BBC - The Story of Wales (2012)

Huw Edwards presents an in-depth televisual history of Wales.

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Part 1: The Makings of Wales
Huw begins with the drama of the earliest-known human burial in Western Europe, before delving into the biggest prehistoric copper mine in the world and visiting the site of an Iron Age hillfort. Huw also reveals the true scale of the Roman occupation and shows how Welsh saints carried the light of the gospel to the rest of the Celtic world.


Part 2: Power Struggles
In this edition, Huw spans seven centuries - from the building of a great frontier to Owain Glyndwr's epic struggle for independence. He recounts how the lust for power and land by some medieval kings forged Wales into nation. Amidst battles with Vikings, Saxons and Normans, Welsh culture flourished, but the death of the last native Prince was followed by a century of plague and famine, until the charismatic Glyndwr led a rebellion against the English Crown.


Part 3: England and Wales
In 1485 a young nobleman set sail for Wales from exile in France in order to claim the English crown. It was the first time in history that a self-proclaimed Welshman would be king of England, and under the dynasty he established - the Tudors - Wales became united with England, something that would impact subsequent generations of Welsh citizens for the next 250 years.


Part 4: Furnace of Change
Huw recounts how the Industrial Revolution turned Wales into a global player, bringing unimaginable wealth along with desperate poverty. From Parys Mountain on Anglesey to Copperopolis in Swansea, the copper trade transformed the landscape and the economy. Iron did the same for Merthyr Tydfil, making it a world-class centre of technology. This in turn fuelled massive social turmoil, riots and uprisings, and gave way to the first national demands for democracy and workers' rights.


Part 5: A New Beginning
Wales becomes known the world over for Welsh steam coal, and in the space of 50 years, a new Wales is fashioned off the back of this product. The coalfields attract hundreds of thousands of migrants, with their own languages and culture, yet no sooner has Wales found itself at the centre of global trade, than the Depression causes an industrial crash with a bitter social fallout.


Part 6: Wales and Britain
Wales changes rapidly from the 1940s onwards, as Aneurin Bevan battles to set up Britain's most cherished institution. Parliament votes to drown a Welsh valley, a new generation of sportsmen and women garner national glory, and television itself becomes part of the story of Wales. Wales becomes a nation of commuters and consumers, and her sense of history is revived.







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