I was watching 'The Time of Angels' episode yesterday. If you excuse the predictable moments in which solitary and naive looking guardsmen where killed by the 'Weeping Angels' like the red-shirts from Star Trek, it was actually one of the rare episodes to which I was glued... and what's more it had notable geology for me to attempt to impress my girlfriend with!
I instantly recognised the filming location from the near-perfect horizontal bedding in the cliffs in the background of the post-titles scene. What was the planet of 'Alfava Metraxis' to Dr who, is the beach of Ogmore, South East Wales, to me. It's worth a visit for its excellent Carboniferous limestone cliffs and platforms which jutt out to sea. This limestone dates back about 335 million years to a time when Wales was situated close to the Equator and was covered by warm, shallow tropical seas.
Dr Who made excellent reference to the two-headed Aplans which inhabited 'Alfava Metraxis' but sadly he overlooked the rugose corals and large brachiopod fossils that were under his feet!
Above: The Aplan Temple in the Carboniferous Cliffs. Screenshot from 'The Time of Angels'
Left: The cliffs as seen at Ogmore
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Left: Rugose Solitary Coral
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The large brachipod Delepinea Photo Source
More information on Ogmore & its geology:
BBC South East Wales Walks
Ogmore-by-sea geological website
Photographers Guide to Ogmore
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