Fflur’s series Yr Amgueddfa was recently nominated in the best TV drama category at the BAFTA Cymru Awards 2022. This is the third nomination for the series, which was recently nominated for both an RTS Cymru Award and a Celtic Media award. The series continues to sell internationally, and has sold to Britbox in America and Canada, AXN Mystery in Japan, and EITB in the Basque Country. Season 2 will start on S4C and the BBC iPlayer in January 2023.
Original new drama Yr Amgueddfa (The Museum), created and written by Fflur Dafydd, begins on S4C and the BBC Iplayer on Sunday, May 30. The drama, based around the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, will offer viewers a brand-new genre – the art crime thriller – for the first time on the channel.
DELLA HOWELLS (Nia Roberts) is a successful woman – a faithful wife to her husband ALUN (Steffan Rhodri) and a mother to two children DANIEL (Samuel Morgan-Davies) and MAGS (Mared Jarman). She has just accepted the post of director general of the museum and life is good.
On the same night that she is celebrating her new job in a party at the museum, she meets a young man CALEB (Steffan Cennydd), who has come along as the guest of her gay son Daniel. Della is totally entranced by Caleb and falls into a passionate relationship with him.
But Della soon discovers that Caleb has some more sinister reasons for beginning a relationship with her as she becomes embroiled in the dark and dangerous world of art crime.
ITV Studios company Boom Cymru (15 days, Parch) is producing the drama, which stars some of Wales’s best-known actors including Nia Roberts (Y Gwyll/Hinterland, Bang, The Crown, Craith/Hidden), Steffan Rhodri (Gavin and Stacey, A Very English Scandal), and Sharon Morgan (The Library Suicides, 15 Days).
There are also some new faces in the cast including BAFTA Cymru Breakthrough nominee Steffan Cennydd (The Pembrokeshire Murders, Craith/Hidden, Enid a Lucy), who stars as Caleb, and Samuel Morgan-Davies and Mared Jarman playing Della’s children, Dan and Marged.
Nia Roberts said that she was delighted to be offered the role of Della: “As an actor, when you reach your 40s, it’s really unusual for someone to send you a script where you play the main part. You tend to play the mother, wife or sister. I just think the lives of middle-aged people are really interesting! And it’s so great to play a woman in her late 40s who is strong and complex but also a woman who feels that sex is still a big part of her life.”
Steffan Cennydd is reluctant to say too much about his character Caleb as much of the drama centres on his actions and his mysterious past. He said: “When we first meet Caleb in the early scenes he seems perfectly ordinary but, I think discovering Caleb’s history and what makes him take the decisions he does is the real drama of the series.”
The Museum starts at 9pm, this Sunday, May 30th, with all six episodes available to stream on S4C’s on demand service and the BBC Iplayer with English subtitles.
This week sees the publication of Fflur Dafydd’s first Welsh-language book in ten years. Lloerganiadau (Y Lolfa) is a collection of the author’s memories of childhood and her teenage years in Ceredigion under the light of the moon. This is Fflur’s first book since Awr y Locustiaid in 2010. Her award-winning novel Y Llyfrgell (2009) was developed into a popular film, Y Llyfrgell (The Library Suicides).
Fflur Dafydd says:
“It’s a collection of personal essays – not an autobiography as such, but writings on periods of time in darkness or by moonlight which are the backdrop to every story. It varies from discussing a child’s experience of being lost in the dark and a teenage girl going on an adventure with her boyfriend to a tired mother, awake all night feeding her baby. There are also writings about female astronauts, films, wild parties and friendships. There aren’t many creative non-fiction works in Welsh about the lives of ordinary women and their relationships with other people.”
“My parents have moved away from Llandysul now, so it feels like the end of an era and I felt an urge to record it. Somehow my research on the moon (for a play to be performed at the National Eisteddfod) merged with my personal memories, and allowed me to look at different periods in my life through the phases of the moon. The idea of recording my childhood has been at the back of my mind for years.”
Fflur Dafydd’s play Lloergan was written for the National Eisteddfod in Tregaron –and followed a woman from Tregaron going to the moon in 2050. This book isn’t the same as the play but it certainly provides context. Following the safety restrictions put into place because of the Coronavirus, the Eisteddfod was postponed, with the hope that both it and the play will happen next year.
Fflur Dafydd is a freelance writer and musician. Her second Welsh-language novel, Atyniad, won the Prose Medal at the National Eisteddfod in 2006, and she won the Daniel Owen Memorial Prize in 2009’s National Eisteddfod wth Y Llyfrgell, later released as a film in 2016. Her novel Twenty Thousand Saints won Hay Festival’s Most Promising Author Award in 2007. She is the creator and scriptwriter of the popular S4C drama Parch and she has scripted other TV programmes such as 35 Awr and 35 Diwrnod, and has received many BAFTA Cymru nominations. A new series by Fflur Dafydd Yr Amgueddfa (The Museum) is being filmed at the moment, and will be on S4C next spring.
