Posted on 09/02/2024 by Thom
Are you missing Cymru and can't wait until your next Welsh adventure?
There is a word that Welsh people use to describe that exact feeling when they are away from their homeland or, even if they are just not in the town or place they grew up in. That word is ‘hiraeth’.
Now, ‘hiraeth’ is an old word, with no direct translation, but it describes it as ‘an earnest longing or desire, or a sense of regret.’ Other words that could describe the feeling of ‘hiraeth’ are ‘belonging’ or ‘yearning’. Whatever it is, as a Welsh person - or for those who frequently visit Wales - you know it when you feel it.
For those who have moved away, or who make yearly pilgrimages to Welsh shores, coves and nooks for their holidays will feel their own sense of ‘hiraeth’.
But fear not. Did you know that there are many places in which you can see Wales right at your fingertips? Most of us now have the ability to burn through box sets on Netflix or other streaming platforms, and the eagle-eyed amongst you will be able to spot familiar backdrops and places; some subtle, some not so subtle. Let us take you through a journey of shows where you can see Wales in all it's glory.
Many tales told that involve Wales as a backdrop are in the myths and legends category, but the variety of shows which now use our fabulous country as a place for filming is vast. Take some time to check out some of the following great shows.
North Wales on the Small Screen
There are plenty of films and TV shows on a variety of streaming services that allow you to visit the magic and beauty of Wales; to view it through magical scenes captured on celluloid. Here are some of our favourite offerings that will allow you to see Wales in all its splendour without having to even leave your sofa.
Welcome to Wrexham
The first and only place to start is in North Wales, with Welcome to Wrexham.
When Hollywood A-listers Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds first emerged as new potential owners for the world's third oldest football team, Wrexham AFC, the world may have scoffed as neither had any footballing experience. But now, as both actors are an established presence in North Wales, the lure of their celebrity status has had a major impact on the town and the football club. In this 2022 documentary that aired on Disney+, their journey has been captured all the way, perhaps speaking to the true nature of the marketing nouse that both will have, and knowing that their voyage to becoming the owners of Wrexham could be leveraged to bring sponsorship and notoriety to the club.
'Welcome to Wrexham' can be viewed on demand on Disney+:
https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/series/welcome-to-wrexham/4NwOxyDF4T3A (Welcome to Wrexham)
Additionally...
Ryan Reynolds was also a guest on the David Letterman Netflix series 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction'. In series 4, aside from family, upbringing and his Hollywood fame, Ryan dedicates several key minutes talking about Wrexham, the club and Wales as a country.
The episode can be found as episode 4 of season 4 of the Letterman series, which can be viewed on-demand on Netflix:
https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80209096 (My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman)
Requiem
A joint venture between the BBC and Netflix, Requiem is set in a fictional town in Wales called Penllynith. However, special locations were chosen as the backdrop for this psychological thriller, including Newport Pembrokeshire, but also Dolgellau in North Wales.
'Requiem' can be watched in full on both Netflix and BBC iPlayer:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05td61g (Requiem)
The Crown
More one for the *inspired-by-history* buffs, here, but the third series of the popular global show ‘The Crown’, and its first with Oscar-winning Olivia Coleman playing the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, focuses two of the 10-episode season on parts of Welsh history; namely the Aberfan disaster - set in South Wales - as well as Prince Charles’ university education in Aberyswyth, culminating in his investiture as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle.
Where many productions have so often faltered or merely glazed over events of the past, the American-owned Netflix actually do a very good job in its portrayal of both slices of Welsh history, firstly, capturing the emotion and devastation of the 1966 Aberfan mining disaster, where 116 children and 28 adults were tragically killed when the local colliery tip collapsed causing a landslide to engulf the village and with it, the local school where many of the young victims never returned home from.
