Written by on Jan 8, 2014. Posted in On Location

BBC starts filming new Doctor Who series with Peter Capaldi in Cardiff

The BBC has started filming the new series of sci-fi hit Doctor Who on location in Cardiff with new star Peter Capaldi. More than ten million UK viewers watched Matt Smith’s popular three-year tenure end as he regenerated into Capaldi in the show’s Christmas Day episode.

Doctor Who has been based in Cardiff since the show was rebooted by the BBC in 2005, but scenes have also been filmed in locations including Spain, Croatia, Dubai and New York City.

“Excitement and anticipation fills the air as Peter Capaldi’s Doctor takes control of the TARDIS for the very first time today. It’s going to be one hell of a ride and I can't wait for the journey to start,” said Ben Stephenson, Controller of Drama Commissioning.

“New job, first day, slightly nervous. Just like the Doctor, I'm emerging from the TARDIS into a whole other world,” Capaldi added.

Doctor Who is based at Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff and the show has helped boost Wales’ production profile. The BBC’s new fantasy drama Atlantis is also based in Wales and uses retrofitted studio facilities in Chepstow, east of Cardiff.

Wales is also a popular filming location for international productions. Big-budget fantasy Snow White and the Huntsman shot a large-scale cavalry assault on the beaches of Marloes Sands in Pembrokeshire and more recently David S Goyer’s historic fantasy Da Vinci’s Demons doubled locations throughout south Wales for 15th Century Italy.

Global production interest could increase since the UK government launched a new TV tax credit in mid-2013. A more general expansion of the UK’s filming incentive programme was announced in December 2013.

(Doctor Who photo: BBC; Da Vinci’s Demons photo: © 2013 Tonto Films and Television Limited)