Roald Dahl Plass

Roald Dahl Plass was a large public square, part of the Cardiff Bay district of Cardiff, Wales. It was a poorly-kept secret among many Cardiff residents that somewhere near the Plass was the site of Torchwood Three's headquarters. (TW: Children of Earth: Day One)

The Plass housed the Wales Millennium Centre and the Water Tower which housed much of Torchwood 3's equipment.

The Ninth Doctor parked the TARDIS on Road Dahl Plass in September 2006 to refuel it using the Cardiff Rift (DW: Boom Town). This caused one of the slabs near the Water Tower to develop a perception filter which rendered anyone standing on it unnoticeable. Torchwood Three utilised the slab for the invisible elevator into the Hub (TW: Everything Changes).

The Plass, and the Torchwood Hub, was destroyed in September 2009 by an explosion caused by a bomb in Jack Harkness's body (TW: Children of Earth: Day One). The blast was reported on BBC News as a possible terrorist attack. The Plass and Water Tower had been completely rebuilt by the time of Miracle Day in 2011 (TW: The New World) and was the location where Rex Matheson used a rendition to force the Torchwood team to accompany him to the United States of America. (TW: Rendition)

Behind the scenes

• In real life, the fact that Doctor Who and Torchwood have so prominently featured the Plass has made it a popular destination for fans visiting Cardiff. It is also one of the more public filming locations, so whenever the Doctor Who and Torchwood crews film there, it often attracts media attention (such as on 6 January 2010 when filming for Series 5 of Doctor Who took place there.)

Footnotes