TV detective

Mathias - Richard Harrington

Aberystwyth University’s Plas Gogerddan will be transformed into a police station over the next six months as part of a major new television detective series.

The series, called ‘Mathias’ or ‘Hinterland’ in the English version, will be shown on S4C, BBC Wales and distributed internationally by All3Media, and will star Richard Harrington.

Between the end of December 2012 and May 2013, actors, producers, make-up, costume, sound and camera engineers from tv production company Fiction Factory will spend a lot of their time at the Plas Gogerddan, or the Police Station as it will be known for the next few months.

Gethin Scourfield, producer with Fiction Factory, explains. “We will be showing off many Ceredigion locations and landscapes throughout the making of this series.

“Plas Gogerddan will be an important location because much of the activity will take place in the made-up incident, interrogation and interview rooms at the Plas. As well as filming, the carpenter’s workshops will also be based there, which will make it a very busy place in the next few weeks.”

Until quite recently, the University’s Human Resource department was based at Plas Gogerddan. The building was affected by the severe floods that hit Ceredigion in June of this year but is now restored to its former glory.

The Plas was built in the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century and was the former home of the Pryse family who sold the mansion and most of the estate to Aberystwyth University in 1949.

Rebecca Davies, Pro Vice-Chancellor Staff and Student Services at the University explains, “We’re delighted that the Plas will feature in this new and exciting detective drama – it really does lend itself well to a police HQ with its numerous corridors and big rooms.

“The series is not only set to focus on Aberystwyth and the surrounding area but also on the wonderful scenery and the Ceredigion countryside, which is a great opportunity to show what we have here to the rest of the world.”

Mathias will be broadcast on S4C in late 2013 and then in English on BBC Wales in 2014.

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