BBC · 1963 – · Cardiff Bay since 2005
9 faces, as themselves, in their own years
It can land anywhere in time and space. It was made in a few real streets: Shepherd’s Bush, Earl’s Court, Cardiff Bay, a beach in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Set the coordinates
18 real places on the dial, each at its mapped latitude and longitude. Choose one and pull the lever.
Destination
Earl’s Court
51.4921° N0.1930° W
1996
Coordinates set. The lever is waiting.
Earl’s Court · Earl’s Court Road, outside the station
A new police box is installed outside Earl’s Court station.
The box was installed in April 1996 to the original Trench design, with a CCTV camera on top and a telephone line to Kensington police station.
London Underground assembled it at a nearby depot; local businesses met most of the £11,000 cost.
On the pavement outside Earl’s Court station: free to see at any time.
West London, from 1963
1963 · Lime Grove, Shepherd’s Bush
Studio D at Lime Grove became the main home of Doctor Who for its first few years.
An experimental session testing electronic effects for the series took place on Friday 13 September 1963.
The studios closed in 1992 and were demolished in 1993; the site became housing, with streets named Gainsborough Court and Gaumont Terrace.
Nothing of the studios is left: walk Lime Grove to stand on the site.
2022 · Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith
The BBC used Riverside Studios in the 1950s and 1960s, and many Doctor Who episodes were recorded there.
A blue plaque to Verity Lambert, Doctor Who’s first producer, was unveiled again here on 29 May 2022 by Steven Moffat and Waris Hussein, the programme’s first director.
Rebuilt and reopened as an arts centre at 101 Queen Caroline Street; the Thames path runs past Queen’s Wharf.
Earlier series · 101 Wood Lane, White City
Television Centre opened in June 1960; earlier series of Doctor Who were recorded there.
It is Grade II listed: the central ring was built in 1955–60 to designs by Graham Dawbarn, as the country’s first purpose-built television studios.
Now homes, offices and a hotel: see the curved front from Wood Lane.
1996 · Earl’s Court Road, outside the station
The box was installed in April 1996 to the original Trench design, with a CCTV camera on top and a telephone line to Kensington police station.
London Underground assembled it at a nearby depot; local businesses met most of the £11,000 cost.
On the pavement outside Earl’s Court station: free to see at any time.
Wood Lane, White City
A hotel inside the former BBC Television Centre, where earlier series of Doctor Who were recorded. Bedrooms from Tiny to Medium have mid-century details; non-members book by joining Soho Friends.
Check roomsLondon
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Compare toursCoventry and the Radiophonic Workshop
She made the theme from white noise, oscillations and a single plucked string, put on tape, sped up, slowed down or played backwards, then layered into a final mix.
0 of 3 sources on tape
The tape is threaded. Nothing plays until you press a key.
Delia Derbyshire, born in Coventry, worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1962 to 1973 and put together the original Doctor Who theme.
The museum shows Delia Derbyshire’s tape recorder.
Thursday to Saturday 10am–4pm, Sunday 10am–3pm; adults £6, under-15s free. CV2 4ED.
Psychic paper
Each card shows what you expect to see. Read it properly for the real place in Wales.
Monsters, on location
Keep your eyes open. Nothing moves while you watch.
Cardiff Bay
Roald Dahl Plass is a public plaza in the heart of Cardiff Bay, named after the Cardiff-born author.
At its northern end the Water Tower stands about 21 metres high, with a constant stream of water running down the metal.
Viewers of Torchwood know the tower: the Doctor Who spin-off’s headquarters are below it.
An open public square in Cardiff Bay: walk in at any hour.
80 m to the next
Several episodes of Doctor Who were filmed at the Wales Millennium Centre.
The Doctor Who Cardiff Bay walking tour sets off from the centre and passes more than 15 filming locations in the Bay.
An arts centre on Roald Dahl Plass. The Doctor Who Cardiff Bay walking tour starts here on Saturdays at 2.30pm, February to October.
220 m to the next
Mermaid Quay was used to depict the Torchwood Institute.
From 2009 fans kept a shrine here to Ianto Jones, the Torchwood character, leaving notes, photographs, flowers and memorabilia.
Mermaid Quay took the shrine down at the end of April 2026, citing rotting wood and rusting ironwork; the brass plaque put on a bench in its place was stolen within days.
A waterfront of shops and restaurants, open to walk. The shrine has gone; a bench stands where it was.
Doctor Who moved to the BBC’s Roath Lock studios in early 2012; Casualty and Pobol y Cwm are made there too.
The Doctor Who Experience opened at Porth Teigr in 2012, in a purpose-built building of sets, props and memorabilia from the series.
It closed in September 2017, short of its projected visitor numbers.
A working BBC studio: not open to visitors. The Doctor Who Experience nearby has closed.
Cardiff Bay · Saturdays 2.30pm, February–October · adults £25, children £15
An independent, unofficial 90-minute walk past more than 15 Bay locations, from the Wales Millennium Centre, including the Torchwood hub entrance.
Book a walkHavannah Street, Cardiff Bay
A waterfront hotel on the edge of Cardiff Bay, with a spa and pool. Not a filming location. Pictured: Mermaid Quay.
Check rooms
Bad Wolf Bay
Southerndown Beach, officially Dunraven Bay, is Bad Wolf Bay: in Doomsday the Doctor said a tearful goodbye to Rose Tyler here.
The beach is good for fossil hunting and has some of the best rock pools on the coast.
A public beach with a large car park and visitor facilities; Dunraven Gardens are just up from the sand. CF32 0RP.
The tide is out.
