Wales Feed 1o2w54

2015-12-23T11:47:52+00:00

Dark. Mysterious. Thrilling. Three adjectives that not only describe the new series of BBC Wales’ crime drama Hinterland, but an accurate description of being on the streets of Cardiff city centre at three in the morning, a few days before Christmas. It’s cold, it’s dark and the rain is threatening as we set up a stunt to draw attention to the Welsh noir.

Setting up the Hinterland 'bus in bag' stunt in the early hours

So what exactly were we doing?

We wanted to do something big. Something that would grab people’s attention in our effort to get as much publicity as possible for the second series of Hinterland, which is set in Aberystwyth, starring Poldark’s Richard Harrington as DCI Mathias.

There are so many brands competing at this time of year for consumers’ attention and it’s no different for broadcasters. BBC Wales has superb dramas on TV over Christmas and we wanted to go beyond traditional promotion, take it a step further and get people talking.

We threw around ideas about recreating crime scenes to give people a mysterious experience before deciding on evidence bags. But what could we put in an evidence bag- a building? The detective’s caravan? Driving back from a meeting in rush hour traffic, the answer was staring us in the face. The crime scene in the first episode of series two is a bus.

With only three weeks to turn it around, we set about making our ambition a reality: to build a huge plastic evidence bag to fit over a bus, on location and to appear by the time the first shoppers were out on the city streets. And there were plenty of hurdles to overcome, from changes in location and fighting with the elements to breakages. But the result was amazing, and by 7am on the morning of 21 December, 2015, bemused shoppers were beginning to take photos of the bus in a bag.

And it was the real thing. This was the actual bus that used in the production as well as helping people travel to, from and around Ceredigion for the remainder of the year.

It was a very large clue leading to Hinterland, which will be on BBC One Wales in four parts from Wednesday 23 December at 9.30 and on BBC iPlayer.

2015-10-13T11:37:17+00:00

Doctor Who producer Derek Ritchie explains the challenges and successes of shooting the new series.

The joy of working on Doctor Who is that every story brings unique creative challenges with it that you wouldn’t find anywhere else, and which that very talented behind-the-scenes team are always willing to meet! So it was with delight we plunged (pardon the pun) into the realising of an underwater world for the spooky two-parter Under the Lake / Before the Flood, written by Being Human scribe and Doctor Who stalwart Toby Whithouse. And where else would you want to film an underwater world? Well, in Cardiff Bay, obviously!

Scene from Series 9, Episode 5: The Girl Who Died

Okay, so we weren’t filming in the actual bay, but at Roath Lock Studios where we decided to build the base – The Drum – in all of its glory. We had several sets, the centrepiece of which was the huge Hangar which housed the sinister spaceship dredged up from the depths of the lake, and which at one end we placed the all-important Control Room. Putting these two sets together meant we made the most of our Hangar, as shooting towards the windows in the Control Room meant shooting the full depth of that impressive space. And in the middle of that set was the spaceship itself…

Early on director Daniel O’Hara, designer Michael Pickwoad and myself decided that building the spaceship in full was a sensible approach – it had a huge role to play in the story, had to be fully interactive, and be used both in studio and on location. In addition, having an actual object to light, to dress, and to augment with SFX such as steam and water, gave it a much more real texture than we might have achieved purely with CGI.

We used surprisingly few water elements on the base set. Ingenious effects from the seasoned Doctor Who lighting team proved incredibly effective, and DoP Richard Stoddard found inventive ways to include that sense of water moving and reflecting throughout all of the sets - such as using ‘skylights’ in the corridors to create shimmering pools of watery light. This naturalistic approach worked well in the context of what we were making – a classic ghost story given the unique Doctor Who twist!

Although most of the haunting took place on the base itself, the story ultimately moves back in time to before the base existed, when the submerged town was a much drier military training base in the north of Scotland in 1980. But where would we go to film a military training base in South Wales? Well how about the military training base at Caerwent?! Frequently used for filming, this proved to be an ideal location – easily adapted for our needs, with superb infrastructure. All we were missing was a dam and some mountains, which some post-production trickery from Milk (VFX) and Gareth Spensley (colourist at Molinaire) deftly added. And there we had it – a fake Russian town in the Scottish Highlands in 1980! With a spooky spaceship parked slap-bang in the middle!

Doctor Who is without a doubt, the most challenging and rewarding of productions. But what really makes bringing to life the endlessly disparate and surprising worlds of the series a real pleasure, is the hugely talented and ionate crew that work on the show, and who through Doctor Who have put Wales on the map as a place where the highest quality television and film can be very successfully produced.