Secondly, in the episode entitled ‘Tywysog Cymru’ or ‘Prince of Wales’, Netflix go into grand detail of the politics and undertones, as well as the culture and language of Wales in an episode that shows a younger Prince Charles struggles not only to learn Welsh as part of his investiture requirements to take on the title of the Prince of Wales, but also to find his place in the royal family.
Both episodes can be found as part of season 3 of ‘The Crown’ which can be viewed on-demand on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80025678 (The Crown)
Cursed
More works inspired by Arthurian legend, Cursed was made by Netflix and released in 2020 to great fanfare. Tied into more Welsh mythology, 'Cursed' follows a teenage warrior Nimue, as she joins forces with Merlin on a quest to save her people, and set herself on the path to her destiny.
Whilst set work was filmed in England, much of the exterior filming was done on location around Wales, owing to the nature of the legends themselves, and the backdrop needed. Many locations in and around Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) were carefully chosen to depict this tale from the times of Arthur.
Whilst cancelled - rather hastily in our opinion - after one season, you can still watch 'Cursed' on Netflix:
https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80199393 (Cursed)
Other Shows with Welsh Locations
Hinterland
Hinterland is not simply shot in Wales, but it is actually set in Wales too, in and around Aberystwyth and the small towns and villages that surround it in mid-Wales, Hinterland - or Y Gwyll, to give it it’s Welsh name) is an eerie, dark and brooding 4 series detective drama that more than hints at a ‘nordic noir’ theme.
The story is intense and slightly unsettling throughout the entire span of the title but leaves you feeling that you can’t look away from the screen, demanding to see how it all plays out, amidst the stunning and stark backdrop of the mid-Welsh coast and rural countryside.
‘Hinterland’ can be viewed on-demand on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/70305043 (Hinterland)
Gavin & Stacey
Whether you like Gavin and Stacey as a show or not, you’d have to have been living under a rock not to have heard of the colossal BBC show, which spans the lives of the two aforementioned protagonists, and the weaving of their separate lives, one from Billericay in Essex, and the other from Barry in South Wales, under one shotgun marriage. It’s a comedy-fest from many different angles, with enough balance from both sides of the Severn to keep the laughs flowing and the intrigue light, without dispensing with the occasional emotional turn. It launched the star fortunes of many of the cast, not to mention co-writer James Corden’s walk to the global star that he now finds himself on.
Plenty of Welsh references and scenery to behold here, and the colloquialisms will have you in stitches.
All episodes of the series plus Christmas specials can be found on the BBC iPlayer: (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b007nf70/gavin-stacey)
Doctor Who
Travels through time and space with the Doctor are not new, in fact, Doctor Who has been running now for over 50 years.
In 2005, the Timelord series was regenerated by Russell T Davies, a writer hailing from Swansea, and so the show, it’s cast and central filming was relocated to the Welsh capital of Cardiff. Billie Piper and Christopher Ecclelstone were enlisted to jumpstart the long ailing franchise, which they surely did.
The storylines are far-fetched. That’s not a bad thing - they’re supposed to be! But the backdrop is irrefutably Cardiff, and as such, you get to see the capital and parts of Wales as a backdrop to many different settings.
See how many you can spot.
The new series of Doctor Who can be found here, on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/70142441
Torchwood
And following on from Doctor Who, Russell T Davies also created Torchwood (an anagram of ‘Doctor Who’) that he would weave in and out of the ongoing Doctor storylines and sagas. Now whereas Doctor Who was simply filmed in Cardiff, Torchwood was set in the Welsh capital, taking time to make basecamp down ‘the Bay’.
Torchwood was more ‘The Rolling Stones’ to the new Doctor Who’s ‘Beatles’. A much darker and adult type of series, and really not one for the kids. Whereas Doctor Who had always had a reputation for sending kids diving behind the sofa at the mention of Daleks or Cybermen, even post-2005 Doctor Who sometimes pushed the boundaries of child-friendly TV, but Torchwood, was entirely set up to be a grown-up companion series, based in the same universe as the Doctor, but focused on much more heavy-duty themes.
