A CHRISTMAS tree, an ambulance, Dickensian choir and an explosion were some of the sights on view in Barry on Monday (July 22).

Cast and crew of BBC One Wales production Casualty cordoned off King Square for more than 12 hours to film a festive-themed episode for the long-running medical drama.

Residents and shoppers, who spent all times of the day viewing the action and non-action, witnessed the centre of Barry in Christmas decoration mode on one of the hottest days of the year with cast seeking shade during breaks in filming.

Fans also got a possible taste of a developing story-line as various props and scenes appeared to give a good indicator of where certain characters’ futures may lie.

Actors Charlotte Salt, who plays Sam Nicholls, the speciality registrar in emergency medicine, and Oliver Coleman, who plays Tom Kent, the speciality doctor in paediatric emergency medicine, were also on location and signed autographs for onlookers.

The popular series is now in its 27th season and scenes have increasingly been filmed in the town since the Roath Lock television production facility in the Porth Teigr area of Cardiff Bay was completed in February 2011.

Locations already featured in the drama include Gibbonsdown and Barry Island.

BBC drama productions at the studio include Doctor Who and Pobol y Cwm as well as Casualty.

A show insider said: “Filming the Christmas episodes during the summer is always quite tricky, but trying to film the Christmas episode on one of, if not the hottest day of the year, made it extra challenging.”