Better than Poldark, different from Game of Thrones....

We have been pondering on the “unique hook” which might bring in a production company or broadcaster to take on the Angel Mountain Saga.

In any pitch there is a need to demonstrate that your project has quite enough uniqueness in it to make it appealing.  In the case of On Angel Mountain, a young widow sees off all her enemies one by one — and kills some of them with her own hands — with the aid of her own “special powers” and the assistance of a wizard, an eccentric assortment of guardian angels, and a strange raven which is the spirit of a sacred mountain. By comparison, Poldark is distinctly mundane…..

This is an interesting list:
http://britishperioddramas.com/lists/best-new-british-tv-period-drama-series-2019/
Worth looking at carefully to see what the USP might be in each case…..

It's a salutary exercise to look through this list and ask what the USP might be in each case.  Anything by Julian Fellowes is wonderful.  Popular and even perennial themes involve posh people doing silly posh things, quirky troubled detectives solving crimes, poor people having a hell of a tough time, young people coping with rites of passage, etc.

Our project migh be suffering a bit -- in a negative way -- from the Poldark effect. Commissioners may think On Angel Mountain is too similar — same period, same rough coastal landscape etc. Poldark is doing its last season this year — and although the BBC has hyped it up, it's success has not been spectacular, and while there has not been a big fall-off in viewing figures, many critics and outside observers have started to feel bored.   By all accounts, the actors have been bored too, and have wanted to go off and do other things.

Good Friday at Ceibwr

I thought I should share this one.... the thrift is just starting.  Give it a week or so more and it will be at its best along the coast path.....

Martha the shipowner

Martha was a shipowner...........

We attended a jolly event the other evening, commemorating the voyage of the "Albion" from Cardigan to New Brunswick in 1819, carrying 160 souls from Ceredigion who were intent on making a new life in a new land.  Mike Francis's lovely painting of the brig was inspired by the work of the Russian artist Aivakovsky.

No painter has ever mastered the art of painting waves in the same way as Aivakovsky -- how on earth did he manage to capture their translucent quality?  Sheer genius.  The painting below is one of his best.

Game of Thrones and the Northern Ireland economy

Here we are in the midst of the latest hype -- the last series of Game of Thrones is just starting, and the marketing process is well under way.......

Three years ago the economic impact in Northern Ireland was estimated at c £150m, and the figure by now will be substantially higher.  Tourism NI has worked hard at flagging up the key locations and in promoting a vast range of "ancillary" tourism-related activities, but of course there are very large economic impacts too in all sectors of the supply chain.  Filming a big series is an immensely complex business, providing incomes for many thousands of people in the filming neighbourhoods and much further afield.

  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-36749938

For years I have been trying to flag up the potential significance for Wales of a big drama series set in Wales and telling the story of Wales --   but neither BBC Wales nor Visit Wales seems particularly interested, and I am not sure that the Welsh Government is either.

People keep on complaining about the very poor media portrayal of Wales and its story (see below) but nothing ever seems to be done about it.  There is more to Wales than natural history and rugby.

Fine words on all sides, but no initiatives.  The word "irritating" doesn't even begin to cover it........

https://www.iwa.wales/click/…/11/bbcs-portrayal-wales-welsh/

https://nation.cymru/…/the-pitching-in-disaster-shows-that…/

https://www.walesartsreview.org/sex-education-accidental-e…/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-47310251#

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-44385773

https://www.walesartsreview.org/tv-the-story-of-wales/…

https://nation.cymru/…/we-must-fight-back-against-a-popula…/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-47231099…

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/…/raymond-williams-question-w…

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-42871831

https://theconversation.com/were-seeing-plenty-of-welsh-loc…

Children of Nature - Soundtrack

Why this soundtrack here?  No reason, other than that I love it -- my favourite film of all time, set in Iceland.  Wonderful simple story and a fabulous soundtrack.  Enjoy.......

Another sleeping giant.....

We have spent some time on this blog pondering on the sleeping "Mother Earth" or the sleeping goddess -- with reference to Carningli.

