PENARTH is fast becoming a chosen location for television programmes. This week will see the start of the third series of Belonging, a BBC Wales drama set in the Caerphilly.

But a number of sites in Penarth attracted the film crew. Locations such as the Fone Talk shop in Stanwell Road and Stanwell School have featured heavily in this series.

Associate producer Helen Vallis told the Times: "When we saw Penarth, we were amazed at the diversity of looks in the area. We have to choose locations which offer a wide selection, simply because we don't have the time to go around Wales and look for lots of areas. So Penarth is great for us."

The series is growing in popularity, and the third run has gone to ten episodes. In this series, character Ceri Lewis, played by Eve Myles, gets a job in the new shop opening in the town. Both inside and outside of the shop were filmed in Penarth.

Helen Vallis added: "It was very difficult to film so that people wouldn't recognise the familiar clock on the roundabout. And while we were filming scenes inside, we had people trying to come into the shop to look around."

Stanwell School is used for quite a few scenes, including one outside a hospital. A Bed and Breakfast in Cambridge is actually filmed in Westbourne Road.

Actor William Thomas, who plays quiet William James, should also be a familiar face to Penarthians. William lives in Westbourne Road.

Regular viewers of the programme will be eagerly awaiting the start of series three, as tensions rise over Will's son Owen's sexuality. But even those who have never seen the programme will be able to catch up on the happenings in Caerphilly.

With its new slot of prime-time television, the third series looks set to be another smash for the BBC.

The first episode is broadcast on Friday January 18, BBC 1 Wales at 9.30pm.