, and I never really did do
any of the Locations from the Doctor Who series of which I was an avid fan of.
Sure, there were some Torchwood sites that were famous to all.
The magic step
by the water tower in the Bay, the oval basin that is the Roald Dahl Plass, the
Millennium Centre, and so on, but in 2008, I knew of only a few places and only
found them by pure chance and accident, and the Tourist Info booth beside the
Bay that was not as cluttered with paper tributes as it is today.
So the return was
important for many reasons. One to place our Project: Torchwood poster on the
Ianto Jones Shrine. View the sites and visit the Castle, plus peruse and
probably never leave Forbidden Planet and meet up with half the writing team
and of course, meet my good friend, Justin Walters.
Actually, I was quite
disappointed with Cardiff’s Forbidden Planet. There just wasn’t enough to keep
me even mildly enthused. Any amount of Funko figures but not the ones I wanted.
Nothing of Torchwood. Of course, Doctor Who was done to death wherever you
went, and exploited to hell. I daresay, if you looked in all the right places
you could probably buy a ribbed condom in the colours and design of the
TARDIS!!!
That aside however,
Cardiff is a real gem of a place. Our hotel was in St Mary’s Street, the name
itself gave enough interest that we had to check out The Cardiff Story building
and find out more.
Back in 1607 when the
river Taff flooded, the church that stood in St Mary’s street, was destroyed,
along with the graves. Skeletons were washed out to sea.
In 1843, a new church
was erected through funds from the Marquis of Bute, William Wordsworth and
others. We know it more these days as the church housing the Weevils that Jack
has battled on many an occasion. You enter at the front of the church which
from Bute Street is down the road where the Powell estate is situated in the
first series of Doctor Who back in 2005. (where Rose Tyler lives).
Along Bute Street, the
longest road that takes you from the City to the Bay, there are a lot of
decorated slabs. Although there’s little I can tell you about these other than
they depict fast fading images of Tiger Bay by artists David Mackie, Heather
Parnell and Andrew Rowe.
From nearly every street
and arcade you can picture a moment from Torchwood series 1 & 2, and a few
little nods to COE. To the left of the hotel you can see the BT Tower of which
I have a serious obsession with. After writing ‘Mitchell’ this became the base
for the New Torchwood, and so began the love of the tall square building wearing
the circular crown. It’s situated right next to the Millennium Stadium. It
couldn’t be any closer if it tried.
There are Stadium tours
costing around £12 each but I was more interested in the outside of the
building rather than the ground itself. Although to be honest, if I’d really
thought about it, I should have gone on the tour if only to see the areas where
Doctor Who has been filmed, and indeed I’m sure, some episodes of Torchwood,
but this was the last few days before we were heading home so finances were a
little tight. I was intending on going home with at least a few quid to my
name.
This building was used
for the ‘Out of Time’ episode when Ianto dropped John Ellis off to explore. Plus,
it was also used in the episode ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’ when Toshiko listened to
people talking along the boardwalk around the outside of the building.
I have to admit to being
a little wary of the boardwalk, because I could see the river below. I was
imagining all kinds of scenarios until my anxieties kicked in and I couldn’t
venture any further. What I did photograph were the many tiled floor flags,
photographing a few which I recall seeing in the ‘Greeks Bearing Gifts’
episode. I was actually relieved when I did finally look up the TW scene to see
that it was at the start of the walk rather than the actual wooden boardwalk.
One day I will overcome these stupid fears I have.
Some Torchwood agent I am!!!
Outside the Cardiff
Market I saw the scene from ‘Small Worlds’ where the paedophile was being
chased by the ‘fairies’ and who bumped into the man walking in the opposite
direction.
I photographed this area a few times to get the angle right, I
wasn’t intending on photographing the guy selling the Big Issue as many times
as I did.
Although I didn’t
photograph inside the Market, it was nice to wander around it and marvel at the
architecture of the Victorian era. What’s interesting to note is that in three
different British locations, these Victorian buildings are exact in every
detail. As if Victorians had a template for all.
Such a long road, and
fraught with heavy traffic and road works from the M5 onwards, I didn’t really
pay much attention to the buildings on the way in. On the way out, if I’d not
known where I was going, I’d have been convinced I was somewhere in England as
the buildings were designed in the same style. There seemed very little
difference to the suburbs in Wales as there are in England and in some towns
and cities in Scotland.
I snapped the best photo
of the Altolusso hotel where Jack stood on the roof staring out across the city.
The Torchwood filming for that took place on 8th June 2006. It’s still
an impressive building, standing 232 feet tall with 23 floors containing 292
luxury one to three bedroom apartments. I am really impressed with one of my
zoomed in shots of the roof area where Jack stood. I’ve not found another like
it on the internet. So go me!
Cardiff Castle was one
of the highlights of the visit.
The Castle was used in
several episodes of Torchwood, from the tunnels, the cells and the area above
the Hub where Jack and John escape through the Rift, towards the end of Series
2. Since the tunnels were used for Torchwood I figured they must have been
filmed in the dungeons, but I was amazed to discover that the area used was in
the wall itself. The wall that faced onto the road where Forbidden Planet sits.
In the darkness of an
Air raid bunker comes the sounds and the voice of the King and the Prime
Minister over loud speaker. We walked along the ‘Torchwood tunnels’ and read
the ‘Be like Dad and Keep Mum’ posters and all other WWII paraphernalia. In
certain places I was able to photograph clearly the area used for the cells.
If you angled yourself
so that you didn’t see the alcoves you could be mistaken in thinking you were
in the tunnels as well as in the cells of the Torchwood Hub.
