A group of RTS Wales members visited Celtic Prop Hire in early October, and saw items used in top TV shows, including BBC One’s Doctor Who, for which Celtic supplied various props in the current series.

Established in 1999, the Cardiff-based company supplies productions across the UK. Other recent credits include BBC's The Coroner and Sherlock as well as Sky 1's Stella.

The company also supplies a lot of props to the BBC’s Drama Village in Cardiff Bay, including for the long-running medical series Casualty.

Natalie Rolley took members on a guided tour of the extraordinary range of items held by Celtic Prop Hire, which are grouped together in scenes. “This helps clients because the need for realism usually leads them to think of additional items,” she said.

There is a marked seasonal demand for some props, with intense competition between production companies and theatre groups at Halloween and Christmas. “A lot of schools are producing Les Misérables at the moment, so we get a lot of requests for muskets and tankards,” said Rolley.

One of the more unusual items kept by the company is a gigantic WC, although “there’s not much demand for that”, she conceded.

RTS Wales members also examined the vast range of TV sets kept by the company, from the earliest post-war models to the latest flat screens.

At the end of the visit, members were treated to an imaginary banquet, featuring goblets, false grapes and a centrepiece wild boar’s head.