But there are those who are equally fascinated by Carn Ffoi,  adjacent to the Bedd Morris road at the eastern end of town.   The above picture has been much discussed on Facebook, and some folk are very convinced that what we are looking at is a sleeping giant, with head at the highest point, folded arms (maybe) and then rather large feet quite a way down the slope.

Some people see slumbering figures everywhere.......

Cinema and Welsh national identity

I came across this -- from 2007, but nonetheless still relevant. 

I had not realised that these film categories existes:  Welsh Coming-of-age genre films, Welsh Magical Realism, Welsh Grotesque cinema, the Welsh Chapel 'Gothic'.  So now we know.......  

https://nation.cymru/opinion/the-pitching-in-disaster-shows-that-you-need-to-make-in-wales-not-just-set-in-wales/?fbclid=IwAR32ANJDs79QOC0O9YNV_Qyft_TjNOhVwnd0hny_eM8OMsp3iCvYIMey-JA

ABSTRACT

The National cinema of Wales is a contested site of representation and identity, which has struggled to 'overcome systemic and historic obstacles to scholarship, as well as to funding, production, exhibition and distribution of its products, related organizations, agents and services. This study considers Welsh filmic product (produced from 1963- 2007), produced by independent producers for prominent broadcasting entities, including Channel Four Films, BBC Wales, S4C, or HTV/ITV Wales; a review of relevant literature regarding Welsh national cinema by Berry, Blandford, Ffrancon and others; the historical context of the Welsh film industry, was followed by an assignment of new aesthetic and industrial categories, including Welsh Coming-of-age genre films, Welsh Magical Realism, Welsh Grotesque cinema, the Welsh Chapel 'Gothic' in cinema, 'Outsider' filmmakers in Wales, and Welsh filmmakers in exile; the use of Welsh myths and legends in films, and how this contributes to a national identity." Consequently this study locates Welsh national cinema in a critical milieu inflected by feminist, Queer, post-colonial and national cinema analysis approaches.
https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=1&uin=uk.bl.ethos.575490&fbclid=IwAR36yQx1oiDqKqUa6NqHdhvofwLOAefAdcwgYBWDD5l8Kat9aN1E3TeFdy8


An evaluation of the national cinema of Wales and whether the cinema constructs or represents a national identity
Author: Woods, Mark Leslie
ISNI: 0000 0004 2743 4669
Awarding Body: University of Glamorgan
Current Institution: University of South Wales
Date of Award: 2007

Doctoral Thesis.

2 vols, 365 pp

BBC and the portrayal of natural Wales

Last night we watched the first of 4 episodes of the new BBC Wales blockbuster programme called "Wales: Land of the Wild."  It was big and brash, following the now standard format of 50 mins of documentary and 10 mins of "how they did it" stuff at the end.  Great photography, with some stunning landscapes, and plenty of variety (horses, dippers, black grouse, natterjack toads, daffodils, badgers, puffins etc.)  This was BBC Wales taking seriously its brief to portray Wales to the nation and to the world -- so they went for it with gusto, maybe determined to do justice to our spectacular natural history...............  maybe the bit about the human beings can come later.   

In the programme itself, there is a thunderous score by Sir Karl Jenkins and the BBC Welsh National Orchestra, and the commentary was enunciated with huge declamatory effect by Michael Sheen.    Don't get me wrong -- these two are great heroes of mine -- but in my view the whole thing was way over the top, and not helped at all by either the over-dramatic music or the pompous and rather banal commentary, which was all spectacularly mismatched with what was going on on the screen.  In truth, not very much happened.  We saw horses pottering about, puffins pottering about, and badgers pottering about, which would have been fine if we had had an intelligent commentary from somebody like the great Sir David, Iolo Williams or Chris Packham, but here it did not work at all.  In fact it was all so pretentious that it became ludicrous, and at times Inger and I were laughing out loud at the absurdity of it all.  Was it all a great spoof?  Or was it aimed squarely at an American audience, which maybe just loves this sort of stuff?

