''Keeping Faith'' ( cy, Un Bore Mercher, "One Wednesday Morning") is a British thriller television series, filmed and set in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and first broadcast in

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

on S4C from 5 November 2017. Created by Matthew Hall and produced by Vox Pictures. The series stars

Eve Myles Eve Myles (born 26 July 1978) is a Welsh actress. She is best known for her television roles portraying Ceri Lewis in the long-running BBC Wales drama series '' Belonging'' (2000–2009), Gwen Cooper in the BBC science-fiction series ''Torchwoo ...

as Faith Howells, a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

at a family-run law firm whose husband, Evan, disappears whilst she is on maternity leave following the birth of their third child. Renamed ''Keeping Faith'', the English version premiered on

BBC One Wales BBC One Wales is a Welsh television channel owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales. It is the Welsh variation of the UK-wide BBC One and is broadcast from Central Square in Cardiff. BBC One Wales broadcasts around three hours of non-news program ...

on 13 February 2018. The first series co-stars

Hannah Daniel Hannah Daniel (born 20 January 1986) is a Welsh actress from Cardiff, Wales, best known for her roles on TV series ''Y Gwyll, Hinterland'', ''Keeping Faith (TV series), Keeping Faith'' and ''Holby City (TV series), Holby City''. Early life Hann ...

Matthew Gravelle Matthew Ian Gravelle (born 24 September 1976) is a Welsh screen actor. Career Gravelle was born in Porthcawl. In 2003, Gravelle appeared in the BBC One drama series '' Holby City'' and was a regular in the acclaimed BBC Wales show '' Belongin ...

Bradley Freegard Bradley Freegard is a Welsh actor from Pontypridd, Wales. Early life Freegard was born 13 December, 1976 in Pontypridd, Wales. He studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Career Freegard plays the regular role of Steffan Jones in t ...

Mark Lewis Jones Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Ma ...

Mali Harries Mali Rhys Harries (born 6 July 1976) is a Welsh television actress and presenter who has been in the television industry since 1989. She has appeared in several well-established TV series in Welsh and English, including ''Hinterland'', ''The Ind ...

and

Aneirin Hughes Aneirin Hughes (born Aneurin Hughes, 8 May 1958) is a Welsh actor and singer known for playing Chief Superintendent Brian Prosser in the BBC4 Welsh police drama ''Hinterland''. He won a Best Actor BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA Wales) for his appearance ...

.Welsh TV noir Keeping Faith leaves Scandis for dead
Nicole Wynne, ''The Times'', 29 April 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018. The show was extremely popular in Wales, with an average of 300,000 viewers per episode, making it the most popular show on BBC Wales for over 25 years and, with over 8.5 million downloads by May 2018, the most downloaded non-network show on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

. Filmed concurrently in

both Both may refer to: Common English word * ''both'', a determiner or indefinite pronoun denoting two of something * ''both... and'', a correlative conjunction People * Both (surname) Music * The Both, an American musical duo consisting of ...

languages Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

, this series is the second in a season of

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

dramas set to premiere back-to-back on S4C. The initial Welsh language broadcast on S4C carried entirely English

subtitles Subtitles and captions are lines of dialogue or other text displayed at the bottom of the screen in films, television programs, video games or other visual media. They can be transcriptions of the screenplay, translations of it, or informati ...

, while repeat airings carried encoded English subtitles. The series has been available on the BBC iPlayer as part of the BBC's ongoing relationship with S4C. On 15 June 2018, the BBC announced that ''Keeping Faith'' would be shown across the UK on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

, beginning on 10 July 2018.Record-breaking BBC Wales/S4C drama Keeping Faith to be broadcast across the UK on BBC One
''www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre'', 15 June 2018. Retrieved 18 June 2018. The Head of Commissioning for BBC Wales, Nick Andrews, said that the series had been "a real gem from start to finish", and a testament to the strength of drama coming out of Wales. With series one ending with a

cliff-hanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

, Huw Thomas, the BBC Wales arts and media correspondent, wrote on 6 May 2018 that a second series is in development, and later that year, the second series was commissioned. Production began in September 2018 and broadcast in Wales, first in Welsh (with English subtitles) on S4C, from 12 May 2019; nationally shown on BBC One in English during July–August 2019. The third and final series premiered on S4C (as ''Un Bore Mercher'') in 2020 during November and December, and the English language broadcast began on BBC One on 27 March 2021. This series was made available on the

on 27 March 2021. By May 2021 the series had had over 50 million views on BBC iPlayer.