Doctor Who, Saturday 17 October, BBC One

2015-09-07T08:30:00+00:00

I first walked into Mucky Pups dog boutique and spa in Cardiff about a year and a half ago. I being met by its bubbly owner Leanne Couch and about thirty 'parents' who had brought in their 'fur-babies' to the spa for a photo shoot.

Immediately I could see the potential in Leanne and her customers for a great series. In a world where owners treat their dogs to Furcials, Pawdicures and Technicolour Dog Coats it's easy to think it's all a bit OTT. After all, who really paints their dog's nails or spends more on their mutt than themselves? But as the pooches posed for photos in their best outfits I got chatting to the 'fur-baby parents' and quickly realised that for each owner, their dog fulfilled a different and often very important role in their lives, be it as a baby substitute, trusted friend or even lifesaver. All had their own reasons for loving and spoiling their pooches.

Lisa and Dora the Shih-Tzu

When we started filming back in January we set out to make a series that would also tell the owners' stories and give an insight into why they treat their dogs the way they do. I will never forget Lisa telling me how her beloved shih-tzu Dora helped her get her life back on track, or Louella revealing that her miniature poodle Tyra was the baby she'd never had after she lost with her daughter when she was a toddler. I'd like to thank all the owners who let our cameras into their lives.

As for our goddess of grooming Leanne Couch, well, Leanne is a force of nature. Five kids and owner of two 'Mucky Pups' dog spas, all before turning thirty. It's hard to see how Leanne has any time to sleep or eat, but it's great to see a young businesswoman with so much drive and guts. All the Couch clan; mum, brother, sister and Leanne live in the same street and all each other.

By Leanne's side through thick and thin is her hubby Lee. How he copes with Leanne's crazy world is beyond me. Just before we started filming Leanne fell pregnant with baby number five and decided she wanted the entire house done up and decorated, plus the Cardiff store adapted. So - despite recovering from recent surgery - Lee got to work while trying to run his own business at the same time.

I guess one moment that sums up making this series for me is standing on the dance floor in the groom room during Leanne's doggy speed dating event. As the owners strutted their stuff with each other and their pooches, three Bichons took to the floor and stated doing a doggy conga! Barking Mad? Yes the world of dog spas can be pretty weird, but at the end of the day if the fur-babies and their parents are happy I say each to their own and good on them for doing what they like.

Episode 1 of Barking Mad: The Welsh Dog Spa is on BBC One Wales & BBC Wales HD, Monday 7 September at 7.30pm

2015-08-11T10:00:00+00:00

As the series producer of ‘Rhys to the Rescue’ and now ‘Rhys Jones’s Wildlife Patrol', I’ve been working with Dr Rhys Jones for over six years now; and in that time he’s led me into some scary animal scrapes – a close encounter with Africa’s most venomous snake, a deadly spider in a Cardiff garden centre, and any number of heart-pounding animal-related police raids.

So I guess it should have come as no surprise when he came to me during filming for the brand new series of ‘Wildlife Patrol’ and said: ‘I think we should do something on the killer shrimp in Cardiff Bay.’

‘The killer what? In Cardiff where?’ was my alarmed reply – my head filled with visions of vicious blood-thirsty crustaceans taking people along Mermaid Quay.

Rhys explained to me that whilst us humans were currently safe, the bay’s waters were in danger of being overrun by a voracious and aggressive shrimp that had made its way to Wales from Russia and was now munching through our native shrimp, fish and plant life – causing general carnage to the local ecosystem, and worrying the be-gee-bees out of ecologists, environmentalists, and scientists across Wales fearful that the shrimp – currently contained within the bay - would soon break out and infest other waterways. So far, so bad. And it’s worse…

Dr Rhys Jones & Prof Peter Kille, Cardiff Bay

Killer shrimp are classified as ‘alien invaders’; non-native animals and plants that have somehow found their way to Wales and are now happily breeding and in some cases - like these natural prawn killlers – having a negative impact on our native wildlife and ecosystems.

According to latest estimates, we currently have over 2,000 alien invaders in Wales: everything from Aescypalian snakes in North Wales (don’t worry, they’re non-venomous) to the most recent invading incomers – wild boar in South Wales (see episode four of the new series for an astonishing behind the scenes and as-it-happened insight into this latest invasion.)

The bottom line is that in every instance it is us humans who are responsible for these plagues of unwanted pests. Killer shrimp have come here on the hulls of boats; the snakes in North Wales were the result of a single pregnant female escaping from a zoo; and the wild boar were the result of a burglary on a farm. Add to that people dumping unwanted non-native pets (terrapins, guinea pigs, prairie dogs); and the phenomena that scientists such as Rhys now call ‘global weirding’ – warmer waters leading to sharks and parrot fish appearing in Welsh waters – and the threat to what we see as the indigenous Welsh landscape is at its greatest since the last ice-age.

