Doctor Who

What with all the fuss about about the new Doctor Who incarnation being in a female body and the subsequent outrage that a male body role-model for us geeks will have a female body. I watched a story from the 80s, featuring Mel [Bonnie Langford] who would scream at any monster, no matter how comic (the BBC gave Doctor WHo very little in terms of budget in the 1980s, so they could justify axing the programme), I digress.
Delta and the Bannermen, is set in aholiday camp on the South Wales coast in 1959. The holiday camp staff are evacuated to Llandrindod due to invasion by the aforementioned Bannermen (rather a trek in a 1950s coach?). Anyway the camp manager and one of his staff suddenly start speaking Welsh.no subtitles, just Welsh, and I didnā€™t understand it. This is goign to bug me, so any help?:
The Doctor has explained to the sceptical camp manager that the holiday camp is about to be attacked by aliens, the Doctor finally convinces him to show him the Tardis:
ā€œDan gasoch i fiā€
"Maeā€™n wir, maeā€™n wirā€™ replies a camp staffer
Itā€™s the ā€˜gasochā€™ I donā€™t understand

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ā€œDangoswch i fiā€ = ā€œShow meā€

(ā€œDangosā€ = ā€œTo showā€)

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That makes sense, maybe the accent got me

{{Citation needed}}

This is ancient history now, but the following describes the politics of Doctor Who in the late 80s, I was young back then but even I noticed the quality drop. This was long discussed at Doctor Who conventions in the lost years (1989 to 2005):

Hmm.

This is obviously not the place to discuss this, but that looks like a fanā€™s interpretation of the BBC desperately trying to keep a dying series alive more than anything. Maybe we can continue this when we bump into each other at Maes B? :slight_smile:

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Probably a different episode, but one was filmed at Cwtillery pit colliery surface.

Also as we know, with Dr Who and friends being made very welcome in Cardiff and South Wales, itā€™s not such a rare sight for them to be found filming out and about. When they first came to Wales, My daughter phoned us to say that she could see some zombies walking past her office window in Swansea.

Rhossili Bay has been on various planets as well as this one (in Torchwood).

Apparently they were filming for Doctor Who at a quarry in Wales in the 70s, when they had to stop filming due to the strange bangs and other background noises from elsewhere. A runner was sent to investigate, he returned to simply say ā€˜Blakes 7ā€™

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I was on a bus on the way to Mumbles from swansea one day and glanced over to see a life sized dinosaur being carried into the Brangwyn Hall and weā€™ve had a few "Please donā€™t fly over spotā€¦ at such-and-such requests when theyā€™ve been filming.

I wish some of the filming in Wales apcarried over though - how many myths and legends have they had turn out to be aliens and never done a Welsh one? Even setting a story in Wales is rare (Except Torchwood obviously but even then itā€™s only scenery itā€™s never plot relevant)

Welsh has been mentioned once or twice, usually as an object of mockery or mild bafflement.

Itā€™s a missed opportunity.

There were lots of reports of UFOs over West Wales back when! I was a science trained sceptic! Then, i was out back with my liittle telescope and I saw a star suddenly move. I rationalised. Satellite or meteorite just emerged from behind a star. I watched it move overhead. Then it stopped. It definitely stopped. I watched it for ages. No logical explanation. Later someone told me they had seen a ā€˜starā€™ suddenly move. We exchanged notes. His started pretty much where mine stopped. Never found an explanation? This was well before Dr. Who was filmed in the area, not. that they could have caused what I saw!

Were there any American bases in the area? They could have been testing some secret weapon. (Or it could have been our military).

I seemed to remember there had been some examples of this kind of thing happening, and went looking. I didnā€™t find the one that was foremost in my mind, but this one was in Wales, and is quite interesting:

http://www.uk-ufo.org/condign/berwart.htm

Not in South Gower, weā€™d notice! The USAF had an obs post up on our hill in WW2 but I can absolutely guarantee they aint there now!!! North Devon? I should think theyā€™d notice too. Ditto Sir Gar and South Pembrokeshire!

Brawdy had some weird and wonderful stuff at some points.

I remember reading lots when on a teenage ā€˜phaseā€™ about UFOs in West Wales. My one ā€˜sightingā€™ was with hindsight almost certainly an early Iridium satellite!

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Dw iā€™n hoff iawn oā€™r stori 'na. Un o fy ffefrynnau oā€™r Seithfed Doctor. Neis i weld Ken Dodd a Brian Hibbard ar y sgrĆ®n. Trueni maeā€™r ddau yn marw (sbwylers).

Diolch yn fawr @stephen-turner
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