BBC Wales Drama Village
Encyclopedia
Roath Lock is a television production facility under construction in the Porth Teigr
area of Cardiff Bay
. The studios will eventually house BBC Wales
drama productions including Doctor Who
, Casualty
and Pobol y Cwm
. The centre topped out
on 20 February 2011 and filming for such productions is expected to commence in autumn of the same year.
The facility is under construction on a development site known as Porth Teigr, which also includes a proposed 40,000sq ft digital media centre.
’ designs at Cardiff Castle
and Castell Coch
. The planning application showed the building would face the National Assembly’s Tŷ Hywel building and the Atradius building across the water of Roath Basin.
, Cardiff
's Broadcasting House
and at Upper Boat Studios
near Pontypridd
.
Programmes confirmed to be produced at the studios include:
After the studios, offices and external filming lots are fully fitted out, filming will begin for Pobol y Cwm and Casualty in autumn 2011. Doctor Who is to move to the 170,000 sq ft (15,800 sq m) site in 2012. The Sarah Jane Adventures
was also scheduled to move to the facility in 2012, but future production of the series was halted in April 2011 due to the death of lead actress Elisabeth Sladen and will no longer continue. The village is part of the BBC's commitment to double television network production from Cardiff by 2016.
Investment of £8.5 million will be needed to provide a road connection through the site providing both private and public transport from Pierhead Street through to the Norwegian Church
, where a new bridge will need to be constructed over the existing lock-entrance to the dock.
The project comprises two distinct, but inter-dependent, components; the regeneration of the currently derelict, former dock side land at Roath Basin would be commenced by Assembly Government investment into the site infrastructure, and the BBC Drama Village, which would total some 170000 sq ft (15,793.5 m²) of television studios and ancillary accommodation, as well as a new office building, which could be operated as a "Digital Media Centre" where a range of BBC supply-chain companies and existing Welsh-based Creative Industry Sector businesses would be able to be accommodated.
service operated by Cardiff Bus
, running every 10 minutes to Cardiff Bay and the City Centre
.
Porth Teigr
Porth Teigr is an area under development in Cardiff Bay, in the south of Cardiff, Wales.The multi-use area will host the BBC drama village, with plans to link this to a new digital centre. The work will cover the last piece of brownfield area, thus completing the inner harbour jigsaw of Cardiff Bay...
area of Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff Bay is the area created by the Cardiff Barrage in South Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The regeneration of Cardiff Bay is now widely regarded as one of the most successful regeneration projects in the United Kingdom. The Bay is supplied by two rivers to form a freshwater lake round the...
. The studios will eventually house BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
drama productions including Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
and Pobol y Cwm
Pobol y Cwm
Pobol y Cwm is a Welsh-language television soap opera which has been produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, Pobol y Cwm was originally transmitted on BBC Wales television and later transferred to the Welsh-language station S4C when it...
. The centre topped out
Topping out
In building construction, topping out is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building's structure, or an intermediate point, such as when the roof is dried in...
on 20 February 2011 and filming for such productions is expected to commence in autumn of the same year.
The facility is under construction on a development site known as Porth Teigr, which also includes a proposed 40,000sq ft digital media centre.
Design
The successful planning application sought permission for a 300m long, 20,000 square metre building housing studios and offices with a distinctive façade and repeating motifs. It will also have a gothic-style entrance inspired by some of William BurgesWilliam Burges
William Burges may refer to:* William Burges * William Burges...
’ designs at Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian architecture Gothic revival mansion, transformed from a Norman keep erected over a Roman fort in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The Castle is a Grade I Listed Building.-The Roman fort:...
and Castell Coch
Castell Coch
Castell Coch is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built on the remains of a genuine 13th-century fortification. It is situated on a steep hillside high above the village of Tongwynlais, to the north of Cardiff in Wales, and is a Grade I listed building as of 28 January 1963.Designed by William...
. The planning application showed the building would face the National Assembly’s Tŷ Hywel building and the Atradius building across the water of Roath Basin.