Apparently this isn’t just happening in Wales, but on a global scale too. The worst-case scenario seems to be that every countryside in the world will end up going the way of every high street – in other words, local home-grown species will be out-competed and killed off by bigger, better, more aggressive and adaptable incoming species and eventually the Earth will end up if not a monoculture (humans and nothing else), then a world where millions of distinct species of plant and animal life are reduced to nothing more than a few thousands or even hundreds surviving species.

But that doomsday scenario is not here yet, and science is already fighting back against alien invaders – and Dr Jones is one of those on the frontline.

The reason Rhys wanted to feature the killer shrimp was because colleagues at the Cardiff University School of Bioscience have been developing an eDNA kit to help thwart the killer shrimp, and had invited Rhys to participate in the first trials of this new piece of space-age science.

Dr Rhys Jones in the lab

So of course, once Rhys had explained all of this to me, I readily agreed with him that it would make a very interesting story for Wildlife Patrol. Therefore, I gallantly volunteered the programme’s producer, Huw Crowley, to don his prawn repellent wellies and wade into Cardiff Bay with Dr Jones, Professor Pete Kille, and the killer shrimp.

Did they all make it out alive? All I can tell you is that there were some casualties – and if you tune into the new series of Rhys Jones’s Wildlife Patrol, you’ll find out exactly who I mean!

The new series of Rhys Jones's Wildlife Patrol starts Friday 14th August at 7.30pm on BBC One Wales.

2015-06-18T15:00:00+00:00

In isolated parts of rural north Wales, far from urban CCTV and where neighbours can be miles away, people have very little protection from unwanted intruders intent on crime.

I think we - the Rural Crime Team - fulfil a very important role - crime here can have a devastating effect on people’s lives and livelihoods, so if we can work as closely as possible with people and show them that we care, and that we can make a difference, then it’s worthwhile.

I think it’s important for the team to have a visible profile, so that people know who we are and what we do. As well as getting out and about and meeting people as much as possible as part of our work, I think social media has a positive role to play.

On location with the Countryside Cops

I recently found out that my Twitter , @NWPRuralCrime, is the most popular in of the numbers of followers for Britain’s specialist police officers - more than the entire West Midlands cannabis team, apparently. Not bad considering my first ever Tweet was “Happy New Year” at the start of 2014.

Since the team was launched around 18 months ago, farming and wildlife crime has been cut substantially in North Wales. We’ve deployed new policing techniques and I’m glad to say that other police forces have been ing us on a regular basis to find out more about how we work.

One technique we use is predictive analysis. Data is collated and then sorted according to different parameters. This has thrown up some surprises: farm crime in North Wales is five times more likely on a Thursday than a Tuesday, for example. July is the worst month for farm thefts - perhaps this is because so many people are away at the Royal Welsh Show.

In the summer months there are more people in the region and there’s more wildlife about, so it stands to reason there will be more wildlife crime. It enables us to target resources.

One example is Operation Raptor, launched in the spring this year. It targets those who poison birds of prey - mostly it’s a case of raising awareness and the tactic is working: so far this year we haven’t had a single raptor death.

When we first started I think some farmers were initially suspicious - and I can understand that. It was a steep learning curve but I think people now know we are here to assist, and we have earned their trust.

Countryside Cops: Monday, June 22, BBC One Wales, 10.35pm

bbc.co.uk/realnorthwales

2015-04-02T09:25:49+00:00

Assistant Producer Claire Hill writes about filming Larkin and Dale’s Takeaway Revolution.

For more than a year we have been following Larkin Cen and Dale Williams working hard to open their first Chinese takeaway.

Masterchef viewers all have an opinion on these talented Welsh chefs and when they turn up at food events or their own pop ups, people are desperate for photos.

But they are both genuine, down-to-earth Welsh boys, ready to have a laugh at themselves and each other. Plus they are impressively ionate and full of self-belief. Which is a good job really; heading into business is stressful and you need to be able to see the funny side of things and really believe in what you're doing from day one.

When we started filming the project there was an opening date for the takeaway venture which shifted quite dramatically and put lots of pressure on the cooking duo. But if you want to see why it all happened and the real story about how hard it is to open a business, you will just have to keep watching the series.

Assistant Producer Claire Hill (foreground) filming with Dale Williams

As a small two-person production team, whenever you see Larkin and Dale cooking or eating, that means Emily the producer and I are behind the camera or a sound kit trying to concentrate really hard on capturing everything on film. Some days this is very hard to do when the food looks and smells so good.

