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'Doctor Who' writer Russell T Davies in planning row over zip wire 'whizzing screaming people' past his windows

Embargoed to 0001 Monday May 13 File photo dated 14/1/2019 of Screenwriter Russell T Davies wishes his late mother could have seen his success with Doctor Who.
Screenwriter Russell T Davies is not happy about the proposed zip wire for Cardiff Bay (Credit: PA)

Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies is furious about plans to build a zip wire outside his home.

The creator of BBC drama Years and Years has written to Cardiff City Council objecting to proposals to install a 360 metre wire across Cardiff Bay, as it will be “impossible” for him to work with "screaming" people "whizzing past my home".

Davies, 56, said: “My property will be facing a seven-day-a-week zip wire with 48 people an hour whizzing past my home and screaming for six months of the year. Are you kidding? I write for a living.”

The Welsh writer goes on to take part credit for the successful redevelopment of Cardiff Bay as a tourist destination, as he brought cult BBC show Doctor Who to be filmed in the city.

Read more: Russell T Davies prefers doing "one-off series" after Doctor Who

He continued: “I'm a television scriptwriter; I brought Doctor Who to Cardiff in 2005; the BBC Studio, Roath Lock, across the Bay, was built under my aegis.

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 18:  A woman rides the Zip World zip wire over Archbishop's Park on July 18, 2017 in London, England. The zip wire is 35 metres high at its highest point and 225 metres-long making it the world's biggest and fastest city-centre zip line.  (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
The City Zip company already run a zip wire attraction on London's Southbank (Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)

"That facility brings, from Doctor Who alone, £24m of business per annum to Cardiff. But you're now suggesting that I sit, in my Cardiff home, and write, with 48 people an hour flying past, screaming, for six months of the year.

"That facility brings, from Doctor Who alone, £24m of business per annum to Cardiff. But you're now suggesting that I sit, in my Cardiff home, and write, with 48 people an hour flying past, screaming, for six months of the year.

Read more: Russell T Davies: Casting Emma Thompson was a dream come true

"One person screaming past my windows would be a one-off event. It could even be fun! But 48 people per hour, eight hours a day for 24 weeks equals a grand total of 64,512 events.

"That's 64,512 events. Let me say it again. 64,512 people. Whizzing past my flat. Screaming. While I am working.

"This is impossible."

The City Zip Company - who are already taking bookings for the Cardiff attraction on their website - propose to build the wire from the top of the five-star St David's Hotel to a landing spot next to the historic Norwegian Church across the Bay, with a view to open next month.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JULY 09:  BBC America Senior Vice President of Programming Richard De Croce (L) and writer Andrew Davies speak onstage at the "A Poet in New York" panel during the BBC America portion of the 2014 Summer Television Critics Association at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on July 9, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California.  (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
BBC America Senior Vice President of Programming Richard De Croce (L) and writer Andrew Davies in 2015 (Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Among the other Cardiff Bay residents objecting to the zip wire are screenwriter Andrew Davies, famous for his BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and more recently Les Miserables.

Andrew, who lives in an eighth floor apartment next to the St Davids Hotel looking out over the bay, said: “I am a writer and I need peace and quiet for my work. This scheme would mean that screaming idiots would whiz past my apartment 48 times an hour.

"The other main reason for having this apartment is to sit on the balcony and enjoy the calm and tranquil view out over the bay. Some hopes!

"I paid £350,000 for my apartment and this zipwire, if it goes ahead, will render it worthless to me.

"Please abandon this reckless and unneighbourly venture."