This would not have been a cheap series to make -- you don't hire in Michael Sheen and Sir Karl Jenkins for peanuts.  But I wish that more money could have been spent on the filming.  We are so used, these days, to seeing incredible wildlife sequences on TV that prolonged episodes lasting several minutes, with nothing exceptional happening, do tend to fall flat.  We, the viewers, demand action and excitement, and things never seen before.  Unfair, I know...... but sadly that is the way of the world.  I suspect it's all to do with budget.  In all the great series fronted by the indomitable Sir David, they probably use no more than 1% of the footage shot.  They can afford to pay cameramen to sit in one place for weeks on end, waiting for a few seconds of spectacular action.  Here, I got the impression that they were working to a very small budget and using maybe 10% of the footage shot.  I wouldn't mind betting that both the producers and the cameramen were desperate for more time, but that they did not get it.

Anyway, the series of 4 programmes will probably throw up some memorable sequences, and credit is due to the BBC for at least making an effort to show the wildlife of Wales to a global audience.  That having been said, I think Iolo has already done it better! 

The Supporting Cast

This is one of the big issues that all writers have to confront. How many members of the supporting cast should there be? This is a problem even in a shortish novel of 100,000 words. Too few characters, and a novel can feel introverted and introspective -- even self-indulgent or sterile. Too many, and there is a danger of a narrative becoming superficial and confusing. Somewhere in the middle is the place to be-- unless you are trying do do something rather risky or think of yourself as a writer of "literary fiction", inhabiting a place which is unoccupied by those who write unliterary and hence "inferior" fiction.

We all know that this problem -- is it a problem? -- is exacerbated in a literary saga of multiple volumes or in a long-running TV series. Thinking of the latter, "Game of Thrones" is famous for having vast numbers of important characters, who get killed off with alarming frequency and apparently no regrets. That's the business model. "Outlander" goes rambling on, with too many characters and too many locations. "Downton Abbey" was in my view beautifully written and cleverly structured, as a good soap opera should be. There were scores of important characters over several series, many of whom the viewer grew to love, and who had fully developed back stories which cleverly intersected. They were killed off too, but not at an alarming rate. That's life -- people die every now and then. Some were bad, and some were good, but I liked the way that even the baddies had interesting back stories which -- eventually -- the viewer was allowed to share. So initial negative responses to the behaviour of certain disruptive characters were slowly manipulated by the screenwriters, the director and the cast into something more akin to empathy and sympathy. There were few real baddies in the series -- and that is why, I suspect, it struck such a chord across the globe. OK -- it glorified an upper-crust paternalistic way of life that is long gone -- but it was somehow life-enhancing in that it stressed the triumph of virtue over evil and the importance of loyalty and compassion (and mutual support mechanisms) within one small community in one small place. People can relate to that, whatever their own personal circumstances may be.

In the eight volumes of the Angel Mountain saga, there are probably around 50 important characters who make multiple appearances and whose personal stories intersect and who are either friends or enemies of Mistress Martha Morgan. Then there are more than 200 other characters, who drift in and out of the stories and for whom I had to create personal histories. That involved keeping a very accurate character list, with dates of birth and death, family relationships, places of residence, and key life events. During the full narrative I mostly got things right (people in the right places at the right times, and doing things that were "in character"). What I had not reckoned with when I embarked on the series was that there would be people who seem to do not much else, other than read the full series (all million words of it) from beginning to end.over and again. Inevitably, they know the books far better than I do -- and THEY HAVE DISCOVERED MISTAKES! Shock, horror! Not really -- it's rather entertaining. Somebody pointed out to me that some character or other lived in farm X in one volume and in farm Y in another, and that one character was beautiful and black-haired in one book and plain and blonde in another. Well, nobody's perfect........

But I have derived great pleasure from giving life to the 50 or so characters whose characters, opinions and actions give depth to the stories, influencing Martha Morgan in a multitude of different ways. I had to work hard, in their portrayals, to make them all slightly eccentric, to the point of making them interesting, but not pushing their portrayals over the boundary into the realm of caricature. Here are two short portraits of two of them -- the prostitute Patty Ellis and the self-made man and rough diamond called Wilmot Gwynne:

