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Press Releases
Resurgence in radio drama from Wales
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales's drama department may have captured the headlines for its high-profile television productions like Doctor Who and Torchwood but a quieter, yet
nonetheless significant, revolution has been taking place on the radio
airwaves.
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Nearly a dozen Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales radio drama productions were aired on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ network
radio last year and no fewer than five are due to be broadcast in the space of
the next two months.
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An adaptation of The Clothes In The Wardrobe by the late London Welsh novelist
Alice Thomas Ellis - to be broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 at 3.30pm each day this
week - will be followed by a series of Afternoon Plays on Radio 4 in February
and March.
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The department's TV output has taken in everything from the Cardiff-based sci-fi series Torchwood to the Mancunian retro police drama Life On Mars and the
period romp Casanova - and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales's network radio drama productions are
equally diverse.
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The plays range from the first drama by the National Poet of Wales, Gwyneth
Lewis, to the latest work by the Guardian columnist, broadcaster and critic
Mark Lawson.
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Lewis's play is an adaptation of Sunbathing In The Rain, her acclaimed prose
work about how she battled through depression.
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Lawson's offering is the tragi-comedy Expand This, telling the tale of an online journalist who finds his
family secrets appearing on websites all around the world.
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The prolific Snowdonia-born dramatist Meic Povey provides an amusing look at
the soap opera-like goings-on at Owain Glyndwr's mediaeval court in Fire Of The
Dragon and London-based writer Elizabeth Lewis kicks-off the series of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
Wales productions on Radio 4 with Heifers And Bulls on Friday 23 February.
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Set in a remote Welsh village, the play centres on a matchmaking service for
lonely hill farmers.
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Last year, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales's drama department was responsible for a string of
productions on network radio ranging from the debut radio drama by Cardiff film-maker Ed Talfan to works by established Welsh writers such as Brynteg's Gary
Owen, poets Gillian Clarke from Cardiff and Owen Sheers from Abergavenny, and
Swansea's Stevie Davies.
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The department also produced Radio 4's first Book At Bedtime by a Welsh
author for a decade - Country Dance by Margiad Evans - and six contemporary
Plays For Wales broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Wales.
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"It is not just the volume of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales's radio drama output over the past
12 months that has been so impressive, but also the variety," said Clare
Hudson, Head of English Language Programmes, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales.
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"The writers featured
have come from Wrexham to Rhayader and from west Swansea to Western Australia.
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"The themes have encompassed love and hatred, comedy and tragedy, community and
loneliness.
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"Some of the writers have been writing for decades; some are
comparatively new writers whose talents have been developed through the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's
partnership with Ty Newydd, the National Writers' Centre for Wales.
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"The self-confidence in broadcast drama in Wales on both radio and television
has grown and grown over the past two years and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales's drama department
has been at the forefront of that renaissance."
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The Clothes In The Wardrobe, Monday 12-Friday 16 February, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4, 3.30pm
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Heifers And Bulls, Friday 23 February, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4, 2.15pm
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Fire Of The Dragon, Wednesday 21 March, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4, 2.15pm
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Sunbathing In The Rain, Friday 23 March, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4, 2.15pm
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Expand This, Monday 26 March, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4, 2.15pm.
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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Wales Press Office
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