Netflix to show first Welsh language drama, Dal y Mellt

Netflix is to broadcast its first Welsh language drama.

The streaming giant said it hoped it could play a role in helping to “promote and preserve the Welsh language”.

It has bought the licence for S4C’s Dal y Mellt, a gritty crime thriller which will air from April 2023.

Set in Cardiff, Soho, Porthmadog and Holyhead, it follows a group of misfits as they come together to pull off a heist.

S4C chief executive Sian Doyle called the sale “great news” and said it will lead the platform’s ambition to showcase Welsh talent worldwide.

Dal y Mellt – which translates as Catch The Lightning – was released as a box set in October last year on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer, and is an adaptation of Iwan ‘Iwcs’ Roberts’ debut novel.

Giving evidence to the Welsh Affairs Committee at Westminster, Netflix’s Benjamin King said content made in Wales and about Welsh culture “travels extremely well” to audiences across the world.

“I think within the UK, Wales has consistently been the location for many of our most well-known and best loved shows,” he said.

“Most people are familiar with Sex Education and many people know as well that certain scenes from The Crown were filmed in Wales, but we also have a suite of other content that was made in Wales for example, our film Havoc, which is the largest feature film ever produced there.”

Welsh subtitles were recently made available on certain blockbuster films such as The Adam Project and Red Notice because of lead actor Ryan Reynolds’ connection with Wales as co-owner of Wrexham FC.

The committee session also heard from the Association for Commercial Broadcasters and On-Demand Services (COBA), an industry body representing commercial broadcasters and on-demand services.

COBA executive director Adam Minns said a thriving film and TV production industry had grown in Wales and said the focus of governments should be on building on that “success story”.

“I think one of our biggest contributions has been to create jobs in Wales and stop the brain drain, which I believe has been a concern,” Mr Minns said.

“We’ve gone from a situation where there was literally one shown being made in Wales 15 years ago to Cardiff being one of the biggest production centres in the UK at the moment.”