Production
The development will bring under one roof the production of shows currently filmed in BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
's Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House (Cardiff)
Broadcasting House Cardiff is the purpose-built headquarters for BBC Cymru Wales' radio, television and online services, situated in north Cardiff...
and at Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios
Upper Boat Studios is a television studio complex operated by BBC Wales and based in Upper Boat, a village on the outskirts of Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales. The studios were officially opened on 27 July 2006 by Welsh Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies, for the purpose of producing Doctor...
near Pontypridd
Pontypridd
Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
.
Programmes confirmed to be produced at the studios include:
- Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
- CasualtyCasualty (TV series)Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
- Pobol y CwmPobol y CwmPobol y Cwm is a Welsh-language television soap opera which has been produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, Pobol y Cwm was originally transmitted on BBC Wales television and later transferred to the Welsh-language station S4C when it...
(for S4CS4CS4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
) - Upstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, DownstairsUpstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
After the studios, offices and external filming lots are fully fitted out, filming will begin for Pobol y Cwm and Casualty in autumn 2011. Doctor Who is to move to the 170,000 sq ft (15,800 sq m) site in 2012. The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures
The Sarah Jane Adventures is a British science fiction television series, produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies and starring Elisabeth Sladen...
was also scheduled to move to the facility in 2012, but future production of the series was halted in April 2011 due to the death of lead actress Elisabeth Sladen and will no longer continue. The village is part of the BBC's commitment to double television network production from Cardiff by 2016.
Surrounding development
Roath Basin is the largest single remaining undeveloped site in Cardiff Bay. It consists of approximately 27 acres and has an outline planning permission for 1,000 new homes and 100,000 sq m of commercial floor space. Igloo Regeneration, which is an investment fund managed by Aviva Investments, was selected by the Assembly Government as the Development Partner for the project.Investment of £8.5 million will be needed to provide a road connection through the site providing both private and public transport from Pierhead Street through to the Norwegian Church
Norwegian Church, Cardiff
The Norwegian Church in the Cardiff Bay area of the city of Cardiff, Wales, is a historic church building and formerly a place of worship for the Norwegian community in Cardiff....
, where a new bridge will need to be constructed over the existing lock-entrance to the dock.
The project comprises two distinct, but inter-dependent, components; the regeneration of the currently derelict, former dock side land at Roath Basin would be commenced by Assembly Government investment into the site infrastructure, and the BBC Drama Village, which would total some 170000 sq ft (15,793.5 m²) of television studios and ancillary accommodation, as well as a new office building, which could be operated as a "Digital Media Centre" where a range of BBC supply-chain companies and existing Welsh-based Creative Industry Sector businesses would be able to be accommodated.
Transport links
The building is served by the baycarBaycar
Baycar is a bus service in Cardiff, serving the city centre and Cardiff Bay.The service forms part of the wider Cardiff Bus network, but is unique in that the entire Baycar bus system includes its own branded vehicles, bus shelters and boards.-History:The service was introduced in 2006 to connect...
service operated by Cardiff Bus
Cardiff Bus
Cardiff Bus is the dominant operator of bus services in Cardiff, Wales and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. Its hub is Cardiff central bus station...
, running every 10 minutes to Cardiff Bay and the City Centre
Cardiff city centre
Cardiff city centre is the central business district of Cardiff, Wales. The area is tightly bounded by the River Taff to the west, the Civic centre to the north and railway lines and two railway stations - Central and Queen Street - to the south and east respectively...
.
See also
- Broadcasting House (Cardiff)Broadcasting House (Cardiff)Broadcasting House Cardiff is the purpose-built headquarters for BBC Cymru Wales' radio, television and online services, situated in north Cardiff...
- BBC WalesBBC WalesBBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
- Media in CardiffMedia in CardiffAs the capital of Wales, media in Cardiff plays a large role in the city and nationwide. Cardiff is the largest media sector in the United Kingdom outside of London and it is produced mainly in English and Welsh...