Eve Myles has been filming in Roald Dahl Plass, wearing a stetson. But it's nothing to do with the American-flavoured Torchwood - it's a scene for the second series of Doctor Who writer Helen Raynor's Baker Boys. The series debuted on BBC One Wales in January, and tells the story of a small Welsh community's efforts to beat the recession by buying and running their own local bakery.

[My Baker Boys gallery on flickr] 

[And, for previous coverage of Eve filming in Roald Dahl Plass, see my Torchwood 3 and Torchwood 4 sets]

There's a mysterious "shanty town" around the Coal Exchange in Mount Stuart Square. A narrow passageway leads around the building, enclosed in scaffolding, wire mesh, canvas, and the remains of cardboard boxes. It looks like a set for a dystopian drama. Posters repeat a Big-Brotherish slogan, "Happy & Wakeful / Wakeful & Free". Normally when we see this kind of thing around Cardiff Bay, it means Torchwood or Doctor Who are filming. This time, it's a Welsh National Youth Opera production: The Sleeper. Intriguing! 

I don't think I've posted these pics before, as they're from before my flickr and Twitter days. On April 21 2008 I was walking along the Mermaid Quay boardwalk and saw something attached to the metal grill covering the Torchwood "tourist information centre". On closer inspection, it turned out to be a sweet fan tribute to the recently-departed characters Toshiko and Owen. This was shortly after TW S2 finished airing in the UK. These were the first mementoes I'd ever seen posted on the "Hub door". They disappeared shortly afterwards, and I didn't see any more that year. The grill was temporarily removed for the Children Of Earth filming in the autumn. In July 2009 CoE aired and, not long after Day 4, the tributes started again. This time they kept coming....

It's always fun, on a busy day in Cardiff Bay, to watch groups of tourists pause to read the mementos posted on the "Torchwood shrine". I wonder what visitors make of it, assuming that most of them aren't fans, and many probably have never heard of the show, or only remember it vaguely. It's been almost 2 years, after all, since Children Of Earth aired for the first time on BBC One. 

[Hi-res image also available on flickr]

"We call them Lego Doppelgangers. Or Legangers."

A few pics from the fantastic Doctor Who Experience at Olympia. The exhibition hall is packed with monsters and costumes from the programme's "BBC Wales years". But my inner 8-year-old most enjoyed the late 70s and early 80s stuff. In those days, us Cardiff kids went to Longleat for this kind of thing. 

Trees are appearing mysteriously quickly outside the new BBC Doctor Who studios in Cardiff Bay. The above photos were taken less than a day apart. Is Steven Moffat installing treeborgs? Is this the start of a green invasion? We must be vigilant!

(Yes, I know it's technically not Lego, merely a "Lego-compatible" product. And, by the way, the stickers for the windows and police box signage were very fiddly to apply, so don't tell me they're not straight :)

Still a work-in-progress, the front of the new BBC Doctor Who studios now resembles a plywood castle wall. Nice colours at sunset.