Fiction mirrors fact in National Gallery drama

A television drama called Framed will be shown on BBC One this evening. In the programme, Quentin Lester played by Trevor Eve, is a curator at the National Gallery in London charged with overseeing the safe transportation and storage of precious paintings in a Welsh mine after the Gallery is flooded. Framed is based on Frank Cottrell Boyce's novel of the same name (which was first published in 2005).

The National Gallery closed its doors to the public in September 1939 because of the threat posed by German bombing. The Gallery's vast collection was transported to safer parts of the British Isles. Much of the collection ended up in Wales.

In 1940, with the increased threat of bombing in Wales, it was decided to move the treasures once more. After much searching Ian Rawlins, the National Gallery’s scientific advisor, decided Manod Quarry, a slate mine, would make a suitably secure home for the paintings in September 1940. It took approximately a year to convert the mine to its new use, and then transport the paintings by rail to the mine.

Entry to the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery next door is free. Visitors to London can learn more about the galleries, Leicester Square, Covent Garden and the British Museum with the Museums, Galleries and Performing Arts, Walk Talk Tour. To hear an audio sample from the tour please click here.

On Friday, figures published by England's official tourism board, Visit England, revealed that in 2008 the National Gallery was the third most visited free visitor attraction in the country behind the British Museum and Tate Britain. The National Portraity Gallery was the ninth most visited free attraction in England. According to the BBC news website "the survey included visitor entry numbers for 1,684 attractions in England for 2007 and 2008".

There are five Walk Talk Tours of London which listeners download to their iPod, iPhone, MP3 player or cell phone. Each of the London audio guides is available in French, German, Spanish, and of course, English. And each guide is a mine of information, if you will pardon the pub.

Customers can buy one tour and get a second free by entering the following promotional code in the shopping basket page: BI123.