Back in 2006 I visited Cardiff Bay as part of a wander around the locations used in the newly returned Doctor Who. Not long after the city became the home of the spin off series Torchwood – with Cardiff being itself in the present day.
Torchwood was a great series – aimed at a more mature audience than Doctor Who. It was basically a spin off from the main show with Captain Jack Harkness at the heart of it, in charge of a secret base on top of a mysterious ‘rift’ that brought all manner of alien beasties to Cardiff. It had its misses, ‘Cyberwoman’ I’m looking at you… but when it was on top form it couldn’t be beaten. The 3rd season Torchwood: Children of Earth was broadcast in July 2009 and was simply the best piece of television that year. Showrunner Russell T Davies created a story that was brilliant and terrifying, and the cast just excelled themselves in delivering it.
They did something different with Torchwood: Children of Earth – it was a five-part story aired over consecutive nights and I remember it generating a bit of a buzz. Part 4 broke hearts as we saw Jack’s lover and ever smartly dressed yet modest hero, Ianto Jones die, killed by the 456. Outpourings of grief in fandom resulted in actual physical tributes being left at what is now known as ‘Ianto’s shrine’.
This is now one of the most unusual locations to visit – a memorial to a fictional character – it’s even on Google Maps! https://goo.gl/maps/hQSVnnQrmfHXjjdk8 and has its own entry on TripAdvisor.
Cardiff Bay will look very familiar to anyone who’s watched even a couple of episodes of Torchwood. The striking Wales Millennium Centre has a water feature that was incorporated into the Torchwood Hub set design. A stone in front of it became a secret entrance to the hub below – yes, of course I’ve stood on it. Just a short walk down Roald Dahl Plas you will find what was the main entrance to the top-secret Torchwood Hub. It once masqueraded as a Tourist office that was manned by Ianto Jones.
Located at the water’s edge under the restaurants and bars of the bay the location was nothing special – I saw it before the shrine was formed and all that distinguished it was fake newspaper covering part of a window with a headline which was a reference to a Doctor Who episode ‘Boom Town’ set in Cardiff. The fact the wall is covered in a metal mesh made it the perfect place to tie up notes and offerings in memory of Ianto.
I confess I went along with friends when I visited later in 2009 and left our tributes, it just seemed the right thing to do. I’ve been popping to see it every time I’ve been to Cardiff and it’s great to see it being maintained. It really must confuse visitors who don’t know the history behind it. There is usually a small plaque explaining it, but I expect many think it’s for a real person who died.
Even the Torchwood actors have been to see it over the years – John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Ianto himself Gareth David-Lloyd are pretty frequent visitors from what I’ve seen on social media. It’s great that they’re taking it with the humour and genuine fan love that it’s meant with.
I discovered through Twitter recently that it’s actually being maintained by Carol-Anne Hillman and there’s a great article about her and the shrine here; https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ianto-shrine-torchwood-cardiff-bay-17636862
It’s been interesting going through my old photographs – I’ve realised it’s a location that I’ve been unexpectedly documenting since 2006! Fascinating to see that it’s still being used as a way of Torchwood fans to express their love of the show and the character of Ianto. It will be interesting to see how much longer it continues. I’m putting money on a statue being commissioned at some point, either that or we get a miracle…
Bonus location – the building Ianto is trapped in and everyone is gassed to death by the evil 456 belongs to the Welsh Government and is in the Cathays Park area in the centre of Cardiff. It’s not a building that allows anyone to just wander in, but I had a friend who worked there at the time she snuck me in as an ‘official visitor’. There’s quite a distinct staircase that has also been used in the more recent ‘His Dark Materials’ series.
From scene to seen 