{"id":9048,"date":"2021-02-01T00:26:30","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T23:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9048"},"modified":"2021-02-01T00:26:30","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T23:26:30","slug":"la-la-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9048","title":{"rendered":"La La Land"},"content":{"rendered":"

Play Hard Work Hard<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

La La Land<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

ITV recently showed a three-part short series The Pembrokeshire Murders<\/em>, based on the real-life story behind the conviction of serial killer John Cooper.<\/p>\n

The series, which included a cast led by Luke Evans<\/em><\/strong> and Keith Allen<\/strong><\/em>, showed the brilliance of Welsh storytelling, and offered ITV its biggest drama launch in five years. It has even led to the reopening of further cases previously deemed unsolved.<\/p>\n

The Pembrokeshire Murders<\/strong> <\/em>was the first time in a while a television drama led by an all-Welsh cast had been so successful; for many it felt like the first time they\u2019d heard so many authentic Welsh accents in a crime drama since BBC One Wales released Keeping Faith <\/em>in 2017.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet, there may be a reason for this. Although an abundance of TV shows and films are filmed in Wales, very few are actually set here and include Welsh characters.<\/p>\n

We all want to see iconic Welsh locations shown on our screens, but very few shows filmed in Wales which may be shown worldwide are, in fact, set here. Although there are many brilliant Welsh programmes on our screens, very few will make it to homes outside of Wales.<\/p>\n

There has been some change, at least, in the past few years. In 2008, the BBC launched the \u2018Beyond the M25\u2019 initiative, to solidify a more sustainable production base across the nation, in an attempt to \u2018bring production closer to the audiences they serve\u2019.<\/p>\n

Shows like Hinterland, Keeping Faith <\/em><\/strong>and The Pembrokeshire Murders <\/em><\/strong>have been testament to the telling of incredible, Welsh-centric stories. When The Pembrokeshire Murders <\/em>launched on January 11, it saw an immense 6.3 million viewers, with a third of people watching television across all channels tuning in to the first episode.<\/p>\n

Keeping Faith <\/em>saw around 9 million BBC iPlayer downloads after its initial Welsh-language release earlier in 2017 and prompted the BBC to show the programme on all BBC One channels across the UK, as opposed to simply BBC One Wales, as was the case when it first aired.<\/p>\n

Programmes such as Belonging <\/em>and Baker Boys <\/em>have since been forgotten but were further examples of the representation of Welsh communities from a fervently Welsh lens.<\/p>\n

Wales does get some representation on our television screens. However, the problem is that it is often kept to one character, or the programmes depicting Welsh life and culture are shown only in Wales.<\/p>\n

A lack of representation is an issue for many groups, and so a lack of representation of Welsh life and\u00a0culture should, of course, not take precedence over more representation for other groups, though it does feel important.<\/p>\n

Often, it seems as though we rely on channels like S4C and BBC One Wales alone to provide authentic Welsh representation.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll often see Welsh characters in television and film, but it seems as though the roles go to actors from other countries, leading to dodgy accents and a personality filled with stereotypes.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, even within shows written by Welsh writers, such as Russel T. Davies\u2019 Years and Years <\/em>on BBC One, and his upcoming Channel 4 drama It\u2019s a Sin<\/em>, only one Welsh character is shown in each. It\u2019s better than nothing, and at least the actors in both shows truly are Welsh, but it feels slightly as though this was a battle Russell T. Davies had to fight.<\/p>\n

Even without talking about dramas, Wales can often feel like the butt of the joke for showrunners eager to get ratings. ITV\u2019s most recent series of I\u2019m A Celebrity\u2026 Get Me Out of Here! <\/em>was filmed in Gwrych Castle in North Wales, and ahead of its release ITV were warned of the impact of using cheap Welsh stereotypes to fuel its script.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the public were listened to and ITV were sure to give Ant & Dec Welsh lessons and stereotyping was rare. There were, of course, the odd annoyances, such as the Joker\u2019s poor attempt at a generic Welsh accent and the whole \u2018Tecwyn\u2019 fiasco, but on the whole it was respectable.<\/p>\n

