The Michael Sheen Chronicles: 'Pobol Y Cwm'
That time when a troubled Welsh soap opera character awakens to find a caring doctor at her side
From time to time within The Sheenant Chronicles, I’ll head off the pathway into another realm that showcases the talents of Michael Sheen. Luckily for those in Wales, this surprise 2019 project is one that fully deserves our attention.
Pobol Y Cwm (People of the Valley) is a television institution. First broadcast on BBC Wales in October 1974, the soap drama moved to Welsh-language channel S4C in 1982, where it currently airs three times a week. Over the last 50 years, it has launched the careers of several well-known actors, including Ioan Gruffudd (who began his seven-year tenure at the age of 14), Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones), and guest stars such as Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey) and TV presenter Michael Aspel.
Although similar to iconic soap dramas such as Eastenders and Coronation Street, Pobol Y Cwm stands apart for the very fact of its ‘Welshness.’ Taking place in the fictional town of Cwmderi in southwest Wales, the most current incarnation and narrative focuses on the village pub Y Deri and the surrounding community.
Pobol Y Cwm has had several dramatic and harrowing narratives throughout its long history, none more so in recent years than with actor Lauren Phillips. Phillips began her run on the show in 2003 (with varying intervals) as Kelly Evans Charles, the owner of Caffe Meic. In the lead-up to Michael’s appearance in 2019, Kelly had married Ed Charles (Geraint Todd) and was pregnant with their first child. However, Ed’s ex-partner Angela Probert (Tara Bethan) ensnared him in a bribe, which drove him to murder her. Consumed by this knowledge, he kidnaps Kelly and attempts to throw her off a cliff.
As Lauren recalled in a 2024 interview, “We were filming on location in this run-down cottage, and then we got driven to the top of a cliff, and they started attaching wires to us,” she revealed. “We didn’t realize how steep the drop was. When you watch it back, it’s just… wow.” Although Dylan Ellis (Gareth Jewell) comes to Kelly’s aid, in the ensuing struggle, Ed falls to his death.
Enter Michael Sheen.
Michael had just finished work on the third season of The Good Fight and would begin production on Prodigal Son when he stopped by for this cameo appearance.
“I didn’t know who was going to be playing the doctor in the hospital scenes after Kelly’s ordeal,” Lauren explained. “Then one of the producers told me, ‘It’s Michael Sheen,’ and I won’t tell you what I said because I swore! But working with him was incredible.”
Appropriately, his presence caused a bit of a stir, but Michael, the professional, took it all in stride, even filming episode teasers for the broadcast.
As Nest Gwenllian Roberts, series producer, explained in a 2019 interview with BBC Wales:
“The part of the doctor existed and we had looked at several actors to play the part. It came to my attention that Michael is doing quite a bit of work in Wales at the moment... and the rest is magic.
“He filmed with us on April 10 for a whole morning. He’s in a total of three scenes and it was a pleasure to have him on set.”
While it is admittedly difficult to have broadcast-quality video available of Michael’s episode, the creator known as sheendex put together this six-minute clip from the show. Michael and Lauren’s exchanges are in English, while the others are in Welsh, all subtitled. The episode aired on S4C on June 3, 2019.
Michael Sheen on Pobol Y Cwm/© S4C/BBC Studios Productions Ltd./YouTube
This was Michael’s (and the unnamed doctor’s) only appearance on the show. If you’re curious as to the fate of Kelly and her unborn baby, you can read a quick synopsis of the character here.