Lloerganiadau by Fflur Dafydd is available now (£9.99, Y Lolfa).
35 Diwrnod, S4C
This week Fflur’s thriller series “35 diwrnod’ returned to S4C and BBC iPlayer. Fflur was nominated for a Bafta Cymru for her work on the spin off series “35 awr” in 2019 and now she’s back as writer for the fifth series 35 Diwrnod: Parti Plu (35 Days: Hen Party).
Beth (Gwenllian Higginson) and her husband to be Dylan (Geraint Todd) are going to have a wedding that promises to be second to none. With 35 days until the big day, everything is in place: the designer dress, vintage bunting, a sushi buffet and guests to die for.
On the guestlist is the old gang from school – the best friends all together again for the first time in five years. A lot has happened in that time – so how do they now come to terms with this and rekindle that relationship?
Fflur said: “The story opens with a group of women (and one man) in a wedding dress fitting, 35 days before the wedding. At the heart of the story is the fact that this group have known each other since they were young but there are tensions in their friendship following something traumatic that happened five years ago.”
The series has already garnered some great reviews, and was featured in the Sunday Times ‘Critics’ Choice’ section on Sunday, April 26th, commended for its “funny and bold” script. Welsh TV critics Dylan Wyn Williams and Sioned Williams have also praised the series, with Dylan Wyn Williams noting that it “could be one of the best of the successful 35 brand yet” while Sioned Williams said on Radio Cymru that the series “offers great entertainment and keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
35 Diwrnod continues this Sunday at 9pm, available on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer with English subtitles.
Since the first series in 2014 the brand has won several Bafta Cymru awards and has been adapted into English for Channel 5 as 15 Days. It has also sold internationally and is now available on Britbox in America and Rialto Channel in New Zealand.
Ella Peel (Katie), Angharad (Emmy Stonelake), Bethan (Gwenllian Higginson) and Rhian (Fflur Medi) at the hen party shot in Tenby.
Filming has finished and post-production work is well under way in the latest series of the popular crime drama 35 Diwrnod (35 Days) which will air on S4C from Sunday, 26 April at 9.00pm.
Last year the iconic S4C brand changed from 35 Diwrnod to 35 Awr with all the action happening over 35 hours in a country hotel. The writer Fflur Dafydd was nominated for a Bafta Cymru for her work on the series and now she’s back as writer for the fifth series 35 Diwrnod: Parti Plu (Trans: 35 Days: Hen Party).
Beth (Gwenllian Higginson) and her husband to be Dylan (Geraint Todd) are going to have a wedding that promises to be second to none. With 35 days until the big day, everything is in place: the designer dress, vintage bunting, a sushi buffet and guests to die for.
On the guestlist is the old gang from school – the best friends all together again for the first time in five years. A lot has happened in that time – so how do they now come to terms with this and rekindle that relationship?
Fflur Dafydd tells us a little bit more about the drama which runs over six episodes: “The story opens with a group of women (and one man) in a wedding dress fitting, 35 days before the wedding. At the heart of the story is the fact that this group have known each other since they were young but there are tensions in their friendship following something traumatic that happened five years ago.”
“Also, we become aware that one of the friends is absent, but we don’t know what has happened to her. Is she still alive? Where is she? There is an element of mystery from the very beginning surrounding this wedding and there is a tension there which we don’t quite understand but becomes more obvious during the series.”
“There will be a body, like every other series of 35. At the beginning of the first episode, we see a veil in the water, and a girl lying face down. We know from the outset that there has been a murder and we work back from there – as we do with every other series of 35. But despite the whodunnit element – I think with this particular series that the characters and their secrets become far more compelling.”
S4C’s Director of Content Amanda Rees said: “The ‘35’ brand has been very successful for S4C and is now one of the channel’s most iconic series. The production company Boom has succeeded in capturing the imaginations of our viewers and kept them on the edge of their seats through working with top Welsh talent both in front of and behind the camera. I am delighted that this exciting and innovative drama is returning to S4C this spring.”
Since the first series in 2014 the brand has won several Bafta Cymru awards and has been adapted into English for Channel 5 as 15 Days. It has also sold internationally and is now available on Britbox in America and Rialto Channel in New Zealand.
Producer Paul Jones of Boom said: “The challenge with every series of 35 Diwrnod is not only to create a new and interesting world but to once again come up with new ways of killing people!
