TV drama: how Wales portrays itself
A couple of years ago an article in Wales Arts Review (1) slammed Welsh broadcasters and production companies for exploiting Wales and its excellent TV production facilities without ever attempting to give an in-depth portrayal of the country for a global audience.
Gareth Leaman, in an article about the popular series called “Sex Education”, complains that the makers of the show have used Wales for their locations but have “stripped out” all mentions of Wales, presumably because they judged that any hint of “Welshness” would have reduced its sales potential and viewer appeal. He complains that "the filming of a major television series in Wales, but not setting it there, is somewhat problematic in that it has necessitated a complete erasure of any political or cultural resemblance to this country.” He goes on to say: "Welshness isn’t profitable: it has no value to international capital, and therefore has no cultural worth beyond (or even inside) its borders.”
Leaman broadens his attack, and says: "Ironically this is, in many ways, actually a perfect summation of ‘official Welsh culture’ at present: no real representation of ourselves on screen; a superficial idealisation of the natural landscape; exploitation of crumbling socio-political structures. Wales as a hyper-real netherworld in which decaying infrastructures can only be used as props to tell other people’s stories.”
And he is not the only critic. Sam Parry, angered by the MTV series called “The Valleys”, has also pointed out that on the rare occasions they appear on international screens, the Welsh are portrayed as "simple, poor, indolent and unable to cope on their own.”
In spite of the modest success of Celtic Noir dramas in recent years, there have been many criticisms of the main broadcaster (BBC Wales) and the Welsh Government for failing to promote Wales effectively through TV and film. More than ten years ago a report coordinated by the University of Glamorgan (2) repeatedly made the point that the term "landmark television" appears to have morphed itself from the idea of flagship TV programmes ABOUT Wales into the idea of flagship programmes MADE IN Wales. In 2015 the Institute of Welsh Affairs complained that "Series such as Dr Who and Sherlock have been great international successes, and have brought economic benefit to Wales, but they have not contributed to representing Wales to the rest of the UK.” (3)
In a more recent article Nia Jones complained: “Apart from the occasional Welsh accent in Casualty or mention of Wales in a small number of Doctor Who episodes, by and large, these dramas are set “elsewhere”. They do not directly represent a Welsh way of life. Even if Wales’s beauty is seen as an asset by BBC producers, Welsh issues have not been deemed worthy to commission shows for national audiences.” (4)
The head of BBC Wales, Rhodri Talfan Davies, and Head of Content Sian Gwynedd, have said very similar things on numerous occasions, and have protested that something must be done about it. But nothing HAS been done, and they are the ones in control. It is still the case — and still a cause for concern — there there has never been a landmark costume drama TV series set in Wales and made in Wales for a global audience (5).
In his 2017 Raymond Williams lecture, Michael Sheen (6) noted that our broadcasters feed us very largely on a British diet when much more of it should be specifically Welsh, if the identity of the nation is to be protected and even enhanced.
“Why does Wales hide its identity when Scotland and Ireland flaunt theirs with pride?” That’s a fair question, and it deserves a response. The answer may lie in the timidity of the Welsh Government, which has placed great stress on building the Welsh TV industry and promoting Wales as a country in which to work on the telling of other people’s stories. Many successful TV series have recently been made in Wales, but few of them are stories ABOUT Wales. (There are notable exceptions, including Hinterland and Keeping Faith.). In spite of requests, Ministers have refused to follow the example of Ireland, which declares that in assessing applications for financial support, “strong preference" will be given to projects that "tell Irish stories, drawing on and depicting Ireland's culture, history, way of life, view of the world and of itself.” In contrast, the Welsh guidelines simply say “When selecting projects the depiction of Welsh cultural content – Wales and Welsh life - whilst not essential, will be considered.” (7) As we know, this feeble guideline, in almost all cases, is simply ignored.
In Prof Martin Johnes's book on Wales and its "colonial relationship" with England (8), he argues that the portrayal of colonial exploitation is far too simplistic. We cannot blame our English neighbours for everything, least of all for their distorted perceptions of Wales. Wales is, and always has been, more a participant in a complex social, economic and political game than a suffering victim. I would argue that exploiters will always get away with murder if that is what they are allowed to do by the rules then in force -- and that Wales is in some respects its own worst enemy, lacking in self-confidence and conniving in the creation of its own stereotypes.
