I can confirm that a Doctor Who Children in Need sketch was filmed at Roath Lock Studios on August 7. A photo exists of a safety bulletin posted outside of the studios used for Doctor Who.
Recently discovered by visitors to Roath Lock, the doors to the Doctor Who studio state that filming for a children in need sketch was taking place! Which includes “water, slips, trips and falls”
I've privately seen this photo myself, though not from the person who tweeted about it. I can confirm the safety bulletin says "Doctor Who/Children In Need" and contains handwritten warnings for
Slips, trips and falls Water Overhead washing
I would venture to guess that "Overhead washing" refers to some sort of water-releasing apparatus used in filming to simulate rain.
I would also guess that the photo was possibly taken by someone who was partaking in a tour of the Pobol y Cwm set which was offered that day in the same studio complex.
From Digital Editorial Assistant for Doctor Who at the BBC TV Centre. A lot of Doctor Who-related jobs apparently end simultaneously with Series 11 production.
Leaving the TARDIS but I'm sure I'll find the Doctor again soon...
On June 6, a group of extras reported to Tredegar, a town near Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, to portray hostages. I'm aware scenes involving this same hostage situation were also filmed at Roath Lock Studios the week of July 18-22.
I will share some social media posts from the filming but be warned that the posts may be deleted once they are given attention on this blog. I will share the text of the posts and describe the images but will not edit this blog if the posts are deleted. I will not include the identities of the extras in my blog text so their posts will be the only way to identify them.
First, my reason for knowing the scenes filmed involved a hostage situation from an instagram post with a Tredegar location pin.
In this case, SA stands for Supporting Artistes, another term for extra. A group of ten extras are sitting on the side of a road with automobiles and a typical aqua location truck in the background. They are all dressed identically in black baggy black pants, tan short-sleeved t-shirts and, curiously, black water shoes. I'm aware there were more than ten extras hired for this shoot.
The location is in a quarry in Brecon Beacons, according to this same person:
"Who knew quarries were so cool #onset🎥🎬 #salife #justchillin #breconisserious"
There was also an Instagram Story with the hashtag, #trefil.
In the new Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition number 49, In the Studio, Chris Chibnall speaks of his current experience with Doctor Who production.
“I love Roath Lock. It’s the best facility I’ve ever worked in. I can walk in to say hello to costume and makeup, then go across to one of the four studio spaces for Doctor Who, where worlds are being built and shot on. Then up the stairs to the production office to discuss future schedules and pre-production and post-production and marketing and social media, a meeting with the script team in the Dalek room (yes, there’s a Dalek room), then down the corridor to the edit suites where half a dozen episodes are being worked on simultaneously. In fact, I just described a typical day there for me.”
On the handoff to Chris Chibnall, Steven Moffat said, “We kept meaning to have a proper dinner but then we didn’t because Chris is incredibly busy so, the very last time I left the studios at Roath Lock, I walked past a meeting room and I saw Chris sitting in the middle of the horseshoe of people who were staring at him in hope and I saw the look on his face and I thought ‘he’s sitting in my terrifying chair. I’ll go in and hug him. I’ll go in and hug him goodbye’ and I got into the back of a car and played lots of Murray Gold Music on my headphones. It was brilliant.”
When Moffat and Davies were asked about their knowledge of current production on Doctor Who, Moffat professed no knowledge and said,“People just say things like, ‘It’s going really, really well.’ and that’s great and we’re really pleased about that, like hearing your ex-girlfriend is really, really happy and having a fantastic time.”
To Which Davies replied, “Also, you kind of know it isn’t,” with a laugh. “Because you know the show and there hadn’t been a day in Doctor Who’s history where it was going well,” Moffat added. To which Davies replied, “When that snow came along (there was a small storm when they were filming outdoors near Treowen on February 28 and a larger snowstorm closed down production on March 2), I was laughing.”