Also, in the latest series, if you notice, it is not completely clear who the corpse floating in the sea is. So the viewer has an extra task this time, not only to work out who the murderer is but also to play the game and try to work out if it is the bride’s corpse floating on the sea or someone else?”
Fflur has been nominated in this year’s BAFTA Cymru Best Writer Category, for her thriller series 35 AWR. She is up against TV giants Andrew Davies (LES MISERABLES) and Russell T Davies (A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL). All three have a long and shining history with the BAFTA Cymru Awards. This is Fflur’s second writer nomination and the 8th nomination for one of her productions, including nominations for her feature film THE LIBRARY SUICIDES and beloved Welsh-language drama PARCH.
A special BAFTA Cymru screening of the final episode of Fflur’s series 35 awr took place on Sunday night, 24th of February, at yr Egin in Carmarthen. There was a Q&A with members of the cast and key creatives – Fflur (writer), Paul Jones (producer) and Rhys Powys (director.) Gillian Elisa was thoroughly entertaining in talking about the creation of Val and Jâms Thomas also spoke about the amount of time spent in make-up creating the burnt-out Haydn. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive – read the final reviews from The Killing Times and Wales in the Movies here:
On Sunday, 24th February 2019 at 7:30pm, the final episode of Fflur’s thrilling series 35 Awr (35 Hours) will be screened at Canolfan S4C Yr Egin, Carmarthen, in partnership with BAFTA Cymru.
Boom Cymru and S4C will present the final installment of the eight-part series that is set in a jury room, featuring 12 people deliberating over a murder case.
Fflur herself is a multi-BAFTA Cymru-nominee (best writer for The Library Suicides, best drama series for Parch) and the series stars the likes of Gillian Elisa (Craith) Lisa Marged (Parch, Wolfblood) and Jâms Thomas (Torchwood, Gwaith Cartref).
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with cast and key creatives.
Public tickets can be reserved here.
Follow the series every Sunday at 9pm on S4C and catch up with episodes you may have missed on the iplayer.
Hartswood West, ScreenSkills and BBC Writersroom Wales have joined forces to find two up-and-coming TV writers with a strong connection to Wales. Part-funded by the ScreenSkills High-end TV Fund, Fflur and writer Alan Harris will receive a six-month bursary to develop original drama ideas. Following this, they will be given the opportunity to present their work to the BBC. Additionally, they will benefit from expert advice and guidance from established Welsh screenwriters Russell T Davies (A Very English Scandal, Doctor Who) and Cath Tregenna (Torchwood, Law & Order) as part of the scheme.
The writers were chosen following a rigorous selection process, during which they had to pitch their submitted idea to a judging panel, which included Ben Irving (Drama Commissioning Editor for Wales, BBC) and Brian Minchin (Executive Producer, Hartswood West).
Fflur said: “Having long admired the work of Hartswood Films, it’s fantastic to finally get an opportunity to work alongside them to develop a really exciting pitch. I am very passionate about Welsh representation on screen, and am always eager to divert from the easy stereotypes to show the rest of the world how funny and quirky and diverse Welsh people are. I entered this programme because I’m invested in creating a really engaging Welsh story which will connect with audiences across the UK, and it’s wonderful to have someone as experienced as Russell T Davies overseeing the creative process.”
Kaye Elliott, Director of high-end TV for ScreenSkills said: “ScreenSkills is dedicated to developing talent and crew across the whole of the UK. We are very pleased to support this new scheme with the High-end TV Skills Fund, enabling talent to grow in Wales. We look forward to seeing how Fflur and Alan develop their work in the next six months.”
Helen Perry, Development Producer at BBC Writersroom Wales said: “Wales harbours real TV drama writing talent and the Hartswood West Scheme confirms this. The competition was tough. But I’m delighted for Alan and Fflur. I can’t wait to see their work come to life, hopefully on BBC Network TV, very soon.”
Brian Minchin, Executive Producer at Hartswood West said: “Fflur and Alan are ambitious, talented, and bursting with ideas. Wales has long been a great place to make TV and with fantastic writers like Fflur and Alan making their voices heard it will surely stay that way.”
This week the third episode of Fflur’s thrilling crime drama ’35 hours’ (35 awr) will be broadcast. The series has been dubbed by TV critic Sioned Williams as “a sophisticated, contemporary drama that is extremely compelling,” and was described by BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens as “wonderful – tense, funny, twists, great plot, brilliant acting.”
You can read further great reviews below from Wales in the Movies and The Killing Times TV. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a rollercoaster!
Wales in the Movies – read here
The Killing Times TV – read here
Get the Chance – read here
35 Awr
Sunday 9.00pm, S4C
English subtitles available
Available to watch on-demand at s4c.cymru, BBC iPlayer and other platforms
A Boom Cymru production for S4C