Pobol y Cwm


Pobol y Cwm is a Welsh language soap opera which has been produced by the BBC since October 1974. The longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, Pobol y Cwm was originally transmitted on BBC Wales television and later transferred to the Welsh-language station S4C when it opened in November 1982. During its time on BBC Wales it was shown on English transmitters of BBC1 usually on Tuesday afternoons at 15:20; however BBC Wales did not reshow it in this slot, instead they generated Testcard G with music to fill the gap.
Apart from Rugby specials, Pobol y Cwm is consistently the most watched programme of the week on S4C, and in 1994 was briefly shown across the whole of the United Kingdom on BBC Two with English subtitles.
Four episodes are produced each week. These are broadcast at 20:00 between Mondays and Thursdays. The Friday episodes were dropped in 2019, and an hour long episode airs every Wednesday instead. In addition, a weekly omnibus with in-vision English subtitles airs on Sunday evenings.
On 25 September 2019, the soap hit a significant broadcasting landmark when it aired its 8,000th episode.
On 18 March 2020 it was announced that filming for Pobol y Cwm would be suspended in the light of the spread of COVID-19 until further notice. The decision was made after the latest government update. The number of episodes being broadcast would be also be reduced to two a week "so that we can ensure the audience can continue to enjoy Pobol y Cwm in their homes for as long as possible." The episodes would be shown on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the usual time slot

Setting

The setting for the show is the fictional village of Cwmderi, located in Gwendraeth Valley, which is between Carmarthen and Llanelli in south-west Wales.
Whilst much of the show's early activity took place at a nursing home, storylines are currently centred on the village pub, Y Deri, and its adjacent small businesses and houses. Other frequent settings for storylines include the comprehensive school, Ysgol y Mynach, and a local farm, Penrhewl. There are two other fictional villages close to Cwmderi, named Llanarthur and Cwrtmynach.
Originally filmed at Broadcasting House, Cardiff, since 2011, the programme has been filmed at the BBC's drama studios at Roath Lock in Cardiff Bay, other than a few on-location shoots around Cardiff. The exterior outdoor high street of Cwmderi was recreated from scratch, while many interiors are shot inside the Roath Lock Studios.

Present characters

This includes characters who have been in the habit of returning after a long absence.
CharacterActorYears
Megan HarriesLisabeth Miles1974-1996, 2002-2003, 2011-
David 'Dai' AshurstEmyr Wyn1978-1984, 2001-
Ieuan GriffithsIestyn Jones1988-1992, 1995-1997, 2000-2011, 2019-
Eileen WaltersSera Cracroft1989-1996, 1998, 2007-
Lisa MorganBeth Robert1990-1991, 1996-2000, 2019-
Hywel LlywelynAndrew Teilo1990-
Cassie Morris Sue Roderick1991-2004, 2018-
Iori DaviesHugh Thomas1991, 1993, 1995, 1997-1999, 2002, 2018-
Sioned ReesEmily Tucker1993-1996, 2007-
Kathleen 'Kath' JonesSiw Hughes1993-2007, 2014, 2017-
Mark JonesArwyn Davies1993-
Rhys LlywelynJack Quick1997-2001, 2008-2012, 2014-2015, 2018-
Diane Ashurst Victoria Plucknett1998-
Jason FrancisRhys Ap Hywel1998-2007, 2015-
Sara ThomasHelen Rosser Davies1998, 2000-2008, 2015-
Anita PierceNia Caron1999-
Mai 'Em' MorrisMirain Evans2000-2004, 2020-
Britt MonkDonna Edwards2002-
Garry MonkRichard Lynch2002-
Iolo WhiteDyfan Rees2002-2005, 2007, 2009-
Siôn WhiteJeremi Cockram2002-
Gwyneth JonesLlinor ap Gwynedd2003-
Kelly EvansLauren Phillips2003-2007, 2009, 2015-
Ffion Llywelyn Bethan Ellis Owen2004-
Aaron MonkOsian Morgan2006-
Dani Monk Elin Harries2007-
Eifion RowlandsArwel Davies2007-
Colin EvansJonathan Nefydd2008-
Gaynor LlywelynSharon Roberts2008-
Esyllt 'Izzy' EvansCaryl Morgan2008-2010, 2012, 2019-
Gwern JonesElis Lloyd Hughes2010-
Arwen WhiteEvie Rose Jenkins2012-
Richard 'DJ' AshurstCarwyn Glyn2014-
Esther LlywelynEira Adoh2016-
Mathew PriceMark Stuart Roberts2016-
Tyler DaviesAled Llyr Thomas2016-
Ifan FrancisIoan Arnold2017-
Greta Davies-WhiteBella Marie Dennis2017-
Seren MonkMaggie Edith Taylor2017-
Huwi-John ProbertWil Owen2018-
Jaclyn Parri Mali Harries2018-
Gerwyn ParriAled Pugh2018-
Tesni ParriLois Meleri-Jones2018-
Guto ParriOwain Huw2018-
Brenda ParriSharon Morgan2018-
Luned HughesRhianna Loren2019-
Dylan EllisGareth Jewell2019-
Llio JonesMiriam Isaac2020-