Patty Ellis

Patty Ellis appears for the first time in House of Angels, and becomes a key character in the stories from that point to on. Although she is a prostitute when Martha first meets her, the two women are immediately drawn into a close and affectionate relationship. It would have been socially quite unacceptable for the mistress of an estate in the early 19th century to have been seen in the presence of a prostitute, but it is one of Martha’s great strengths that she cares nothing for wagging tongues and disapproving looks and soon after they meet she even flaunts her friendship with Patty. Initially the relationship might seem to be a very one-sided one, but there are in fact great mutual benefits in it. Early on, Patty offers to help Martha because she has information which is of use to her, and she has no thought at all that she might be repaid in some way. But as the friendship blossoms, Martha realizes that Patty has suffered appallingly at the hands of the evil Joseph Rice, and she also comes to appreciate that Patty is a very strong young woman, with an instinct for survival.

So together the two women plot to achieve the downfall of Rice and his companions, and after that is achieved Martha and Patty develop a much more comfortable friendship. That friendship also has a business side to it, for as Martha gets older she comes to value greatly her contacts among the most disreputable elements of local society. She often needs information, and Patty often knows where it can be obtained. And as a sign of her affection - and indeed respect - for Patty, she helps her in a number of ways, including the setting up of the church wedding, when Patty and Jake Nicholas decide that they wish to be married.

Patty is of course very beautiful, and it is not surprising perhaps that Jake, who was originally a client, should fall madly in love with her and should then decide to make her a respectable woman. Their wedding is quite a bizarre, and Martha loves every minute of it and the celebrations which follow. Later on, as Jake expands his little fishing business and eventually moves into trading activities, Patty does indeed become a notable member of the Parrog community and raises a family of two boys and two girls.

I had a lot of fun developing the story of Patty and Jake through the Saga, telling the reader about her initial fall from grace, about her steely determination to defeat her tormentor, and about her subsequent rehabilitation. She is a strong character and a steadfast friend to Martha, and all good stories need characters like her.

Actually this is a cartoon of George IV, or some such fellow. Wilmot might have had a similar girth, but a much jollier face......

Wilmot Gwynne

Wilmot Gwynne breezes into the story in 1845, and plays quite a prominent part in Flying with Angels during the last ten years of Martha’s life. In some ways he is a comic or a buffoon, and indeed he is part of the comedy duo of Wilmot and Delilah; but he is also much more than that, for as the story develops he shows that he is a multi-faceted character. He is a rough sort of fellow, with very few airs and graces, who has made his fortune in the Swansea Valley through hard work and good judgement. He is a nouveau riche entrepreneur who moves into rural Wales for health reasons, and maybe also because he fancies the idea of being a squire rather more than being an industrialist. But he is generous to fault, and when he takes over the Plas he shows great sensitivity in allowing Martha to remain in the house she loves and to maintain her status in the community. He could have sent her packing, and in the process destroyed her life and her family; but he chooses not to do that, maybe because like most of the other men in the Saga he is more than a little in love with Martha. As the final chapter in Martha’s life unfolds, and moves inexorably towards its tragic conclusion, Wilmot again proves to be a steadfast friend to Martha, Amos and the Morgan family.

What does Master Gwynne expect as payback, after the provision of so much moral and financial support? Possibly some enhanced status in the community, which is what he needs in order to establish himself as a respectable squire. Maybe he is also seeking to demonstrate to his family and acquaintances that he has that almost indefinable quality called sensibility. That too, above all else, is what marks a member of the gentry out to from the mass of the population - and it is assumed very often in the literature of the day that sensibility comes only with good breeding, and cannot simply be acquired by those of low breeding who suddenly become rich.

Part of my purpose in developing Wilmot as an important character in the last story of the Saga was to demonstrate that, of all the members of the gentry who hobble or stamp across the pages of Martha’s diary, Wilmot is one of very few who can truly be referred to as noble man. The others are Lord Cawdor, Richard Fenton, and John Bowen of Llwyngwair. Wilmot Gwynne, with his portly frame, calloused hands, and rough way of speaking, has every right to to sit at the same table as those famous characters from Pembrokeshire history.

(This short article first appeared on Linkedin)

Visit Wales consultation: lots of tactics but no strategy

Visit wales is running a big consultation on its future marketing strategy.  It's one of these "directed consultations" which I hate, asking 10 questions and guiding respondents to work to the template.  OK -- I can understand the logic, in that vague rambling letters from all sorts of different respondents can be a nightmare to analyse and collate -- but all of the questions are about tactics and none of them are about strategy.  So either the strategy is set in stone, or there just isn't one.........

