³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Situated between Swansea and Brecon in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Craig Y Nos Castle is now a hotel. It was once the home of the celebrated opera diva Adelina Patti from 1878, and was originally built by Captain Rice Davies Powell for his family, with work completed on the neo-gothic estate in 1843.

Following Adelina Patti's death in 1919, the castle and grounds were sold to the Welsh National Memorial Trust in 1921 whereupon the building became a hospital, maintaining this function through to 1986 after which it was privately sold. The premises were purchased in 2000 by SelClene Ltd as a local office for its cleaning agency business, but the company soon set about restoring the castle and turning it into a hotel and tourist attraction.

The castle had previously caught the attention of production designer Edward Thomas, and when the script for the Victorian werewolf skirmish of Tooth And Claw went into production, he suggested this as a suitable venue for the remote Torchwood Estate in Scotland; the turret and limestone construction of the castle closely resembled those found in Scotland.

Director Euros Lyn and his team braved the rain to record exterior sequences at Craig-Y-Nos one day in September 2005, with these scenes concentrating on the arrival of the Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler with Queen Victoria's royal entourage as well as numerous establishing shots of the estate handled by a second camera unit.

Episode synopsis: Tooth And Claw

The TARDIS materialises on a moorland in Scotland in 1879 where the Doctor and Rose Tyler join Queen Victoria's party as it heads for the Torchwood Estate of Sir Robert MacLeish. However, on arrival the estate is already playing host to the sinister Father Angelo and his caged prisoner, who - at the full moon - transforms into a wolf.

Return to the Doctor Who in Wales map.