But, don’t feel too sorry for us, we generally descend on the leftovers. The food might have gone cold but it was always still really tasty. So we have no complaints and that is especially true when we headed to Hong Kong for three days – you’ll see some of the amazing food we came across in episode two. Sorry we can’t offer you all 'smellivison' or any tasters though.

After more than 12 months of being behind the scenes and seeing everything that goes into opening a foodie business, especially the endless paperwork and red tape, I wouldn’t fancy doing it myself. You’ll see as the series airs that even for Larkin and Dale it has been hard work and graft and that it isn’t all glamorous. So I’ll stick to eating the takeaways.

Larkin and Dale’s Takeaway Revolution is on Friday 3 April at 7.30pm on BBC One Wales.

2015-03-20T12:18:23+00:00

My career originated in PR so it was overwhelming when I was asked to move from behind the camera to in front of the camera - I was used to directing shoots and events, not being in the limelight myself! However, I am hugely ionate about what I'm doing right now; I'm a big believer that food and family should be at the centre of everyone's upbringing - even if family isn’t your immediate blood relatives. Everyone should be surrounded by people they love and . It's what makes the world a happy place, in my opinion!

So doing what I do now - promoting simple food, family and community is very exciting for me. It all started with a series on C4 and our family cook book which I wrote with my sisters. Now my sisters and I are working with Jamie Oliver on YouTube, ing free simple recipes for all to enjoy while also talking about baby weaning and feeding a family.

Michela and her sisters enjoy a picnic in the Italian sunshine

And now here I am presenting a documentary called The Welsh Italians about the Welsh Italian community for BBC Wales. This is a community I grew up in, in the Welsh Valleys. It's still vibrant and full of life today and again centres around food and family.

It's not always easy to get people to come on camera - us Italians are often big personalities, however we do like to keep things private too! After some gentle persuasion, I have managed to get some great stories and secrets revealed in this two-part series. It shows how happy and settled the Italians were made to feel by the local Welsh communities, and how each have become intricately linked. You won't believe how many Welsh accents you hear during August in the little town of Bardi in the hills of northern Italy!

Episode 1 of The Welsh Italians is at 6.30pm on Sunday 23 March, BBC One Wales.

2015-03-18T13:12:53+00:00

There are a lot of people living in the south Wales valleys who work in Cardiff. Many don’t have a choice - it’s just where the jobs are. And that means a daily commute back and forth to the capital.

The quality of that commute can have a big impact. If it’s a stress-free, enjoyable experience, you arrive in work on time and all set for the day ahead. And if it’s not? Well X-Ray has been hearing stories of some terrible train journeys, that have been causing big problems for some of our viewers.

Lucy on location at Pontypridd as she investigates the performance of train services in the south Wales valleys

If you look at the official figures, Arriva Trains Wales is doing a great job. But enger satisfaction with punctuality and reliability is falling. And the main problem – you just can’t get a seat.

So for the programme we asked regular travellers to record their experiences of their daily commute. We’ve heard stories of rush hour trains crammed tight with people, with sometimes not enough room for people even to get on.

Lots of the people X-Ray talked to said they are just fed-up with being forced to endure what they feel is a sub-standard service.

So what are Arriva Trains Wales doing about it? Well their Customer Services Director Lynne Milligan agreed to an interview with X-Ray. I couldn’t wait to ask her why it was just so hard to get a seat on a train? Surely that’s not much for regular rail s to expect? Couldn’t they just put on an extra carriage at busy times?

I wasn’t expecting her answer. Lynne told me there are no more carriages across the network available, so they simply can’t increase capacity. So, it’s just tough luck for travellers? Pretty much. And what about delays and cancellations? Well Lynne seemed pretty happy with their record.

So if you’re a regular commuter, it looks like this is how it’s going to be until at more carriages become available – around 2017 according to Ms Milligan. If you’re stuck on a packed train that’s going to seem like a long, long time ahead.

If you need X-Ray’s help, get in touch on 0370 3334334 or email [email protected]">[email protected]. This week's programme is on BBC One Wales, Friday 20 March at 7.30pm or catch us on iplayer, and you can tweet us via @BBCXray or @lucyowenwales.

2015-03-17T13:28:37+00:00

A question for you… Is it possible for someone who’s gone through the Welsh education system to be unable to tell the time?

It’s a skill I’m working on with my 6 year old. We’ve not got to grips with the concept of how many minutes ‘to the hour’, but he can read an analogue clock and write down the numerical representation. I am playing quite an active role as a parent and am fortunate to consider myself confident when it comes to numbers. But even for those children without pro-active family to help-out, surely after 10 plus years at school they should be able to tell the time?

