40 years since Dr Who came to town… sort of!

Powis Castle is renowned as a breath-taking location for numerous historical events over the centuries, but this week marks 40 since one of the more quirkier took place.

On August 26, 1980, the National Trust-owned property on the edge of Welshpool gave permission for the BBC to use the castle as an ‘out-of-this-world’ Dr Who location.

But it’s not what you think!

A week later, Director, Paul Joyce, travelled here to take black and white stills of the location, onto which video footage of the actors was composited using colour separation overlay – ground breaking technology at the time.

Joyce took his images on September 1, 1980 with Warriors’ Gate broadcast in January, 1981, starring Tom Baker as the Doctor. The Castle was a gateway between universes.

Dr Who fans have been making their pilgrimage to Powis Castle since, joining the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the world-famous terraced gardens every year.