Although Wales is the smallest of the four nations, with only 3.1 million residents, it can still seem unfair to limit our screen time. For a nation which is used as the backdrop for hundreds of stories, it seems unfair we don\u2019t often get to use those backdrops for stories of our own. Have you seen <\/em>the quality of the Mabinogi? A series on them alone could gain you millions of viewers, I\u2019m telling you.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the success of The Pembrokeshire Murders <\/em>could indicate to TV bosses that Welsh storytelling is just as valuable as any other nation. If a show set in Wales with a Welsh-led cast can attract such a large viewership, there\u2019s incentive there to commission more programmes; I\u2019m sure Michael Sheen would be happy to be part of a show if the problem was a famous lead!<\/p>\n

As a country part of the four nations, with so much history and culture, Wales is bursting at the seams with stories to share. It\u2019s time we started seeing more of them.<\/p>\n

Tirion Davies<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Play Hard Work Hard La La Land ITV recently showed a three-part short series The Pembrokeshire Murders, based on the real-life story behind the conviction of serial killer John Cooper. The series, which included a cast led by Luke Evans and Keith Allen, showed the brilliance of Welsh storytelling, and offered ITV its biggest drama launch in five years. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[274],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6cWjO-2lW","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4241,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=4241","url_meta":{"origin":9048,"position":0},"title":"ST DAVID – WALES AND BEYOND","author":"Alan Williams","date":"27th February 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"ST DAVID - WALES AND BEYOND St David was born in Pembrokeshire around 500 AD to Sant, a prince of Cardigan, and St Non, the daughter of a chieftain. Little is known about his life. He was brought up near Aberaeron and is said to have been baptised by St\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe History Group"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe History Group","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=40"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2939,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=2939","url_meta":{"origin":9048,"position":1},"title":"School News","author":"Alan Williams","date":"31st March 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 As always, school life is so busy and enjoyable. St David\u2019s Day was a wonderful celebration for us \u2013 the children looked fantastic in their Welsh national costumes, with a mixture of Welsh shirts and traditional dress. All pupils entered various competitions, including story writing and art. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gwenfo Primary School"","block_context":{"text":"Gwenfo Primary School","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=58"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3629,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=3629","url_meta":{"origin":9048,"position":2},"title":"Why I’ve Learned Welsh","author":"Alan Williams","date":"25th August 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Up until this year, I primarily considered Welsh to be a nag from teachers, an unnecessary complaint to get me to listen. Of course, I always understood that there was an element of importance in my ability to speak Welsh. 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The Welsh link was so strong that the city\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Steelworks.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12022,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=12022","url_meta":{"origin":9048,"position":4},"title":"Place Name History -BRO MORGANNWG","author":"Alan Williams","date":"4th August 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"THE MEANING AND DERIVATION OF PLACE-NAMES BRO MORGANNWG - VALE OF GLAMORGAN There are two patterns in English which convey a Welsh place-name such as Bro Morgannwg - namely \u2018Vale of Glamorgan\u2019 and \u2018Glamorgan Vale\u2019 (cf Ogmore Vale, Ebbw Vale, Merthyr Vale etc). This second pattern is the exact equivalent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11443,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=11443","url_meta":{"origin":9048,"position":5},"title":"Gwenfo School News March Notes","author":"Alan Williams","date":"17th April 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Gwenfo School News March Notes This month we are celebrating the huge generosity of our school community. With just a short deadline our wonderful families and wider community donated over 200 boxes worth of clothing, food and medical supplies to send out to Ukrainians who have fled to Poland.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Gwenfo Primary School"","block_context":{"text":"Gwenfo Primary School","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=58"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9048"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9049,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9048\/revisions\/9049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}