Cast

as Faith Howells; solicitor and mother of three. Evan Howells' wife *

as Evan Howells; struck off solicitor. Faith's husband * Demi Letherby as Alys Howells; elder daughter of Faith and Evan * Lacey Jones as Megan Howells; younger daughter of Faith and Evan * Oscar & Harry Unsworth as Rhodri Howells; son of Faith and Evan *

as Tom Howells; Evan's father and solicitor *

as Cerys Jones; solicitor at Howells *

Betsan Llwyd Betsan Llwyd is a Welsh actor and theatrical and television director.Suzanne Packer Suzanne Packer (born Suzanne Jackson on 26 November 1962) is a Welsh actress, known for playing the role of Tess Bateman in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty'' from September 2003 to August 2015. She later returned to the series as a guest for th ...

''(Keeping Faith)'' as Delyth Lloyd; Howells office administrator * Eiry Thomas as DI ''(Series 1)'', PC ''(Series 2)'', DS ''(Series 3)'' Susan Williams; Abercorran police *

Steffan Rhodri Steffan Rhodri (born 1 March 1967) is a Welsh film actor, best known for portraying Dave Coaches on ''Gavin & Stacey'', Reg Cattermole in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' and as the voice of Drippy in '' Ni no Kuni: Wrath of ...

as Judge Gwyn Daniels *

as PC Terry Price; Abercorran police ''(Series 1)'' *

as Bethan Price; Terry's wife and Evan's sister ''(Series 1)'' * Rhian Morgan as Marion Howells; Evan's mother *

as Steve Baldini; client * Martha Bright as Angie Baldini; Steve's daughter * Alex Harries as Arthur Davies; client * Catherine Ayers as Lisa Connors; Faith's best friend *

Angeline Ball Angeline Ball (born 28 June 1969) is an Irish actress and singer who resides in London, England. She is known for her roles as Imelda Quirke in Alan Parker's '' The Commitments'' (1991) and as Tina in John Boorman's '' The General'' (1998). She ...

''(Series 1)'' /

Anastasia Hille Anastasia Hille (born 1965) is an English film, television and theatre actress, and ceramicist. Born in London, she was a student at London's Drama Centre and won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards in 1994 (the first prize was awarded to ...

''(Series 2)'' as Gael Reardon; widow of Paddy Reardon * Richard Elfyn as DCI Huw Parry of Swansea police ''(Series 1)'' * Lowri Palfrey as Erin Glynn; client ''(Series 1)'' *

Aimee-Ffion Edwards Aimee-Ffion Edwards (born 21 November 1987) is a Welsh actress and singer. She is known for playing Sketch in '' Skins'', Esme Shelby in ''Peaky Blinders'', Sophie in ''Detectorists'' and Abi in '' Loaded''. She also had a starring voice role ...

as Madlen Vaughan; client ''(Series 2)'' * Brochan Evans as Dyfan Vaughan; Madlen's son ''(Series 2)'' *

Rhashan Stone Rhashan Stone is an American actor and comedian based in the UK. He is best known for appearing in many comedy shows such as ''Desmond's'' and ''Mutual Friends''. Stone is also a stage actor who has performed in numerous productions for The Ro ...

as DI Laurence Breeze; CID detective ''(Series 2 and 3)'' * Rhian Blythe as Anya Flye; Howells' bank manager ''(Series 2)'' *

Richard Lynch Richard Lynch (February 12, 1940 – June 19, 2012) was an American actor best known for portraying villains in films and television. His film credits included ''The Sword and the Sorcerer'', '' Invasion USA'', ''The Seven-Ups'', ''Scarecr ...

as Hayden Swancott QC ''(Series 2)'' * Francesca Dimech as Mrs. Kriprinski ''(Series 2)'' *

Siân Phillips Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips ( ), is a Welsh actress. She has performed the title roles in Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' and George Bernard Shaw's '' Saint Joan''. Early life Phi ...

as Judge Alwen Owens ''(Series 3)'' *

Celia Imrie Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...

as Rose Fairchild; Faith's mother ''(Series 3)'' * Matthew Aubrey as Mike Taylor ''(Series 3)'' * Keogh Kiernan as Osian Taylor ''(Series 3)'' * Sion Daniel Young as Gareth; Osian's nurse ''(Series 3)'' * Marc Antolin as Professor Rhys ''(Series 3)'' * Rachel Cheung as the gym manager ''(Series 3)''

Episodes

Series 1 (2017)

Series 2 (2019)

Series 3 (2021)

Production

Set in the fictional town of Abercorran, filming started in the summer of 2017 in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, with exterior views of Faith's home situated high up overlooking the estuary and the castle of

Laugharne Laugharne ( cy, Talacharn) is a town on the south coast of Carmarthenshire, Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf. The ancient borough of Laugharne Township ( cy, Treflan Lacharn) with its Corporation and Charter is a unique survival i ...