This is the response sent a few days ago:

In response to your new consultation…….. I was not very inspired to answer those ten questions, since not one of them addressed what is in my mind the key issue.

https://businesswales.gov.wales/tourism/sites/tourism/files/documents/TourismSummit2019_-_10_Questions_Lets_Shape_the_Future.pdf

Does Wales have a USP? It would appear not — in the document inviting comments, it seems that the Visit Wales satrategy is simply to sell Wales to the world as “more brilliant at everything than everywhere else”.  Sadly, that’s not a very smart strategy, since the great majority of other countries try to sell themselves in exactly the same way.  The clever ones identify something UNIQUE and use that as the main focus of branding and marketing strategy.

Will you please consider the following points? They arise from a number of round-table discussions in St David’s in 2016 (involving around 20 tourism operators) at which concerns were expressed about the Visit Wales strategy at that time. Not much seems to have changed between then and now.

There is no sign that Visit Wales seeks to capitalise on a unique Welsh narrative. Here is one attempt to define it:

"Wales is a small country on the Celtic fringe of Europe with magnificent landscapes and rich natural resources. It is too close to England to have remained truly independent, and not far enough away for bloody rebellions ever to have taken hold. Throughout its history it has fought to resist the depredations of powerful neighbours; and against all the odds it has retained its language, its culture and its pride whilst encouraging toleration and liberal values and adapting to dramatic change. It has learned how to be subversive and seductive, and how to be spiritual and mischievous at the same time. In its history it has not suffered the same deep traumas as Scotland and Ireland. Its people are romantics, prone to wild swings of emotion; both melancholia and euphoria feature in the national psyche. Welsh people have a powerful "sense of place" and an abiding fondness for family histories, legends, ceremonial and ancient traditions. Eccentricity is embraced, while great value is placed upon learning. There is a tendency towards radical protest and an ever-present desire for social reform. Ultimately, Wales wants the respect of others -- and to be left in peace to enjoy and endure the ups and downs of the Welsh rugby team."

1. The Visit Wales new “brand” does not seem to owe much to the Welsh narrative. It steers well clear of anything that can be construed as negative in marketing terms, and concentrates on “positive” buzzwords including these: authentic, creative, innovative, alive, epic, memorable, inspiring, fresh, legendary, iconic, rich, distinctive, accessible, contemporary, immersive, inclusive. The immediate response to this, from many in the tourist trade, is that it’s all very modern, bright and breezy -- but that every other tourist authority in the world uses the same words and sells the same message. Nobody seems very clear what it is about Wales that makes it unique when compared to everywhere else, and more particularly, what makes it different from Scotland and Ireland. Some of the old tourism straplines might have got closer: so near and yet so far, familiar and yet foreign, two hours and a million miles away, life on the edge.......

2. It’s accepted that the Welsh narrative and the Welsh “brand” are not the same thing -- the former is about identity and the latter is about marketing. But there does need to be a relationship between the two. The brand should emerge from the narrative, and visitors to Wales should ideally be made aware of the history and character of the country. Those who are involved in the tourist trade should be proud of their heritage, and should sell it to visitors as part of the tourism experience.

3. We should embrace the “negative” aspects of the Welsh narrative rather than hiding them away. Is Wales as melancholic and unhappy as it is portrayed in “Hinterland”? No way. Melancholia is a part of the Welsh psyche, but it is balanced by an undying optimism and by expressions of euphoria whenever great things happen in the country. And people may sometimes seem reserved, but there is a real warmth in the welcomes given to others. “Croeso!” means so much more than “Welcome!” Yes, “hiraeth” is about loss and longing, but it is more than that -- it is ultimately about belonging, and the unbreakable bond between people and place. The word “bro” means community or neighbourhood, and it must be understood not just in terms of geographical demarkation but also in terms of sociology, history and psychology. The word “gwerin” can be interpreted in a condescending way, as meaning “the common people” -- but it also means “folk” and “democracy”, and everybody knows that Welsh language and culture would not have survived without the determination and the resilience of the gwerin, at times when the gentry and the “educated classes” were espousing Englishness in all its forms. Certainly Welsh people can seem reticent and cautious at times, and there is no great evidence of consuming ambition or towering aspirations. There is a certain reluctance to make instant decisions and to take risks -- but therein, perhaps, lies an explanation for the survival of Wales as a special place with a unique language and a mystery round every corner........

