Written by on Sep 20, 2013. Posted in On Location

BBC fantasy drama series Atlantis films on location in Morocco

The BBC has filmed parts of its new fantasy drama series Atlantis on location in Morocco. Filming took place at the Atlas Film Studios near the city of Ouarzazate in the centre of the country, which has previously hosted films including Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven.

Actor Mark Addy co-stars in Atlantis and is no stranger to ambitious television filming, having worked on the first series of HBO’s fantasy drama Game of Thrones in Northern Ireland.

“This is not anywhere near that sort of scale but for British television it is big-budget,” Addy told Radio Times: “It’s great that we’re doing stuff of this quality and calibre, giving them a run for their money ... Some of the stunts and the amazing work that goes into something like this is stuff you’d normally only see in a movie because it is very, very difficult to achieve.”

Morocco is a popular international filming location and is a favourite of high-profile filmmakers such as Ridley Scott. The British director has been making movies locally for more than a decade and is reportedly returning for biblical epic Exodus. The new series of the US domestic terrorism drama Homeland is also said to be planning to double Morocco for Israel in response to tensions related to the Syria crisis in the Middle East.

Some of the stunts and the amazing work that goes into something like this is stuff you’d normally only see in a movie because it is very, very difficult to achieve.

Mark Addy, Actor

Atlantis actually filmed mostly on location in Wales, using a former supermarket storage building near Chepstow that was retrofitted for use as a studio facility.

The BBC has a strong production presence in south Wales, with Doctor Who and medical drama Casualty based at Roath Lock studio in Cardiff. High-end US drama has also come to the region with David S Goyer’s Da Vinci’s Demons having doubled the Swansea area for 15th Century Florence.

Atlantis begins in the UK on BBC One on 28 September 2013.

(Stills: BBC/Urban Myth Films)