Cardiff city centre · Wednesdays and Saturdays 10am, February–October · adults £25 · both tours £37.50
Two and a half miles and more than 30 city-centre locations, starting outside Cardiff Castle’s main entrance.
Book a walkFrom Cardiff
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Compare tours18 places you can visit. Roath Lock is a working BBC studio: it is named here but not on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An open public square in Cardiff Bay: walk in at any hour.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An arts centre on Roald Dahl Plass. The Doctor Who Cardiff Bay walking tour starts here on Saturdays at 2.30pm, February to October.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A waterfront of shops and restaurants, open to walk. The shrine has gone; a bench stands where it was.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open 10am–5pm, free entry: the museum asks you to book an admission ticket. CF10 3NP.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open every day except 25 and 26 December and 1 January; a paid attraction, allow about an hour and a half. The Doctor Who city walking tour starts at the main entrance.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Open 10am–5pm; entry is free. CF5 6XB.
Cardiff Bay
Roald Dahl Plass is a public plaza in the heart of Cardiff Bay, named after the Cardiff-born author.
An open public square in Cardiff Bay: walk in at any hour.
Bute Place, Cardiff Bay
Several episodes of Doctor Who were filmed at the Wales Millennium Centre.
An arts centre on Roald Dahl Plass. The Doctor Who Cardiff Bay walking tour starts here on Saturdays at 2.30pm, February to October.
Cardiff Bay waterfront
Mermaid Quay was used to depict the Torchwood Institute.
A waterfront of shops and restaurants, open to walk. The shrine has gone; a bench stands where it was.
Cathays Park, Cardiff
The 2005 episode Dalek was filmed here, and the museum’s staircase is the biggest draw.
Open 10am–5pm, free entry: the museum asks you to book an admission ticket. CF10 3NP.
Castle Street, Cardiff
The Matt Smith Christmas special The Snowmen, which introduced the companion Clara Oswald, was filmed at the castle.
Open every day except 25 and 26 December and 1 January; a paid attraction, allow about an hour and a half. The Doctor Who city walking tour starts at the main entrance.
St Fagans, Cardiff
Human Nature and The Family of Blood, which take David Tennant’s Doctor back to the eve of the First World War, were filmed here.
Open 10am–5pm; entry is free. CF5 6XB.
Stay
A hotel inside Television Centre, and a waterfront hotel on Cardiff Bay.
Wood Lane, White City
A hotel inside the former BBC Television Centre, where earlier series of Doctor Who were recorded. Bedrooms from Tiny to Medium have mid-century details; non-members book by joining Soho Friends.
Check roomsHavannah Street, Cardiff Bay
A waterfront hotel on the edge of Cardiff Bay, with a spa and pool. Not a filming location. Pictured: Mermaid Quay.
Check roomsGo there
Brit Movie Tours’ Bay and city walks in Cardiff, and marketplace tours in Wales and London.
Cardiff Bay · Saturdays 2.30pm, February–October · adults £25, children £15
An independent, unofficial 90-minute walk past more than 15 Bay locations, from the Wales Millennium Centre, including the Torchwood hub entrance.
Book a walkCardiff city centre · Wednesdays and Saturdays 10am, February–October · adults £25 · both tours £37.50
Two and a half miles and more than 30 city-centre locations, starting outside Cardiff Castle’s main entrance.
Book a walkFrom Cardiff
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Pandorica, the fan convention at the Albany Theatre, at the end of October.
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Take it home
The Radiophonic Workshop’s theme on CD, its history, and the showrunner’s own account.
Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook
Russell T Davies’s letters with Benjamin Cook about writing the series.
Find the bookLouis Niebur
The workshop where the theme was made.
Find the bookThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop · CD, 2000
Opens with the original theme, then the first TARDIS sounds.
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Find a copyThe BBC Radiophonic Workshop · CD, 1993
Opens with Delia Derbyshire’s original theme.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
19 of 19 places · 21 of 21 Moments
Cardiff Bay
Torchwood’s headquarters lie below the Water Tower.
Bute Place, Cardiff Bay
Doctor Who films several episodes at the Wales Millennium Centre.
Cardiff Bay waterfront
Fans keep a shrine to Ianto Jones on the quay until it is taken down.
Porth Teigr, Cardiff Bay
Doctor Who moves into the BBC’s Roath Lock studios.
The Doctor Who Experience opens at Porth Teigr, then closes.
Cathays Park, Cardiff
A Dalek on the museum’s staircase.
Castle Street, Cardiff
The Christmas special that introduced Clara Oswald.
St Fagans, Cardiff
The Doctor goes back to the eve of the First World War.
Southerndown, Vale of Glamorgan
The Doctor says goodbye to Rose Tyler on Bad Wolf Bay.
The Knap, Barry
Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor faces the Weeping Angels.
St Donats, Vale of Glamorgan
Yaz battles Sontarans at the castle.
Bridge Street, Chepstow
The castle appears in the 50th-anniversary special and the Rebel Flesh two-parter.
Newport
The house plays in The Christmas Invasion and The Girl in the Fireplace.
Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire
The Great Glasshouse doubles as Bowie Base One on Mars.
Lime Grove, Shepherd’s Bush
Doctor Who’s first home: Studio D at Lime Grove.
Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith
A Dalek rises out of the Thames at Queen’s Wharf.
A blue plaque to the first producer is unveiled again at Riverside Studios.
101 Wood Lane, White City
Earlier series of Doctor Who are recorded at Television Centre.
Earl’s Court Road, outside the station
A new police box is installed outside Earl’s Court station.
Ealing, west London
Shop-window dummies come to life on Ealing Broadway.
80 Walsgrave Road, Coventry
Delia Derbyshire builds the theme from tape.
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