| Genre: | Drama |
| Creator: | Siwan Jones |
| Producer: | Paul Jones |
| Director: | Gareth Bryn Lee Haven-Jones Rhys Powys Dylan Richards |
| Starring: |
|
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | Welsh (main language) English (partly spoken) |
| Num Series: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 16 |
| List Episodes: | List of Alys episodes |
| Executive Producer: | Jon Williams |
| Editor: | Dafydd Hunt |
| Location: | Barry, Vale of Glamorgan • Brecon • Cardiff |
| Camera: | HD video (film look) Single-camera setup |
| Runtime: | 50 - 55 minutes |
| Network: | S4C |
| Company: | Apollo[1] |
| Composer: | Strange Village |
Welsh: Alys is a Welsh television drama series, created by BAFTA Award-winning scriptwriter Siwan Jones and produced by Apollo and Boom Cymru. It was broadcast on Welsh-language television channel S4C from 23 January 2011 to 30 December 2012, lasting two series. The leading protagonist of the series is portrayed by Sara Lloyd-Gregory, in a role which was specially written for her.[2] [3] Supporting cast include William Thomas, Aneirin Hughes, Gillian Elisa, Shelley Rees, and Kate Jarman. The story revolves around a young woman who flees Cardiff, with her 10-year-old son, trying to escape her troubled past, while her dark secrets eventually begin to surface.
The programme was well received by audiences and attracted high viewing figures for S4C, notably during the first series. It has since been nominated for numerous awards; in 2012 and 2014 it was nominated for Best Drama Series at the Celtic Media Festival, while in 2013, it received a total of eight nominations at the BAFTA Cymru Awards, winning three, including Sara-Lloyd Gregory receiving the award for Best Actress.
The story of the series is centred around the character Alys as she moves to a small town in West Wales with her 10-year-old son Daniel after fleeing her troubled life in Cardiff; she plans to start a new life and does anything she can to make ends meet and that Daniel is looked after. This includes criminal activity, such as stealing and prostitution. Her son has a dream of one day moving to America and becoming an astronaut and Alys will see that his dream is fulfilled. In her new surroundings, she is met with hostility from several of the middle-class locals, as she is judged for her background. However, she manages to make friends and is accepted by certain people within the area.
Welsh: Alys was created and written by Siwan Jones, whose work as a writer earned her a BAFTA Cymru Award and a Rose d'Or for her critically acclaimed television series Tair Chwaer and Con Passionate.
The idea for Welsh: Alys came to Jones while she was shopping in a small West Wales town. She watched as a group of people carried some furniture as she walked from the car park towards the town. Behind them was a dark tunnel which led into the heart of a building; while they were walking, some children followed along and as she watched on, this triggered the image for the series with became Welsh: Alys. Jones' idea which started there was to create two worlds; one of working-class people such as the shop owners in a small town; and the others who were unemployed and struggled to make ends meet, such as Sara Lloyd-Gregory's character, 'Alys'. She aimed to show how different these two worlds are and yet how similar they also are.
The role of the main protagonist, Alys was written especially for actress Sara Lloyd-Gregory,[4] providing her the opportunity to play in her first leading role.[5] She had met Jones in 2009 and had collaborated with her in the third and final series of Con Passionate, and was initially in mind to play the leading role in Jones' then-upcoming new drama series, Alys. Gregory admitted that, to her knowledge, she did not know that the leading role was written for her, which was a good thing, as she still had to audition and would have probably felt more pressure.[6] This was also Gregory's first bilingual role.[7] William Thomas, was chosen to play the part of Wiliam,[8] the alcoholic ex-minister, and Aneirin Hughes received the role of Toms, both of whom Gregory had appeared alongside on Con Passionate. 23-year-old Rhuddlan-born actress Catrin Mai Hue was chosen for the role of Ceri, an 18-year-old woman with a bleak outlook on life. Hue admitted that she was a "huge fan of [Jones]" and she was thrilled to have been given the chance to work on a drama written by Jones. Hue was currently residing in Cardiff when filming the first series.[9] Ifan Huw Dafydd, who also appeared in Jones' Con Passionate, was cast as in the series as Ron, an overweight, financial consultant who hides a disturbing, dark secret. Huw Dafydd was required to wear a fat suit to play the part.[10]
New additions for the second series included Cardiff-based actor Paul Morgans of, who appeared as Dylan,[11] while Carys Eleri was cast as Llio, Dylan's wife. Richard Harrington and Gareth Jewell were also cast in the leading roles of Simon and Phil respectively.
