Pobol y Cwm



A Welsh-language opera sebon produced and broadcast by The BBC, Pobol y Cwm ("People of the Valley") takes place in the fictional village of Cwmderi, in southwest Wales.

Most episodes center on the small businesses and houses surrounding the village pub, Y Deri, and local farm Penrhewl. In addition to the native characters, the show also features incomers from across Wales, with various accents and abilities in Welsh, and even the occasional sais wandering in from England and looking around in terror.

Pobol y Cwm began broadcasting in October 1974, making it the longest-running Soap Opera produced by The BBC. It is also broadcast to British armed forces members serving overseas through BFBS TV.

You can watch it with subtitles through BBC iPlayer and check out the online extras here (English website), and yma (y wefan Cymraeg).


 * Adult Fear: One child's regular babysitter slaps him, and steals money and alcohol from the house. She coldly blackmails the boy into not telling his parents until he develops night terrors and bedwetting.
 * British Accents: There is a distinct difference between North and South in Wales, which characters love to point out.
 * Channel Hop: In 1994 from BBC2 to S4C, where it remains the channel's most watched show.
 * Drugs Are Bad: Nationwide money laundering schemes are nothing compared to one accidental tablet of ectasy.
 * Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Played straight and averted. Gaynor makes the right choice for herself, but errs when she lies to her partner about the pregnancy and abortion, and tries to manipulate others. Teenager Lois wants to keep her baby, and the changes it will mean for her relationships and education are discussed. The show spells out clearly that advice should come from medical professionals (contact information is provided on the website) and not internet blogs.
 * Gold Digger: Sioned.
 * Hide Your Lesbians: Averted hard. Three members of the leading cast are out and the show featured a marriage storyline, same-sex civil unions being legal in the UK.
 * Law of Inverse Fertility: Of course, it is a Soap Opera after all.
 * Lipstick Lesbian: Yvonne and Gwyneth.
 * Long Runner
 * Manipulative Bitch
 * Mistaken for Junkie
 * Stigmatic Pregnancy Euphemism: Lois' mother, the village headmistress, keeps her out of school with "gladular fever" when she gets pregnant. Once classes end for the year, she's too busy "revising for her exams" to see friends.
 * Invisible to Gaydar: Scott and Alun, both in the closet.
 * Teen Pregnancy
 * Villains Out Shopping: Garry Monk is a thug and a criminal, but he's also a loving father.
 * Your Cheating Heart