. Many scenes were shot in Laugharne, also in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

; the main square and the historic courtroom in

Carmarthen Guildhall Carmarthen Guildhall ( cy, Neuadd y Dref Caerfyrddin) is a municipal structure in Guildhall Square, Carmarthen, Wales. The guildhall, which was the headquarters of Carmarthen Borough Council, is a Grade I listed building. History The building ...

was used for scenes. Other courtroom scenes feature the former courthouse at

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

. Studio scenes were filmed at Sony UK Technology Centre's Ffilm Factory 35 in

Pencoed Pencoed ( cy, Pen-coed) is a urbanised community and town in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales. It straddles the M4 motorway north east of Bridgend and is situated on the Ewenny River. At the 2011 census it had a population of around 9,166. ...

. The

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

Pontardawe Pontardawe () is a town and a community in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: ''Cwmtawe'') in Wales. With a population of 6,832, it comprises the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos. A town council is elected. Pontardawe forms part of the county bo ...

and

were other filming locations. Vox pictures produced the drama with the aid of Nevision, Cinematic Productions, Soundworks and About Premium Content. The production of the programme was funded through the Welsh Government's Media Investment Budget, which is advised by Pinewood Pictures, S4C and BBC Wales. Location assistance was provided by Wales Screen, part of the Welsh Government's creative industries team, helping to maximise the economic benefits for Wales. Gwawr Martha Lloyd, S4C Drama Content Commissioner, said of the series; "We're very excited about this new and original series that will be premiering on S4C this autumn. With a stellar cast and a completely compelling story, plot and setting, we're hoping the audience will grow to love the world and the characters of ''Un Bore Mercher'' as much as we in S4C have as we worked to develop the series. The series intends to take the viewer on a thrilling, emotional and warm journey, which will pull at their heart-strings but will also make them smile along the way."

Critical reception

The series has generally received favourable responses and was described in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as, "a bit like Big Little Lies relocated to rural Wales". As ''Un Bore Mercher'', the Welsh version of the series gained strong reviews. Gary Raymond, in ''Wales Arts Review'', wrote: "...particularly interesting to see a genuine diamond emerge from the coalface in the form of Keeping Faith" and "Social media opinion has been a little more approving" han the limited publicity surrounding the series Lydia Morris at the '' UK Daily Post'' wrote that the programme "...has already proved a hit with TV audiences". A review (under 'Show and Tell' by Paul Flynn) in ''

Grazia ''Grazia'' (; Italian for ''Grace'') is a weekly women's magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Colombia, France, Germany. Greece, Indonesia, I ...

'' magazine was titled "Like Broadchurch when it was good, Welsh production ''Keeping Faith'' is a TV trailblazer" and was generous with its praise. Writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', Nicole Wynne described it as "...the dual-language drama that has got box-set Britain gripped". On 2 May 2018, Stuart Heritage of the '' i'' warned, "Watch this game-changing thriller while you still can". Jon Coates in the ''

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' wrote, "Keeping Faith's unprecedented success ... has led to a primetime run on BBC One starting on Thursday ... with a second series due to begin filming this autumn." ''The Guardian'' review in July 2018, "... already a huge iPlayer hit, this Carmarthen-set drama about a vanished husband is realistic and beautifully shot ... it looks real and brilliant and Welsh". 'crimefictionlover' wrote: "The BBC has a secret... it's worth seeking out". The first series won three Welsh BAFTAs in 2018: Best Actress (Eve Myles), Best Writer (Matthew Hall) and Original Music (Amy Wadge and Laurence Love Greed).

Music

Six original songs were composed by the singer-songwriter

Amy Wadge Amy Victoria Wadge (born ) is an English singer and songwriter. She has co-written tracks with Ed Sheeran, including "Thinking Out Loud" for which she won the 2016 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. Early life Wadge was born and brought up in B ...

. The English and Welsh soundtracks were released as EPs on iTunes on Friday 9 March 2018. The English versions are sung by Amy Wadge and the Welsh versions by Ela Hughes. The score music was written by Laurence Love Greed.Keeping Faith Soundtrack Tracklist (Un Bore Mercher) Music from TV Series
(Type: Original Television Soundtrack/ Music by Laurence Love Greed/ Label: Laurence Love Greed/ Format: Digital Date: 4 April 2018) YouTube. Retrieved 25 May 2018.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeping Faith (Tv Series) 2017 British television series debuts 2020 British television series endings 2010s British crime drama television series 2010s Welsh television series Welsh-language television shows English-language television shows Un Bore Mercher Television series about missing people Television shows set in Wales 2020s British crime drama television series 2020s Welsh television series Television shows filmed in Wales Television series about single parent families