I was recently asked how I found the TV and film locations I’ve visited and written about in this blog. It’s a combination of being curious about places that I see on screen and doing a little research (also known as Googling). Sometimes it’s by coincidence, if I’m going somewhere new it always pays to take a moment to just search “what’s been filmed at…” and within a few minutes a plan can be hatched to check it out.
This happened in September 2022 when my husband and I had a weekend break in mid Wales for a family celebration. For the drive back we thought we’d find somewhere along the way back to stop off at and visit for a few hours to break up the journey. Google maps showed a National Trust property in Welshpool called Powis Castle that fitted the bill. Not a place I had ever heard of but it looked quite attractive on the website, the weather forecast was fair, and we do like a cup of tea and a scone or two, so we planned the detour. Whilst reading up on it my husband thought to check if anything had been filmed there as it was quite a striking looking place.
Powis Castle it turned out had been used as a location for a 1970s Tom Baker era Doctor Who story ‘Warriors Gate‘. It’s a bit of an oddity though, while it appears on screen the actors weren’t actually there. They used photographs taken of the castle and grounds and then added the actors in via a process called colour separation overlay (this was 1980s BBC special effects, way before CGI). When we looked at screenshots from the story we could recognise the “locations” although the actors and TARDIS were never onsite.
Powis Castle is absolutely stunning. It dates from medieval times and has evolved into a very handsome stately pile by the actions of an extraordinary succession of wealthy owners. It’s looked after by the National Trust after the last family to own it died out. The gardens are as impressive as the castle itself and are even more beautiful. There’s 300 year old yew tree hedges, shaped by generations of gardeners, that belong in a fairy-tale. They are so impressively huge that when they get trimmed they often get news coverage – there’s a great video here.
Doctor Who used Powis Castle as a background for part of another universe – ‘E-Space’. So the slightly dodgy effects almost play into the alien environment… almost. The story ends with the departure of the 4th Doctor’s companions Romana and K-9 when they choose to remain in E-Space. I deliberately wore a red coat so I could match Lalla Ward’s outfit in the story as she walks away. My husband brought along a toy TARDIS, a travel essential for us, we managed to take a few pictures of Andy and TARDIS matching up with screengrabs as best we could.
The Doctor Who location hunting added an extra special element to what was already a most enjoyable day out. We hopefully have more Welsh classic series related adventures planned this year.
Bonus police box – Newtown
Knowing my love of a certain big blue box a friend mentioned they’d driven past a TARDIS, not far from where we stayed over for the party. On our way to Powis Castle we made a slight detour through the small town of Newtown and true enough, there on the outskirts was a beautiful blue police box. It was paired with a lovely Gypsy caravan and we hope that the owners didn’t mind two random people stopping by and appreciating their very nice garden décor.
From scene to seen 