Welsh: Alys was created and entirely written by Siwan Jones. Paul Jones was the producer for the entire run, while Jon Williams served an executive producer. For the first series, Gareth Bryn directed the pilot episode and episode two; with Lee Haven-Jones and Rhys Powys directing subsequent episodes, respectively. Most of series two was directed by Powys. Dylan Richard served a director for one episode, while the remaining episodes were directed by Paul Jones.[12]
The first series of Welsh: Alys commenced production in the summer of 2010, while the second series went into production in March 2012 for Apollo TV.[13] The programme was filmed on location primarily in Cardiff, Brecon, a small town within Powys, and Barry, a seaside town in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Road2Reel, a company which provides vehicles for film, television and advertising purposes, supplied the series for its entirety for stunt work, action and background vehicles. In addition, they provided on-set mechanics, vehicle modification and logistical vehicle movement services.
See main article: List of Alys episodes.
Alys, a young mother arrives at a small town in West Wales, having escaped her troubled past in Cardiff, involving the death of her brother from a drug overdose and her boyfriend who died in a car accident. She is determined to see that her ten-year-old son, Daniel is well provided for. Daniel has a dream of one day moving to America to become an astronaut and Alys will stop at nothing to see that his dream comes true. Upon her arrival, she moves into a flat rented from Eirwyn Toms, owner of a local garage. Alys will do all that she can to make ends meet; including robbery, blackmail and prostitution, with Toms becoming a regular client. Within the building where Alys lives, she makes several new friends with her neighbours; brothers Kevin and Shane and Kevin's girlfriend, Ceri, a troubled young woman who was raped and got pregnant by her attacker. Alys forms a close friendship with Wiliam, an ex-minister and alcoholic who lives upstairs, while their friendship is frowned upon by Wiliam's nephew, Iestyn. Several people in the area do not exactly take a liking to Alys, this includes Toms' wife, Heuwen who refers to Alys a "trailer trash" and especially Angie, the wife of local chef, Chris, whom Alys begins an illicit affair with. Angie becomes aware of the affair and informs Alys that it is not the first time he has played away. Debbie, the owner of the lingerie shop below the flats discovers that Alys has stolen several items from her shop. When Debbie's husband, the town mayor, Ron offers Alys and Ceri a job cleaning his home, Debbie warns Alys to stay away. Debbie soon makes a shocking discovery when she uncovers Ron's secret – his laptop contains pictures of young girls and that Toms and Ron are both in on it. Alys comes to realise that she has more to worry about than what the town thinks of her; she and Wiliam track down the taxi driver, Terry, who raped Ceri and they are determined to make him suffer. However, Alys is unprepared for him when he later attacks her. Not only does she have problems with Terry, it is later revealed that Heulwen is her aunt, her mother's sister, and when Ron's house is robbed, Alys becomes in possession of his laptop and discovers the pictures. She holds onto the laptop and demands a ransom. She is viciously assaulted by Toms and later, two thugs whom Ron has sent to take care of her and retrieve the laptop which is now missing. When the thugs arrive to find that Alys is not there, they attack Wiliam leaving him for dead. While Wiliam is in hospital she reveals that she caused her boyfriend's car accident and later without her knowledge, Wiliam is discharged from hospital and is threatened by Iestyn to stay away from him. Ceri plans to attend the funeral of a teenage girl who was recently raped and murdered and when she arrives at the girl's home she finds it empty with only Terry inside. Meanwhile, Toms has a deceitful plan to burn down the garage to collect the insurance and enlists the help of Shane to do the deed. While Alys and Daniel lay on the floor of Wiliam's empty flat, Daniel reveals that he had the missing laptop all along and had it hidden for safe-keeping, much to her relief. Soon they hear an explosion in the distance and see that Toms' garage is on fire.