Torchwood fizzled out as Russel T Davies left the Doctor Who project after a few years, and the series moved to feature-length specials, which were mixed in their review. However, by this time, the show had already gained a cult following, and had by the end, left a physical mark on the heart of Cardiff.
SPOILER ALERT: The entrance to the ‘tourist office’ under Roald Dahl pass on Cardiff’s boardwalk - the official ‘entrance’ to Torchwood Three headquarters in the series - was turned into an actual shrine for Ianto Jones’, a central character in the Torchwood series, who met his maker midway through series 3.
Read more about Ianto's shrine here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/iantos-shrine
Torchwood is available for viewing or purchase from Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EU7ZOQ4
Keeping Faith
Keeping up the Eve Myles theme, following on from Torchwood, Keeping Faith has in the last few years picked up the mantle left by Hinterland for Welsh Noir. Set in Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, originally broadcast on Welsh language channel S4C, as Un Bore Mercher which translates as “One Wednesday morning”.
And like Hinterland, it was filmed concurrently in Welsh and English. And whilst set in a fictional town of Abercorran, the backdrop of Laugharne, Carmarthen and even Swansea sets the scenes for this most modern of Welsh thrillers.
You can buy and stream Keeping Faith on Amazon Prime here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Keeping-Faith-Season-1/dp/B07FDXTN2N
Sherlock
Having taken over the mantle of writer-in-chief of the new Doctor Who franchise after the departure of both Russell T Davies, and the show's 10th Doctor, depicted by David Tennant, Steven Moffatt sought to take a break from the relentless writing schedule of the series and weight it carried by... taking on another huge reboot of another loved and prolific series, in that of the Sherlock Holmes novels.
Securing two of the most sought-after actors to fill the roles of the protagonist's, in Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, who play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson respectively, the show's success quickly began to outstrip that of the stuttering, heavy writing that Doctor Who had left in its wake. In fact, that whilst there was source material aplenty, derived from volumes of Sir Arthur Conon Doyle's original texts, Moffatt found freedom to completely jumpstart, or in some cases, modernise and masterfully retell these stories with much more of ease, that it became a source of conflict for 'Whovians', who believed they had been let down by Moffatt, whose attentions seemed to be diverted away from the Doctor, the T.A.R.D.I.S. and the world he was in charge of.
Still, no matter what your allegiance, the undeniably popular Sherlock series continued for 4 seasons with no end - just hiatus - stopping it from returning. But it was in June 2016, that a location and production team took over Tenby's Castle Beach for a day to film St. Catherine's Island and use the fort as 'Sherrinford', an island fortress/prison, said to contain the sister Sherlock, Eurus. Though portrayed as an actual off-shore island in the series finale, 'The Final Problem', once you see it, you know it immediately. The wonders and trickery of the cameras!
Take a look at the entire Sherlock series on Netflix, with 'The Final Problem' coming at the end of the fourth series: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/70202589
Sex Education
Not one for families, this one, but in the last few years, Sex Education has been a runaway success story for the US-based streaming service.
[For obvious reasons, we've not put a trailer in here.]
Based in an ambiguous town, and in a school that bridges 'All-American Highschools' with a quintessentially English cast, all of whom seem to suffer from a severe lack of experience with the birds-and-the-bees.
But there is a very 'Welsh' backdrop to the entire series, with on-location shots being filmed in Penarth, Caerleon and the Wye Valley, as well as in parts of Gloucesteshire. Amongst many scenes the scenes, Moordale high school is shot in a former University of Wales campus, which has been closed since 2016.
Aside from getting hooked on the program itself, you can immerse yourself in beautiful scenery that Wales lends to the series. Put the kids to bed, and take a look for yourself, after the watershed.
You can watch this series (once you've put the kids to bed) on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80197526
This should be enough to keep you going. Happy viewing!