As the classic science fiction series Doctor Who celebrates its 60th anniversary, we are taking our own trip back in time to when Tom Baker’s TARDIS paid a visit to a Powys landmark.

In 1980 Welshpool’s Powis Castle served as a unique backdrop for an episode of Doctor Who during Tom Baker’s tenure as the Fourth Doctor, however the setting of the castle was captured and used in a very unorthodox way.

First broadcast in November, 1963, in the series the Doctor travels across space and time but behind the scenes the show has travelled all over the world to film, including in Mid Wales.

Due to a creative shooting decision, despite the Powys landmark being the main backdrop to the episode, the actors themselves never set foot in the castle's grounds.

In late summer 1980, TV director Paul Joyce was contracted to work on a story arc named ‘Warriors’ Gate’, in Tom Baker’s final season as the Doctor.

County Times: Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor wandering through a space between universes (Powis Castle).

Part of the story is set in an otherworldly castle between universes, outside of time and space, where the Doctor becomes entangled in the plight of a group of time-sensitive aliens being pursued by slavers.

As director, Joyce made a radical decision to portray the space between universes, shooting all of these sequences with the actors performing against a green-screen, compositing them onto a castle backgrounds in at a later date.

Reportedly inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1946 version of Beauty and the Beast, Joyce chose to shoot the backgrounds as black and white still photographs, providing the 12th century castle with an eerie atmosphere.

A researcher from the National Trust added that Joyce chose Powis Castle as the source of his background images because as professional photographer who had published a book about the landscapes of Wales, he already knew the area well.

County Times: Doctor Who companions Romana and K9.

The researcher said: “The result created a beautiful and otherworldly quality that makes it stand out from other studio-bound productions of the same date.”

Baker’s tenure as the Doctor lasted from 1974 to 1981, the longest in the show’s history, with his adventure set against Powis Castle being one of his final outings as the Time Lord.

The episode was also notable for being the last appearance of Lalla Ward as companion Romana and the last regular appearance of the Doctor’s iconic robotic companion K9 until the 2006 episode ‘School Reunion’.

Do you remember seeing the Doctor Who episode set against Powis Castle? Email news@countytimes.co.uk with your memories.