DR WHO – Filming in Bute Park

The familiar bright yellow signs emblazoned with the terms ‘LSW’ and ‘LOC2’ led me to Cardiff’s Bute Park.
These signs pop up rather sporadically around Cardiff but signify a location shoot for Dr Who around the capital city.

Broadcast vehicles, cherry pickers and marquees were all situated just infront of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama whilst dozens of passing people gathered to witness what was happening.


The sun was beginning to set for this early evening shoot making the park even more beautiful. Blossoms covered some trees and natural features of the park used as part of the scenery for a shoot of the sci-fi drama Dr Who.

Briefly you could see inside the famous blue Tardis with some sort of padding along one side – it really didn’t look that much bigger than on the tv but as we were at quite a distance we couldn’t see the other rooms within.



A green screen was lying on the ground whilst other technical checks and camera positions were finalised ready for the first scene to be recorded in the park.

Everyone was politely ushered to be housed BEHIND the marquees so we couldn’t actually see anything (boo!)

A monster was then brought out under high security with many people surrounding the costumed actor and umbrellas masking the alien-like character.

Luckily I managed to capture the makeup artists putting some finishing touches to the mottled costume.




The last moments of a glorious setting sun gave the whole location shoot such an ambience creating a fantastic backdrop to film against – but huge lights were also on hand to illuminate the area later.

The Dr Who actors began arriving in chauffeur driven cars ready to record some external scenes for the latest series of Dr Who. But before anymore filming could occur the tardis had to be moved 50m to the other side of the green screen.


The tardis had to be dismantled by a team of people whom began by removing the light on top, then the doors followed by the walls and finally the base.

Once it had all been moved the tardis was then built in the new location in a matter of minutes! (That’s time travel for you!)



The current Dr Who actor Peter Capaldi was called over to the set to rehearse his scene – here he climbed onto a raised platform, then stood on part of the tree before draping his legs down the trunk whilst looking through some sort of binoculars.



The green screen was now in place and whilst finishing touches were being made to the tardis Peter Capaldi was left waiting using his mobile phone between scenes.



The next scene involved The Dr and his assistant, played by Jenna Coleman, opening the doors of the tardis and greeting the actor dressed in the orange outfit.






Watching a tv series being filmed right in front of your eyes was really fantastic to see and it was amazing to see the huge amount of people required to ensure every little detail is carried out correctly.

I can’t wait to see stumble across my next Dr Who shoot around Cardiff in the future……

Press play on the slideshow below to see all the photos from the shoot or visit the following link:-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/djleekee/sets/72157642559944163/