Pen Talar: On-Screen and Off-Screen Narratives of Nation in a Welsh Context

Abstract

This chapter will focus on Pen Talar (Fiction Factory, 2010), a nine-part drama series broadcast on S4C during the autumn of 2010, arguably the most turbulent of times for the Welsh language broadcaster since it began broadcasting in 1982. Hailed as ?the Welsh Heimat? and a ?landmark series? to ?evoke a nation?s memories of old hopes and broken dreams?, this chapter will critically asses the series and explore wider questions about the relationship between television drama and cultural identity. It will employ a multifaceted methodology to include textual analysis, contextual approaches and critical reception theory. In addition, it will attempt to relate these discourses in a comparative context with those of other minority language television channels. Pen Talar follows the friendship of two boys from their childhood in west Wales in the early 1960s up until the present day. During these 50 years, their lives are interwoven with significant events in Welsh history. It is described by the broadcaster as ?an epic journey of two friends and the story of a nation over half a century?. The protagonists? political beliefs and actions create a specifically republican and nationalistic narrative of history. The actors and production team have described the production process as ?an awakening to one?s own history?. Pen Talar has also led to specific audience activity, with the creation of Pentalarpedia.com and Twitter activity #pentalar generating elements of participatory culture. Moreover, the broadcasting of Pen Talar coincided with a major crisis in the history of S4C: the sudden departure of its Chief Executive, the threat of severe cuts and a hostile relationship with the new Government in Westminster. Fact and fiction became further interwoven as Welsh MPs called upon the Secretary of State for Media, Culture and Sport, ?to watch all nine episodes as part of his decision-making on the future funding of S4C? and the Pen Talar actors (billed as their characters) appearing at mass protest in support of the Channel. The series is an opportunity to explore the relationship between national memory, television fiction and historical narratives. Against the wider canvass of politics, with S4C itself as protagonist, this is all the more interesting. specialissue: Television Drama and National Identity: The Case of ‘Small Nations’