UPDATE: This from the Assembly Commission today: "The National Assembly has carried out a full internal review of the circumstances of the filming of ‘Caerdydd’.
"We can confirm that at no stage of the negotiations about the use of the building for filming, or during the filming itself, was the content of the scene disclosed by the programme makers.
"Despite this setback, the Assembly is committed to being open and accessible to all, including programme makers and we sincerely hope that this does not prevent us from working with responsible companies in future."
And this from S4C: "S4C has looked into the circumstances surrounding the filming of drama series Caerdydd at the Senedd and is satisfied that the production company followed the correct procedures.
"We are confident that Senedd personnel who dealt with this issue were not misled.”
Spot the difference? This is becoming a true mystery.
Straight-laced officials in the National Assembly were shocked that film-makers used the Senedd building to shoot steamy sex scene for a raunchy S4C drama series.
The makers of the series Caerdydd recorded the passionate episode in a baby changing room in the iconic home of democracy, seemingly without the full knowledge of the powers-that be, who thought that they had approved a 'conversation scene'.The programme, Caerdydd, made by Cardiff-based Fiction Factory for S4C, is billed as ‘love and lust at the cutting edge of city life’.
Characters Stephen, an ageing lothario played by award-winning actor Dewi Rhys Williams, and Lea, a 29 year old working at the Assembly, played by former Clwyd Theatr Cymru actress Alys Thomas, were shown in a breathless embrace after locking themselves in what appears to be a toilet at the Senedd.
The baby changing space is part of the public area in the building behind and above the chamber where AMs usually go about their business.
The scene, broadcast last week on S4C, appears to have been filmed without the full knowledge of Assembly Commission authorities who otherwise may have withheld approval.
A statement by the Commission, which runs the Senedd building and is led by presiding officer Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, said: "The makers of 'Caerdydd' filmed at the Senedd on March 14 with the permission of the National Assembly for Wales.
"Permission was granted to film in the Neuadd area, the corridors of the building and for one scene in the baby changing room.
"However the National Assembly was told that this scene was a conversation scene and was not aware of its full content. The company was allowed to film in good faith."
It begs the question whether drama producers would be allowed, say, into the House of Commons to shoot similar scenes in the bosom (oops) of our democracy.
