Pobol Y Cwm A-Thon

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

So then what do you do when you've spent Sunday morning on the early shift at work? Well clearly after you've come home, had a nap and then had to watch a Christmas TV film at the wife's insistence (as awful as you can imagine - clichés a go go) you watch old episodes of the Welsh language soap opera Pobol Y Cwm (People of the valley).

I had started to watch the soap opera in the late nineties when I was starting the long distance courting with my now wife. Every other week either I would travel to Cardiff or she London for the weekend and either as broadcast on. We would  the Welsh language channel S4C or on VHS (for those too young google it) we would watch the Sunday evening omnibus edition (now sadly axed).

This was perfect Sunday evening programming. We would follow the lives, loves, trials and tribulations of the people of the Welsh village of Cwmderi. It's great advantage was that unlike other soap operas we would be able to avoid any knowledge beforehand of what was going to happen. I don't understand why this is done with other soap operas. It's like watching a recording of a football game whilst already knowing the result.

And we continued to watch it for years. But then certain things happened. And for me that main thing was redundancy. Long term unemployment affects many people in many ways. But for me there was a gradual but paralysing depression.Things that I had a passion slowly went. Learning Welsh had been one of them. When I stopped learning the language then by and large watching programmes in Welsh stopped with it. Not watching Pobol Y Cwm was one of the consequences.

But now that I'm working my old self seems to have returned. And earlier this year I to learn Welsh again and with that programmes on the Welsh language channel S4C such as Pobol.

As an aside although my verb use has been criticised by my currently Welsh language school educated daughter (eleven o'clock last night when I insisted she went to bed...so I didn't care) being from the East End of London though make the point that it's not the quality or breath of my vocabulary that counts but it's the fact that I can speak it to a credible level. If I judge my Welsh on other parents in the school there are the fluent speakers, the vast majority who are non speakers and (as far as I can work out) me. My Welsh being currently in a very annoying twilight zone stage that whilst I wouldn't call myself fluent I'm far better than "the cat sat on the mat".

Pobol Y Cwm is broadcast twice every weekday. Once without English subtitles and once with. I record both so that the parts I haven't understood are explained. Now for various reasons I tend to watch about four in total a week. These reasons tend to be family, work, life the universe and everything with special mention for reading and TV sports. What this means, as my wife/daughter did not hesitate to remind me, was that the DVR had ninety two episodes in the hard drive. To explain that in mid December in Pobol Y Cwm time I'm on early October. So yesterday I ploughed through eight episodes.

When you return to a soap opera after a long break you're conscious of what's changed for reasons that you don't know . The local pub, the Deri Arms has had a major revamp. The previous landlady lives in the village but the previous landlord is not there. There is also an openly gay couple about to get married with a reception in the main village street.

First thing you do on returning is to cling to people you remember when you originally watched the programme. Personally I have a soft spot for the characters of Britt Monk and Sheryl Hughes. This is for the sentimental reason that (based on the Sunday omnibus episode then) the day when my wife first thought she was pregnant Britt gave birth to Chester (who in my current Pobol Y Cwm time has just been sent to jail for four months!) and when our daughter was born Sheryl gave birth to a son (who isn't there for reasons I don't think I want to look into).

Sheryl now lives with Hywel Llywelyn who seems besotted with her. This is interesting given that he used to be the Cwmderi Casanova. The list of ladies he wooed including the wife of the then vicar (who I think was a murderer unsure of that), who is now a teacher (being falsely accused of sexual harassment by Chester) / secretary of the local rugby club and lives with a mechanic who works in a garage owned by Garry Monk, Britt's brother,.....as you do.

Well I'm back to being a Pobol fan. A slow one (I'll see how they spend Christmas in February) I'd admit but still a fan. Should find out what fans call themselves ....Pobolites perhaps?

Until the next time.