The second series features more of a supernatural subplot. Alys, now having discovered that the laptop was hidden by Daniel, confronts Debbie and blackmails her into giving her cash in exchange for the laptop. Following the explosion at the garage, Shane demands money from Toms for committing his deed. Ceri's body is dumped in a nearby stream. Twelve months pass; the whereabouts of Wiliam are still unknown until he suddenly arrives and moves in with Alys. Alys has moved into a house opposite Bessie, Kevin and Shane and they are unaware of her deceit in concealing that she returned the laptop for a large sum of money and is worried that she may be discovered once Debbie and Ron return from a holiday in Spain. Alys is determined to uncover the truth behind Ceri's murder and is aware that Terry, the taxi driver is behind it and is going to make him pay. Meanwhile, Heulwen, unable to pay the mortgage on her home, following Toms' bankruptcy and his breakdown, is forced to live in a caravan in her back garden, while receiving frequent visits from Alys, whom she has revealed to be her aunt. A young couple, Dylan and his pregnant wife, Llio decide to rent the unoccupied home, while Dylan is not pleased that Heulwen is living in the garden. Llio believes that a supernatural entity is within the house when unexplainable things begin to happen. Dylan is not convinced of this. However, Heulwen reveals that it may be the ghost of her deceased daughter, Sara. Chris becomes jealous when Simon, an old school friend of Angie's moves to the area, and becomes convinced that Simon is obsessed with her. Bessie's son, Phil arrives, having been recently released from prison for murdering his girlfriend; he begins to fall for Alys, and while the feeling is mutual, she suddenly begins to have doubts when Martin, the brother of Phil's deceased girlfriend appears and begins to torment him, forcing Alys to make a difficult decision as to whether she can trust Phil.
Welsh: Alys premiered on Welsh-language channel S4C on 23 January 2011, available with English subtitles. It aired on Sundays at 9.00pm with the episodes repeated Thursdays at 10.00pm. Series 1 consisted of eight episodes and concluded on 13 March 2011. However, television drama fans were given the chance to preview the first episode days before it was aired on TV. The previews took place in Llandeilo's Civic Hall on Monday 17 January at 7.30pm, Bangor University's JP Hall on Tuesday 18 January, and Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon on Friday 21 January. Following the screening, the audience discussed the show and asked questions to the panel connected with the series, including Siwan Jones, Sara Lloyd-Gregory and producer Paul Jones.[15] [16]
The second series of Welsh: Alys premiered on S4C on Sunday 11 November 2012 at 9.00pm, with repeated episodes airing from Wednesday 14 November 2012 at 10.00pm.[17] This series included eight episodes, concluding on Sunday 30 December 2012.
The show was broadcast in high-definition on Welsh freeview channel S4C Clirlun, which was available only in Wales.[18] However, this operation ceased and the final five episodes of series 2 could only be screened in standard-definition on the original channel as S4C Clirlun closed on 1 December 2012.[19]
As of 2019, the series has not been repeated on S4C, nor is it available on home media.
