35 DIWRNOD RETURNS
Along with Y Gwyll (known as Hinterland in English), 35 Diwrnod (Welsh for 35 days) stunned crowds around the world and alerted them to the rise of Welsh language television thrillers. The first series began with a shot of the body of a woman, Jan Richards, in her home in a well-to-do suburb (filmed in Maesycymmer). The audiences were then walked through the 35 days prior to her death, when she moved to the estate, and were introduced to dark secrets and a range of complex characters. It’s no surprise that, like Y Gwyll, 35 Diwrnod is returning to our televisions once again.
The new series stars on Sunday 8 November on S4C, and is based in an insurance fraud enforcement office in Cardiff city centre, where the characters’ lives cross in a tale filled with sex, crime and deception. Written by the BAFTA Cymru winning Siwan Jones and the award-winning novelist Wiliam Owen Roberts, 35 Diwrnod starts with the mysterious death of a man, lying in the street in a pool of his own blood. In a similar format to the prequel, we are taken back 35 days earlier and introduced to the soon to be deceased: Simon Jones. In this thrilling series nothing is as it seems.
Gwawr Martha Lloyd, S4C’s Drama Content Commissioner says, “35 Diwrnod is a series that has a completely unique way of telling a murder story as the viewer plays the role of detective. The first series succeeded to capture the imagination of the audience, with watching every episode a necessity so not to lose any piece of essential evidence. There are many colourful characters in the second series with some gripping tales full of mystery. I very much hope the audience will enjoy this journey.”
It is programmes like this that are helping to put modern Welsh writers and the Welsh language on the map internationally, and with such a brilliant reputation the future of Welsh thrillers looks extremely optimistic, not like the characters depicted.
35 Diwrnod, S4C, Sun 8 Nov. Info: www.s4c.cymru
