BBC Wales BBC Wales ( known in Welsh as BBC Cymru ) is the Welsh division of the British Broadcasting Corporation . Although based in and around Cardiff , it also operates from other sites in Wales , including one at Aberystwyth University . It operates the Welsh regional variants of BBC One and BBC Two . However , the bulk of its employees are concerned with the production of new content . As sole producer . BBC Wales makes television programmes in both the English and Welsh languages . It is the largest BBC production centre outside London . Some of what the channel has produced has been for consumption throughout the whole of the UK , but much of it is only broadcast within Wales . Around 2003 , the BBC successfully untangled the rights issues surrounding " Doctor Who " , which had plagued the possible return of the program for most of the 1990s . BBC Wales became the production base for a new , televised version of " Doctor Who " and its behind - the - scenes companion , " Doctor Who Confidential " . After these shows proved successful , BBC Wales added the spin - off shows " Torchwood " , " Torchwood Declassified " , " Totally Doctor Who " , " The Sarah Jane Adventures " , " Doctor Who Extra " and " Class " . This heavy output of material related to the Whoniverse prompted the largest expansion of production facilities in the division ' s history . In 2006 , BBC Wales leased a site at Upper Boat in Pontypridd , where they constructed studio space entirely dedicated to the production of " Doctor Who " and its spin - offs . Called simply " BBC Studios " , the site is ten times as large as the rest of BBC Wales ' studio space in Cardiff and the largest studio complex in Wales . In 2012 , BBC Wales ' studio space moved to Roath Lock , in the Cardiff Bay area . BBC Wales has not restricted the production of " Doctor Who " and its spin - offs to Welsh facilities , however , as both " Doctor Who " and " Torchwood " have utilised other British Isles locations and BBC Wales - sponsored " Doctor Who " production has also taken place abroad . To date this had included the United States ( for second unit work on " Daleks in Manhattan " and primary shooting in " The Impossible Astronaut " / " Day of the Moon " and " The Angels Take Manhattan " ) , Rome ( " The Fires of Pompeii " ) , Croatia ( for the Series 5 episodes " The Vampires of Venice " and " Vincent and the Doctor " ) and even the United Arab Emirates ( " Planet of the Dead " ) . Despite the centrality of " Doctor Who " to BBC Wales ' production output , the division has turned out a wide body of other work , mostly for consumption in Wales itself . , its Welsh language soap opera , , had been on the air for 42 years . Its longest - running English language drama , — co - starring Eve Myles for a time — lasted ten series . As commissioning agent . Like its BBC parent , BBC Wales can opt to pursue another production path . Instead of making the programmes themselves , they have an ability to commission programmes from other producers . This arrangement allows them to share both risk and reward with the contracted producer . Comparatively little of its Welsh language output is produced through such arrangements , but most of the programmes it shares with the national BBC are in fact commissioned work . Among the more famous commissioned BBC Wales programmes are : ( created by Russell T Davies and starring David Tennant , with Nina Sosanya and Shaun Parkes ) , ( co - created by Matthew Graham and starring John Simm , Marshall Lancaster and Liz White ) , ( starring Colin Morgan , Anthony Head , Angel Coulby , Richard Wilson and John Hurt ) , and ( created by Toby Whithouse and starring Russell Tovey , Lenora Crichlow and Sinead Keenan ) . In the summer of 2009 , " Merlin " became the first BBC Wales - commissioned series to air on a mainstream American network when its first series was shown on NBC , while " Life on Mars " and " Being Human " were subject to Americanised remakes .