4. There are probably many narratives, but I suspect that everybody who tries to write down their version would emphasise to some degree the complex relationship between Wales and England down through the centuries. England is seen (over-simplistically) as arrogant, over-bearing and condescending, always intent upon "the rape of the fair country”. Wales sees itself (over-simplistically) as oppressed, downtrodden, and exploited -- whereas it has of course made a specialism of internal feuding and squabbling between petty princedoms and has grown its own crop of bombastic squires and brutal ironmasters without any great help from England. Nonetheless, while the English are hated or just tolerated, there is a close bond -- born of shared experience-- with the Irish. And with Scotland too.

5. One must not get too serious about all of this. Isn’t there room for some humour in our view of Wales, or indeed in its branding and marketing? I quite like the idea of Wales endlessly subverting and screwing up the political and military ambitions of one English king after another! This suggests a national instinct for resilience, resistance, dogged determination and sheer bloody-mindedness. OK -- the Normans conquered Wales, and then the English kings defeated Llewelyn the Great, and Owain Glyndwr and put down many short-lived rebellions -- but the aspiration for independence never went away, and the mountainous heartland of Wales, facing Cardigan Bay, never really submitted to foreign rule. Ferocious Anglo-Norman feudal lords married Welsh girls and themselves became softer, gentler and kinder! Anyway, that’s what we like to think. Local loyalties persisted, and the language survived. Magic and enchantment always were a part of the Welsh storytelling tradition, but there has always been a great respect for mischief as well. Mischievous pranks abound in the stories of the Mabinogion, and in the poems of Dafydd ap Gwilym, and in the adventures of Twm Shon Cati. The ultimate prankster was Iolo Morgannwg. One might argue that there is really a sort of mischievous national plot to stop the English from ever achieving complete dominion over Wales and the Welsh, whilst lulling them into a false sense of security........

6. So if these elements can be incorporated into a Welsh national narrative, what are the positive buzzwords that might be used in future branding? Here are a few: generous, warm-hearted, eccentric, mischievous, sensitive, intuitive, whimsical, enigmatic, musical, poetic, dramatic, spirited, steadfast, ironic, ebullient, demonstrative, enduring, colourful, lyrical, resolute, mysterious, proud, faithful, accessible, loyal, adaptable, enchanting, quirky, understated, unpretentious. These words will not fit very well into a strategy of hard branding and marketing -- they are too soft and mellow. But they may just be more effective in flagging up the unique qualities of Wales, especially with the Year of Legends almost upon us.

7. It’s interesting that when we went round the table at the meeting, seeking adjectives that might describe the Welsh narrative from assorted points of view, words such as these kept on cropping up: light, mood, water, feeling, atmosphere, cosiness, “cwtchyness”, familiarity, security, comfort. All very atmospheric and even ethereal -- but significant as to how some people at least feel about Wales.

I hope that these points might be helpful to Visit Wales in identifying the way forward.

With all good wishes

Brian John

The representation of Wales on TV

It's intriguing that the Welsh Assembly Culture Committee has, after many meetings in 2018,  still not reported on its investigation of film and high-end TV in Wales. They have a committee meeting this very morning at the Senedd, and item 3.1 on "Correspondence from the BBC regarding the representation of Wales" is being discussed in private, with no streaming media coverage.

Very strange -- this is item 7. Film and major television production in Wales: Discussion of draft report

Reason for the exclusion of the public?
Answer:  By Virtue of Paragraph iv (Discussion in public of a particular item of business would be likely to cause harm to the health or safety of an individual, the public, or the environment.)

Good gracious!  That all sounds a bit dramatic -- who, or what, is being threatened?!!!