So by and large, I agree with the points that Gareth Leaman and others have made. Wales makes valiant efforts to “sell itself” through the work of Visit Wales, but the marketing efforts are undermined by the “dumbing down” of Welsh TV programming and the failure of the Welsh Government to insist that the Welsh story is effectively told for a global audience.” Film Maker David Ball has said: "Wales will not nurture a domestic industry and will not have the opportunity to inform the world of its history until the culture of money making is succeeded by the need to maintain its cultural identity.” (9) TV producers Ed Talfan and Roger Williams have both said that the application procedure for funds from the Welsh Media Investment Budget is so onerous and prescriptive that they, and other small companies, prefer to have nothing to do with it.
It’s clear that in his Wales Arts Review article, Leaman is being highly critical of not just the TV production companies and the broadcasters but the politicans and the Welsh Government itself. In Wales, in spite of some modest recent progress, it appears that we still lack both the motivation and the expertise to effectively sell ourselves to the outside world.
NOTES
(1) https://www.walesartsreview.org/sex-education-accidental-e…/
(2) Blandford, S., Lacey, S., McElroy, R. and Williams, R. (2010) Screening the Nation: Wales and Landmark Television, Report for the BBC Trust/Audience Council Wales. ISBN: 978-1-84054-248-6.
(3) Welsh Affairs Committee – Inquiry into Broadcasting in Wales, December 15, 2015Written evidence submitted by the Institute of Welsh Affairs (BIW 17)
(4) “We’re seeing plenty of Welsh locations in BBC dramas – one day they may be shows about Wales.” Nina Jones, The Conversation, March 2nd, 2018
(5) “We will need to think hard about how we can strengthen our support for national and regional self-expression.” Rhodri Talfan Davies, Director, BBC Wales
“A national broadcaster should have something to say, not just something to make. " Ruth McElroy
"We should press for more and better content and programming made for Wales, in Wales and about all aspects of Welsh life, including our culture and heritage.” Ken Skates, Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure 2016.
“The BBC Wales programming schedule has failed to capture and explore adequately the lives and experiences of Welsh communities.” Christine Chapman AM.
(6) In his 2017 Raymond William lecture, Michael Sheen claimed that the people of Wales are being short-changed by the broadcasters, who feed us largely on a "British" diet when much of it should be much more specifically Welsh. That is not to argue that Wales should be more introverted or parochial. He suggested that unless the current situation changes, the broadcasters will be complicit in the campaign to write Wales out of history and to deny Wales a recognition of its own character and its own narrative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbVdA7zS8dE&feature=share
(8) Martin Johnes, 2019 “Wales - England’s Colony?” Parthian, 200 pp.
(9) David Ball and others have expressed great concern about the management of very big Welsh Government budgets for the support of the film and TV industries in Wales, and the control exerted by Pinewood Studios. Since 2010 one scandal has followed another:
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/films-welsh-government-gave-12m-13944789
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-44081643
https://brian-angelmountain.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-pinewood-deal-money-down-drain.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4816916/Ex-BBC-execs-paid-1-3m-despite-making-loss.html
and there has been more severe criticism quite recently from the Welsh Assembly Public Accounts Committee:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-47231099?mc_cid=7d425cb298&mc_eid=e8544fd014
Writer and publisher
3 年Yes, there must be many thousands of Welsh ex-pats with their own special stories, sometimes heroic and sometimes tragic. Visit Wales tries to reach out to them, with a very limited budget. But the easiest way to strengthen the bonds and to promote the reputation of Wales, and a knowledge of its story, is through film and TV. This is where we fall down. There is an apocryphal story about Gareth Thomas (Alfie) and his story - as the first gay top-class rugby player to come out. Apparently there were advanced discussions about a Hollywood film, but nothing happened because Hollywood wanted to change him into an Irishman and set the film in Ireland, on the basis that nobody had heard of Wales. Of course Gareth, as a proud Welshman, refused. There is a lesson there…….
Leader. Organizational strategist. Thrive on the front lines of community outreach and key partner interaction.
3 年I concur. Those of us with Welsh roots are hungry for information about Wales. For those that have lineage that moved to North America during times when cultures were expected to be dumped to merge with a new home and names changed to be able to be pronounced, we have very little tradition that harkens back to the homeland. I am a mix of mostly Celtic lineage but know that my Canadian cousins also crave the Welsh heritage info as they have exposure to Scottish and Irish information but not the land of our grandmother.
Adjunct Professor, Department of Earth Science, Simon Fraser University
3 年There are so many people with Welsh roots around the world. It is a mystery to me why that isn't celebrated the way Scottish and Irish descendants do. I just have to look at a map of Canada to see many place names transplanted from Wales. You may want to correct me but the Welsh didn't experience horrendous upheavals like the potato famine or the Highland clearances that caused them to set up satellite nations like those in Boston, New York and Nova Scotia.