S4C celebrates 50 years of Pobol y Cwm

On 16 October 2024, the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm reaches a very special milestone as it celebrates fifty years.

Pobol y Cwm – People of the Valley – is a soap opera set in the fictional village of Cwmderi, produced by the BBC since 1974, making it the oldest soap opera produced by the Beeb and one of the longest-running globally.

Initially aired on BBC Wales, it moved to S4C with the channel’s launch in 1982.

Set in the Gwendraeth Valley of southwest Wales, the show was first filmed at Broadway Studios in Cardiff, then at Broadcasting House in Llandaff. Since 2011, filming has taken place at the BBC’s Roath Lock drama studios in Cardiff Bay, with occasional location shoots around Cardiff.

The high street of Cwmderi was meticulously reconstructed outdoors, while many interior scenes are filmed within Roath Lock Studios. Gwenlyn Parry, the first editor, described the target audience as Welsh speakers who might not engage with Welsh language media but live their daily lives immersed in the language.

The show debuted on October 16, 1974, a decade after the establishment of BBC Wales’s television service. John Hefin, the television producer appointed in 1968, recognized the need for a Welsh language drama that catered to Welsh audiences as Coronation Street did for ITV viewers since 1960.

In 1973, Hefin outlined the series’ primary goal as entertainment, requiring a mix of 70% humor and 30% personal and social issues. Parry also emphasized that the series should avoid preaching on language politics, drug evils, sexual dangers, or theological doctrines, instead aiming to develop storylines that, though seemingly trivial, authentically represent Welsh village life. The audience certainly appreciated this approach.

Two days after the first broadcast, the series was discussed at a meeting of the Corporation’s Broadcasting Council for Wales:

“It was felt that this traditional, family serial, with its basic dependence on good characterisation and good scripts, satisfied a definite need among Welsh-speaking viewers.”

The commendations persisted, with Council members acknowledging the scripts’ quality and the characters’ believability, matched by a positive audience reception. Owing to this acclaim, Geraint Stanley Jones, the Head of Programmes for Wales, contemplated creating an English-language drama akin to Pobol y Cwm, although it never materialized.

The show’s popularity soared during the 1970s and 1980s. Gwenlyn Parry, in a 1975 Y Cymro article, stated: “The goal was to create content that Welsh people would watch naturally, not merely because it is Welsh, but because it is captivating. The sort of content that will be necessary to attract viewers to the fourth channel upon its arrival.”

And indeed, the audience did tune in when the series transitioned from BBC Wales to S4C in 1982, and it remains one of the channel’s most beloved and emblematic shows, half a century on.

Pobol y Cwm has been a platform for numerous gifted actors, including Ioan Gruffudd, Iwan Rheon, and Alexandra Roach. Gareth Lewis portrayed Meic Pierce for nearly 40 years, while Lisabeth Miles, who plays Megan Harries, has been part of the series since the first episode and continues 50 years later. Andrew Teilo (Hywel Llywelyn) boasts the longest continuous stint on the show.

Over the years, the series has featured cameos from celebrities like Michael Sheen, Ray Gravell, Michael Aspel, Sir Dave Brailsford, Beti George, Imogen Thomas, and wrestlers Giant Haystacks and El Bandito, as well as Max Boyce.