But it does look as if the Draft Report is ready, and simply requires some minor tweaking.  But it must be very critical of the BBC, if the top brass have been invited to make a further last-minute, submission.........

http://senedd.assembly.wales/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=445&MId=5346&Ver=4

PS.  The Committee has clearly been chasing BBCWales on the matter of "Pitching In" and about concerns about the representation of Wales in its recent output.  A letter in response has clearly been received from Rhodri Talfan Davies, but that is not yet on the record.

This is ba quote from the letter to Rhodri written by the Committee Chair, Bethan Sayed, in February 2019:

I am writing after a number of people raised concerns with me about the portrayal of Wales in the comedy programme ‘Pitching In’. I would like to take this opportunity ask for an update on the work BBC Cymru Wales is doing to improve representation and portrayal of Wales both on BBC Cymru Wales and BBC network.
With this in mind, I would be very grateful if you could provide the following information.

1. In February 2017 the BBC announced “an additional £8.5m p.a. of new funding” for English language programming for Wales. What is the current level of investment against this target?

When this funding was announced, the BBC said that it would:

• Deliver more than 130 hours of additional programming each year across BBC One Wales, BBC Two Wales and BBC iPlayer.

• Generate at least a further £5m of on-screen investment through co- production agreements with other broadcasters and producers.

• Provide a full mix of programming to inform, educate and entertain – including additional comedy, drama and entertainment.

• Support a new BBC Wales iPlayer channel – providing a new home for Welsh programming available across all devices and in all parts of the UK.

• Boost portrayal and coverage of Wales on the BBC’s network channel – with the aim that at least half the additional programming should also be broadcast on the BBC’s UK network channels.

• Provide a major financial boost to the Welsh production sector with all new television funding open to full competition.

Please could you provide an update of current progress towards these aims?

Brian's Bibliography 1976-2019

I had to do some checking for a database, and realised that I have not updated my bibliography for quite a while.  Here it is, in the updated version, approximately in chronological order:


BRIAN JOHN’S BIBLIOGRAPHY 1976-2019
(About 90 books so far, and counting........)

