Where to find Doctor Who filming locations

Doctor Who has been one of Britain’s most popular TV shows for decades and is an important part of UK pop culture. If you are a fan wondering how to trace the steps of the great time travelling Doctor, look no further! We are going to tell you where to find the best Doctor Who filming locations.

Doctor Who is currently filmed at the BBC Wales studios in Cardiff Bay and there are lots of locations around Cardiff Bay, Cardiff City Centre, Penarth and Llandaff that fans will recognise from episodes of the show.

Cardiff

A very good place to start is the Doctor Who Experience in Porth Teiger, right next door to the studios. This adventure takes you on a fun and interactive journey through time and you can see a number of the actual sets used in the television series. The daleks, cyberman and sontarans on display here have all been used in Dr Who episodes. There are all kinds of original props and artefacts to admire, such as the pandorica box and chair and David Tennant’s TARDIS. You can also see the entire collection of Doctor Who clothing from the very first series to present day. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn first-hand what it is like to be behind the scenes of a film set and understand how all the show’s special effects are created. Adult tickets to the experience are around £15 and children are £11, but you can get discounted prices if you book online.

The Millenium Centre in Cardiff has been used in a number of episodes, including as a hospital and a tour booking facility. The Roald Dahl Plaza outside the centre is the site of the Rift. The National Museum of Wales has also featured in a few episodes, as have Cardiff Castle and the Millennium Stadium. Recent episodes featured Queen’s arcade and the Hayes in the city centre.

The iconic Senedd in Cardiff Bay, home of the Welsh Assembley, appears in numerous Dr Who episodes, including ‘The Lazarus Experiment’.

If you would like to spend an afternoon being guided around Cardiff’s best Dr Who locations, there are plenty of Dr Who bus and walking tours on offer in the city which are led by fun and enthusiastic experts. See all of our Cardiff campsites and get planning.

Outside Cardiff

The village of Llandaff, 4 miles outside of Cardiff, has featured in a number of episodes including ‘Human Nature’, ‘The Family if Blood’ and ‘The Eleventh Hour’. Fans will recognise Llandaff Cathedral and the village green.

Just a 20 minute car ride from Cardiff, Caerphilly Castle makes for a great visit and has been used in a few episodes over the years, including ‘End of Time’ and ‘Vampires of Venice’.

Vale of Glamorgan

The Vale of Glamorgan in the South of Wales is home to some significant locations used in the filming of Doctor Who episodes. The striking Southerndown Beach is a Dr Who favourite and has been filmed for the series in 2006, 2008 and 2009 for a number of episodes including ‘Doomsday’, ‘The Time of Angels’ and ‘Journey’s End’.

London

London is also home to a great many famous and easily recognisable Doctor Who filming locations - the big sights of London have been used in Doctor Who since the show first began.

Look out for a blue police phone box looking very much like the TARDIS just outside Earl’s Court Tube Station. And don’t miss the Who Shop established in 1984 on Barking Road to view a whole range of Doctor Who products and merchandise – perfect presents for fans.

There are also walking and bus tours on offer here, which mainly focuses on locations from the original classic series but also take you to significant places from more recent episodes. Typically you’ll be guided around over 15 locations beginning at London Bridge and ending at Waterloo via a short stop at Downing Street and a quick Tube journey. On the way you take in St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London used as U.N.I.T’s base in the first Doctor Who episode, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Bridge and the London Eye.

This list should be enough to get a Dr Who filming location fan quest started! There are many further locations, particularly in Wales, that appear in various epsiodes.  A good place to for further research is the very detailed Doctor Who Locations fan site.