On location

A scene from Hinterland being filmed at Plas Gogerddan.

A scene from Hinterland being filmed at Plas Gogerddan.

02 January 2013

Filming of a major new detective drama is underway at Aberystwyth University.  Plas Gogerddan has been transformed into a police station and cast and crew will be on location until May, 2013.

Mathias (Hinterland in English) is being filmed in Welsh and English at the same time for broadcast on S4C and BBC4. Dubbed the new Nordic noir, the series will also be shown by Danish broadcaster DR Denmark, the same broadcaster behind The Killing. The series will make its TV debut on S4C in autumn 2013.

Between now 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 is an important location because much of the activity takes place in the made-up incident, interrogation and interview rooms at the Plas. As well as filming, the carpenter’s workshops are also based there, which makes it a very busy place.”

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 says, “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.”

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