Pembrokeshire, David and Charles, 1976
The Fishguard and Pembroke Area, Geographical Association, 1972
The Pembrokeshire Landscape, Five Arches Press, 1973 (with Robert Evans)
Scenery of Dyfed, Greencroft Books, 1976
The Milford Haven Oil Industry, Greencroft Books, 1975
Milford Haven Waterway, Pembs Coast National Park, 1981
The Rocks: Geology of Pembrokeshire, Abercastle Publications, 1973 and many reprints
Great Grandfather’s Little World, Greencroft Books, 1977
Pembrokeshire Crafts and Cottage Craft Industries, Greencroft Books, 1981
Old Industries of Pembrokeshire, Greencroft Books, 1975
Wildlife in Dyfed (editor), West Wales Naturalists Trust, 1979
Welsh Pictures from Victorian Times, Greencroft Books, 1977 (hb and pb)
West Wales Climate and Weather, Greencroft Books, 1977
Scottish Pictures from Victorian Times, Greencroft Books, 1979 (hb and pb)
Glaciers and Landscape, Edward Arnold, 1976-2000 (with David Sugden) hb and pb, reprinted many times over 25 years
Scandinavia: a new Geography, Longman, 1984
The Ice Age, Collins, 1977
Coastal Geomorphology of High Latitudes (with David Sugden), 1975, Edward Arnold
The Winters of the World (editor), David and Charles/Wiley/Jacaranda 1979
The Ice Age (pirated Russian edition), 1982
The World of Ice, Orbis, 1979
Le Monde des Glaces, Editions Atlas, 1980
Il Mondo dei Ghiacci, Agostini-Novara, 1979
L’Evoluzione del Paesaggio, Agostini-Novara, 1981
Rural Crafts of Wales, Greencroft Books, 1976, 1977
The Face of the Earth, Orbis, 1980
Pembrokeshire, Pan, 1978
Alternative Wales, Greencroft Books (editor), 1982
The Ancient Game of Cnapan, Greencroft Books, 1984
Geology of Pembrokeshire, Pembs Coast National Park, 1977
Pembrokeshire, Greencroft Books, 1984
The Pembrokeshire Guide, Greencroft Books, many editions 1984-1990
Pembrokeshire Humour, Greencroft Books, 1994 and 1995
Presely Hills, Pembs Coast National Park, 1981
Broad Haven Walks, Pembs Coast National Park, 1992
Bosherston Walks, Pembs Coast National Park, 1995
St David’s Walks, Pembs Coast National Park, 1992
Manorbier Walks, Pembs Coast National Park, 1993
Strumble Head Walks, Pembs Coast National Park, 1993
Saundersfoot Walks, Pembs Coast National Park, 1991
Dale and St Ishmael’s Walks, Pembs Coast National Park, 1994
Ports and Harbours of Pembrokeshire, Abercastle Publications, 1974
Bluestone Country: the Carningli walks, Greencroft Books / CRI, 1995
The Carningli Walks (editor), Greencroft Books, 1999 (new edition)
Nuclear Power and Jobs, SEI, 1986
Honey Harfat, a Haverfordwest Miscellany, Greencroft Books, 1979, hb and pb
The Best Cardi Jokes, Greencroft Books, 1995 and 1997
Beneath the Mountain, Greencroft Books, 1998
Funny Business Down Below, Greencroft Books, 1997
Up Among the Mountain Men, Greencroft Books, 1997
Pembrokeshire Folk Tales, Greencroft Books, 1991
The Last Dragon, Greencroft Books, 1992
Fireside Tales from Pembrokeshire, Greencroft Books, 1993
More Pembrokeshire Folk Tales, Greencroft Books, 1996
How Glaciers Move, Norsk Bremuseum, 1996
Fjaerland, a Norwegian Fjordside Settlement, Greencroft Books, 1996
The Birth and Death of Glaciers, Norsk Bremuseum, 1996
Walking in the Presely Hills, Pembs Coast National Park, 1989
Pembrokeshire: Past and Present, Greencroft Books, 1995
Pembrokeshire Coast Path, HMSO /Aurum (National Trail Guide), 1990 (in print)
Pembrokeshire Ghost Stories, Greencroft Books, 1996
The Best Pembrokeshire Jokes, Greencroft Books, 2000
Pembrokeshire 2000, Greencroft Books, 1999
Walks in the World of Ice, Norsk Bremuseum, 1999
Pembrokeshire Wizards and Witches, Greencroft Books, 2001
On Angel Mountain (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2001 (in print)
House of Angels (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2002 (in print)
Dark Angel (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2003 (in print)
On Angel Mountain (fiction), Corgi, 2005
House of Angels (fiction), Corgi, 2006
Dark Angel (fiction), Corgi, 2007
On Angel Mountain (fiction), Magna Large Print, 2006
House of Angels (fiction), Magna Large Print, 2007
Dark Angel (fiction), Magna Large Print, 2007
Rebecca and the Angels (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2004 (in print)
Flying with Angels (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2005 (in print)
Guardian Angel (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2007 (in print)
The Bluestone Enigma, Greencroft Books, 2008 (in print)
GM Crops: what you should know (editor), GM-Free Cymru, 2006, several editions
We Reap What We Sow (editor), GM-Free Cymru, 2001, several editions
Martha Morgan’s Little World, Greencroft Books, 2007 (in print)
Carningli: Land and People, Greencroft Books, 2008
Echoes and Shadows: Tales and Traditions of Newport and Nevern, Greencroft Books, 2008
Sacrifice (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2009 (in print)
The Strange Affair of the Ethiopian Treasure Chest (children’s fiction), Greencroft Books, 2010 (in print)
Conspiracy of Angels (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2012 (in print)
Acts of God (fiction), Greencroft Books, 2014 (in print)
The Stonehenge Bluestones, Greencroft Books, 2018 (in print)

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Notes:
1. Most of the titles shown as “in print” have been through multiple printings.
2. The above list includes printed paperback and hardback editions only. Audiobook and Ebook editions are excluded. For details of these editions, see here:
http://www.brianjohn.co.uk/bookshop.html
http://brian-angelmountain.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/audio-and-large-print-versions.html


3. Scientific journal articles and monographs are excluded from this list.