Both series were made available to watch online in the UK after the television broadcast, on VOD service S4C Clic, for 35 days only.[20] on 29 April 2019, series 1 was made available for streaming on the Clic service (UK only) - for the first time since the original screening.[21] It expired on 26 September 2019. On 16 October 2019, series 2 became available to stream on Clic.[22]
A third series of Welsh: Alys has not been commissioned. Although it may not have officially been cancelled, it is currently unknown if the series will return, despite the fact that viewers were left with an unresolved cliffhanger. In a 2013 interview with the Wales Arts Review, Sara Lloyd-Gregory commented: "At the moment, there isn’t talk of another series of Alys. We had the best time with both series and the BAFTA is definitely the icing on the cake for me, to finish with such a high level of recognition is more than enough. Never say never, though. It would be nice to release the Alys part of me again, who knows!".[23]
| Title | Air date | Total viewers (UK) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | ||||||
| 1 | Pennod 1 | 23 January 2011 | 61,000 | 7 | 22,000 | 3 | 83,000 | [24] [25] | |
| 2 | Pennod 2 | 30 January 2011 | 53,000 | 9 | 15,000 | 1 | 68,000 | [26] | |
| 3 | Pennod 3 | 6 February 2011 | 71,000 | 6 | 19,000 | 2 | 90,000 | [27] | |
| 4 | Pennod 4 | 13 February 2011 | 65,000 | 6 | 26,000 | 2 | 91,000 | [28] | |
| 5 | Pennod 5 | 20 February 2011 | 49,000 | 11 | 42,000 | 2 | 92,000 | [29] | |
| 6 | Pennod 6 | 27 February 2011 | 42,000 | 14 | 19,000 | 5 | 61,000 | [30] | |
| 7 | Pennod 7 | 6 March 2011 | 49,000 | 10 | 12,000 | 6 | 61,000 | [31] | |
| 8 | Pennod 8 | 13 March 2011 | 42,000 | 10 | 27,000 | 2 | 69,000 | [32] | |
| Title | Air date | Total viewers (UK) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | ||||||
| 1 | Pennod 1 | 11 November 2012 | 44,000 | 8 | 6,000 | 5 | 50,000 | [33] | |
| 2 | Pennod 2 | 18 November 2012 | 39,000 | 12 | 21,000 | 5 | 60,000 | [34] | |
| 3 | Pennod 3 | 25 November 2012 | 39,000 | 9 | 4,000 | 5 | 43,000 | [35] | |
| 4 | Pennod 4 | 2 December 2012 | 37,000 | 15 | 3,000 | 10 | 40,000 | [36] | |
| 5 | Pennod 5 | 9 December 2012 | 35,000 | 10 | Not available | 35,000 | [37] | ||
| 6 | Pennod 6 | 16 December 2012 | 27,000 | 20 | 19,000 | 5 | 46,000 | [38] | |
| 7 | Pennod 7 | 23 December 2012 | 33,000 | 17 | Not available | 33,000 | [39] | ||
| 8 | Pennod 8 | 30 December 2012 | 37,000 | 13 | 7,000 | 5 | 44,000 | [40] | |
| Year | Association | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | BAFTA Cymru | Production Design | Gerwyn Lloyd (episode 1) | |||
| Photography & Lighting | Rich Wyn (episode 1) | |||||
| Original Music | Strange Village (episode 2) | |||||
| Writer | Siwan Jones (episode 8) | |||||
| Director: Fiction | Gareth Bryn (episode 2) | |||||
| Celtic Media Festival | Bronze Torc Award for Best Drama Series | Alys (series 1) | ||||
| 2013 | BAFTA Cymru | Photography & Lighting | Rich Wyn (series 2) | |||
| Writer | Siwan Jones (series 2) | |||||
| Actress | Sara Lloyd-Gregory (series 2) | |||||
| 2014 | Celtic Media Festival | Bronze Torc Award for Best Drama Series | Alys (series 2) |
The opening title used for the first series of Welsh: Alys was basically a simple title and music played of about five seconds, as there were no traditional opening titles that included cast names. The theme tune for the series was used over the opening. Although it could be heard in full over the end credits. In the first episode, the title appeared before the opening scene. All subsequent episodes included a recap at the beginning of each episode just before the title.
For the second series, a more contemporary version of the opening title was used and again of just five seconds with the theme much played. The title font was changed and below it saying "gan Siwan Jones" (from Siwan Jones). For the first episode of series two, an extended recap of events from series one was shown just before the opening title. Following the title, the events from the final episode of series one were seen in a flashback mixed with the opening scene. Following this episode, the opening title was now shown before the recap. The recap sequence for series two was screened in a 2.35:1 ratio and the theme music was also changed slightly.[41]