SECRET BEHIND TV’S SCARY ‘HIDDEN’ HOUSE
IT’S the chilling Welsh drama that’s reduced many of us to watching from behind the sofa. The story of the police investigation sparked by the body of a missing girl turning up in a disused quarry, Hidden has had viewers desperately trying to guess what was going to happen next.
The series was largely filmed against the beautiful but eerie backdrop of some of this country’s most incredible scenery – from Snowdonia to the Brecon Beacons and Anglesey.
But there’s one place that is particularly creepy.
Be warned, those of you who have not watched all of it, this contains spoilers from here on in. This is the eerie woodland lair belonging to the series’ kidnapper and killer, Dylan Harris, and his mother.
A cross between Emmerdale and something out of The Blair Witch Project , the run-down slate-roofed stone cottage, framed by skeletal tree branches, practically screams “a murderer lives here” and, as a result, the writers of Hidden let the identity of their chief villain be known from the get-go.
But in real life who could possibly live in a house this scary? Well, nobody does, as it turns out.
The creepy cottage was purposebuilt from scratch for the show’s filming – a fact made even more amazing by the way it was made to look so dreary, damp and as though it had been in that dank spot for years. The show is a BBC Wales/ S4C joint production.
What we do know, though, is that it was constructed on private property – though the exact location has been kept secret.
That said, the scenes filmed in the cellar were shot in another location altogether – because, let’s face it, building a house to order must have been hard enough, let alone digging and concreting a basement, too.
What we’d really like to know, though, is whether or not there are any plans to lease it out as a holiday let at some point.
Because, while blood-curdling and cobwebby it may be, we can think of plenty of Hidden fans who’d happily spend a night there scaring themselves silly. HERE’S where you can find the other key locations featured in Hidden:
Quarry, Blaenau Ffestiniog: Dylan Harris’ (Rhodri Meilir) workplace is actually set in the heart of north Wales’ quarries. It’s set at Zip World’s Llechwedd Slate Caverns.
Lowri’s parents house, Rhyd Ddu: Nurse Lowri’s (Lois Meleri-Jones) parents Ruth and Aled lived at this remote farm house at the foot of Snowdon.
It’s from this spot that Dylan Harris tries to kidnap Lowri at the end of episode two.
Café on the A498 Tremadog: We see this old school-looking roadside café in the first three episodes.
It’s where Cadi and Vaughan go for coffee in episode one and in the second episode, Dylan spots the young nurse Lowri Driscoll and follows her from there.
In episode three, Cadi and Vaughan go back to the petrol station to try to look at the CCTV footage.
The café itself is a favourite with bikers and climbers.
Ynys Castell, Anglesey: This absolutely stunning location is where Cadi’s dad, Huw John (Ian Saynor), lives and where Cadi and her two sisters were brought up after their mother died.
In reality, Ynys Castell is a beautiful holiday home and is on an island in the Menai Strait. You have to cross a tidal carriageway to get there.
Bangor University: The makers of Hidden used the stunning university buildings to their utmost – it featured in the university scenes with Megan (Gwyneth Keyworth) before she gets taken by Dylan, and also as an exterior and an interior for a hospital.
Menai Bridge: The unmistakable Menai Bridge is used to full effect in Hidden and looks both grand and lonely when character Megan traipses across it.
The bridge has also been used recently for filming on Doctor Doolittle with Robert Downey Jr.
Henrhyd Falls: The beautiful waterfalls, the tallest in South Wales, were used for the gripping and shocking opening scenes where Mali Pryce is stalked by her kidnapper.
The stunning, yet eerie, location has also been used in Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.
Llanberis house: This housing estate features in almost every episode of Hidden. It’s where Mali Pryce’s father Alun and the man suspected of her murder, Ieuan Rhys, live.
Y Gweithdy, Harbour, Caernarfon: This reclamation yard appears in episode five and is where Dylan and the now imprisoned Endaf Elwy (Mark Lewis Jones) worked.