Amazing how a small
space can evoke a scene as big as the ones used in ‘Everything Changes’ when
Gwen is given a seat to view a Weevil. Or Owen is standing stark naked
clutching his valuables as Cerys gives him the slip in ‘Day One’.
Sadly, there were no
Doctor Who and Sherlock and SJA tour guides on the day we arrived for the
tours. So it’s not clear as to which rooms were used for those programmes. I
did pick up a small poster listing the areas but I’m sure others will be able
to shed some light on this. Or I could just return at another date and view
them again. Although what a lot of twisty turny staircases there are and boy
was it testing my vertigo.
I felt the walkway
towards the Castle rooms tour had been used in Doctor Who, but sadly endless
scouring through episodes has proven me wrong. I had thought it had been a part
of the Carrionites episode but it appears not. I’m not sure where Merlin was
filmed.
Although we didn’t
venture up to the top of the Keep, it was cool to climb the initial steep
steps, although we didn’t linger long. By this point, I’d climbed to dizzying
heights and didn’t want to climb many more steps.
Not a fan of religious
buildings, I did find the architecture on this particular church extremely
interesting. A lot of thought and hard work went into sculpting these tiny
pieces of stone work. I’m also not too sure of the name of the church.
It was
beautiful. This particular church wasn’t too far away from Waterstones and the
Hayes eating place under trees, which we had planned on eating there a few
times, but by 5pm it was shut and all the outdoor eating places were locked
down.
On a boat trip around
the Bay with my friend Kirsty, who has herself written a few articles for us
over the years, I discovered a fair few buildings and structures that have
appeared in episodes of Torchwood, in the background of episodes rather than
fully featured.
I learnt a bit about some of the buildings as we sailed past.
The Captain of the Aquabus was very informative.
The boarded up and
suspected ‘haunted’ hotel can be seen behind Gwen and Andy as they discuss the
disappearance of Jonah Bevan while on the Barrage.
This was also photographed a
few times. In a novel I’m writing, the Barrage is a popular feature. So
obviously I was snapping shots to use for later chapters.
I was also keen to find
out which building had been used for Owen Harper’s flat – this took a bit of
detective work. I discovered after much painstaking ‘counting the windows’ that
it was filmed at St David’s Hotel. Yes, I know I’m late to the party and many
people would have already have discovered this. But then the beauty of visiting
a place for the first time – properly, is being excited at something that you
didn’t have to Google first!
From what I can gather
Owen’s flat was possibly a Meeting room and restaurant combined at one point.
It’s on the ground floor as it has the largest windows that overlook the Bay in
all its glory.
After much discussion
and I don’t think I photographed this particular jetty, but the longest one of
them all, is the one Owen ran along in ‘A Day in the Death’, the rest of the
underwater scenes were filmed in a swimming pool – by all accounts.
The Millennium Centre
has been used countless times in Doctor Who and only as a backdrop for the
Torchwood Hub entrance in the series. So inside I went to snap the area used in
the Doctor Who episode ‘New Earth’. It was also used in ‘Boom Town’ ‘Bad Wolf’,
and ‘The Girl Who Waited’, as well as the three parter ‘Utopia, Sound of Drums
and Last of the Time Lords.’
I over photographed the
restaurant used in ‘Boom Town’ in the Bay.
It was too expensive to sit in for a
meal and hope for the exact seats taken by Captain Jack, Ninth Doctor, Rose and
Mickey. I also saw by peeking through the glass door, the restaurant used in
‘Out of Time’ where Diane and Toshiko sat with Owen Harper. The Asian
restaurant with the fish tanks. Maybe next time I’m in the Bay I’ll call in for
a meal.
Sadly, after
overspending considerably on our first full day, we really couldn’t afford the
Doctor Who Experience but did linger (for such a long time) in the shop,
especially around the Captain Jack great coat stand. If only I’d had a cool
£150 in my bank (I’d have then been able to visit the Experience) I’d also have
been able to afford the coat – except they didn’t have any in my size. Probably
just as well really!
One of the shops I
wanted to see was Bilis Manger’s ‘Stitch in Time’ but that is in
Newport. The outside of the shop is in Morgan’s Arcade however.
The biggest highlight of
my stay was meeting up with my friends, especially Justin Walters, actor of
Doctor Who and Torchwood who is now working back in theatre! (wishing him all
the best for this role).
It was great meeting him
and Tony and as we sat outside at Eddie’s Diner munching on 3 different
varieties of French fries (chilli, cheese and plain), it was as if we’d known
each other for years (as in real years and not online years). It was so great
to just kick back and chill, and be surprised at the many Welsh actors in
Hollywood that we didn’t know about. #ChristianBale
The last time I’d
visited the Ianto Shrine, it had been the Tourist Information entrance, with a
poster of the Mayor of Cardiff, Margaret Fel Fotch (Annette Badland). Now it
was decked in messages from all over the world, some a little tarnished from
the weather and waterlogged from the floods.
I love how a series is
put together, from backdrops to entrances that are mere walls with a fake door
to give the impression that much went on inside. Torchwood and Who have brought
a substantial wealth to the city, through the fans who have travelled and
stayed, and spent money and time visiting the sites and locations. Long may the
BBC continue to use locations that will bring in the crowds, and oh how I hope
one day the BBC will relent and allow Torchwood back on our screens so we can
hopefully see Cardiff, and the New Torchwood in all its splendour.
I loved every minute of
my stay in Cardiff, and I have the photographs to prove it and I hope to do it
again in the near future. I won’t leave it so long next time.
Footnote: We came down with a Weevil, but
Joshua didn’t come back with us. If you do happen to find him, please don’t
tease him with chocolate – you might not get it back!
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