Casualty should come to Cardiff, says Royal Welsh College
The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama is backing
BBC plans to bring Casualty to Cardiff. The College
recognises that BBC Wales has developed a strong track record in
producing and commissioning high quality network drama - Doctor
Who, Torchwood, Life on Mars, Merlin and
The Sarah Jane Adventures - and bringing Casualty into
this roster will be an important move for the drama production
industry in South Wales.
As one of the UK’s leading drama schools, the
Royal Welsh College has a strong track record of working with the
BBC. A number of graduates of the College are currently appearing
in a wide range of BBC productions - Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon (in
Gavin and Stacey), Eve Myles (in Torchwood and
Belonging) and Jo Joyner (in EastEnders). Other
notable graduates include Sir Anthony Hopkins, Dougray Scott and
rising-star Kimberley Nixon (Cranford)
In addition to a strong acting pedigree, over
a dozen graduates from the College’s highly acclaimed Theatre
Design course are currently working in the Dr Who Art
Department, helping create the magical, other-world settings for
the popular and award winning series.
‘The Royal Welsh College is extremely proud of
its role in helping to promote Welsh talent,’ says Hilary Boulding,
Principal. ‘We believe that Casualty’s proposed move to
Cardiff will further strengthen the BBC’s commitment to high
quality drama production in the region and act as a major economic
catalyst to the industry in Wales. We are currently investing £22.5
million to develop our training facilities and bringing
Casualty to Cardiff is exactly the sort of development
that will be good for the College, good for Cardiff and good for
the whole industry in Wales.’
Sean Crowley, Director of Drama adds, ‘We
already have strong links with BBC Wales as demonstrated by the
number of our graduates currently working on Doctor Who.
Bringing Casualty to Wales will give us the potential to
form even stronger partnerships and opportunities for our students
to progress into the industry. We need the local industry and the
people of Wales to support this plan as the benefits for Wales will
be great and long-lasting.‘