' ( Welsh for ''The World on Four'') is a Welsh-language current affairs television programme, which has broadcast on S4C since the channel was launched in November 1982. It is produced by

ITV Cymru Wales ITV Cymru Wales, previously known as Harlech Television and HTV Wales, is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region serving Wales and the West of England. L ...

. The programme's reporters have brought stories from the four corners of the world to Welsh screens. In the 1980s, long-serving reporter Tweli Griffiths secured the first interview with Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddaffi. Reports also covered the fall of the Berlin wall, the Chernobyl disaster and the

Persian Gulf war The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. The programme is also famed for securing high-profile exclusive interviews in Wales, such as with Sion Aubrey Roberts, the only person to be jailed over the Meibion Glyndwr arson campaign and Ryan James, a vet from Ammanford who had been wrongly jailed after being accused of murdering his wife. More recently, a series of undercover investigations into west Wales puppy farms have led to several pressure groups to call for a change in legislation by the

Welsh Government , image = , caption = , date_established = , country = Wales , address = , leader_title = First Minister () , appointed = First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed ...

to protect animals. Senior producer Eifion Glyn travelled undercover to

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

in 2008 to show the horrors of life there under

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

's rule and also journeyed to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

for the second time in 2013 to produce a series of programmes documenting the lives of Welsh troops fighting the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

. At home, a raw portrayal of the lives of two heroin addicts in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

won the Best Current Affairs Award at the 2009 Celtic Media Festival. In 2013, another expose of the heroin scene, this time on the island of

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

, won the BAFTA Cymru award for current affairs. The team also secured a moving exclusive interview with the grandparents of April Jones after the young girl's disappearance in 2012. Success at the BAFTA Cymru awards followed in 2014 with a moving response to

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...

and in 2015 with an emotional portrayal of the lack of provision for young people battling

mental health issues A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

in Wales.

People

Editor
Branwen Thomas

Notable former staff

* Lowri Gwilym *

Betsan Powys Betsan Powys (born 1965), is a Welsh journalist and former Editor of Programmes for BBC Radio Cymru. Biography Powys was born in Cardiff. A native Welsh speaker after being educated at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari, Powys joined BBC Wales as a News ...

Menna Richards Menna Richards OBE was the Controller of BBC Cymru Wales from February 2000 to February 2011. Biography Born in Maesteg, Bridgend County Borough, Wales, Richards was educated at the town's Grammar School, and later at the University of Wales, A ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byd ar Bedwar S4C original programming 1982 British television series debuts Current affairs shows