WIWO presenter Rachel Treadaway-Williams helps her 6 year old with his homework

Not so for Nick Bush from New Tredegar. 23 years old and totally dependent on his friends to decipher a train timetable. Nick attended school, but when it comes to his mathematical ability he’s not the exception. More than half of the Welsh adult population have maths skills of an average 11 year old or lower.

It’s this void in basic skills that’s been Wales’ undoing in the educational PISA tests and rather than improve, we’ve slipped down the rankings following successive assessments. It was this political bombshell that prompted amongst other changes the introduction of the Literacy & Numeracy Framework (LNF). This was hailed as THE solution to our literacy & numeracy woes but on talking to those who are actually responsible for delivering it - teachers - the way it was implemented does not appear to have been A*. Rather it was landed on an already overloaded workforce without enough , a viewpoint reflected by Estyn following their early evaluation of the LNF published in January 2015. Also a viewpoint neatly illustrated by Clair Sweet, the Maths lead, at Tylorstown Primary School who told me that the Welsh Government had only just posted examples on their Learning Wales website of how teachers might make it work in practice. This was in February 2015. The Literacy & Numeracy was made statutory for schools in September 2013. You do the maths.

Interestingly when I questioned the Minister for Education, Huw Lewis AM, about this very fact, he claimed to know nothing of it, instead wanting to flag up the NEW online work that his department were engaged in.

Clair Sweet at Tylorstown Primary also made another interesting point. She felt that the principle of embedding literacy and numeracy skills in all teaching was a good one, but didn’t feel the need for yet another formal initiative with all its red tape and paperwork. Instead, she felt it was something that good teachers would have been doing anyway. Which raises another point: are we fussy enough about who is teaching our children? I have to be careful what I say here as the daughter of two teachers; so let me re-phrase that. Is the teaching profession regarded highly enough that it attracts the best calibre candidates? In the educational powerhouse of China the President recently urged that teaching become the most respected job in the country.

It’s clearly a topic that’s been on the Education Minister’s mind and he’s welcomed the various expert reports recently published calling for a boost in the status, autonomy, qualifications and professional development of teachers. He’s recently raised the GCSE entry requirement in Maths & English for Primary School teachers from 2C’s to 2B’s. He told me we can’t just magic up mathematics specialists but on the other hand, I wonder, could he not be moving further and faster to raise this particular bar and send out a message that we now want the best to be our teachers?

Week In Week Out: Can't Read, Can't Do My Sums! is on BBC One Wales, Tuesday 17 March at 10.40pm.

2015-03-02T12:19:53+00:00

This week’s X-Ray is going to be heart-wrenching for anyone who loves dogs. Having to part with a much loved family pet, even if you feel it’s the best for your animal, must be one of the hardest decisions to make.

Talking to Tracy Evans at her home in Llansteffan, it was clear that it had been a very upsetting time. And if giving up her pet wasn’t hard enough, what happened next made it even worse.

Buddy the Beagle

Buddy had been in the family since he was 8 weeks old. But two years on, Tracy felt they couldn’t look after him properly any more. She thought she’d found him a new loving home, through an advert online.

But after handing over Buddy, she immediately suspected something was wrong. And just hours later, an advert appeared online from the same computer used to offer Buddy that perfect home, now offering a beagle for sale. Despite trying for more than a year, Tracy still hasn’t been able to find Buddy. She turned to X-Ray in desperation.

Most animal lovers would find it hard to imagine, but the RSPCA is concerned about how some people are exploiting online ‘wanted’ or ‘for sale’ ads. There’s no guarantee these animals won’t be sold on for a big profit and end up somewhere where they may not be looked after properly. The RSPCA wants a change in the current law, to cover the trade online.

I really wanted a happy ending to this story. I hoped we’d be able to track down Buddy, that we’d find him alive, well and healthy in a happy home. I wanted Tracy and her family to be able to see him again, for them to be able to stop worrying, to stop dwelling on possible dreadful scenarios, to stop blaming themselves.

The X-Ray crew on the scent in the hunt for Buddy

Early one morning, the X-Ray team went to the one address near Llanelli where we thought Buddy could be. We wanted answers. We wanted to find Buddy. Driving down a single track lane through the mist, the crew and I were all silently hoping we could bring this to an end. We pulled up outside. We did not get a warm welcome.

Find out what happened on tonight's programme, 7.30pm Monday 2 March 2015, BBC One Wales.

If you need X-Ray’s help, get in touch on 0370 3334334 or email [email protected]">[email protected]. We’re on Mondays 7.30pm BBC One Wales or catch us on iplayer, and you can tweet us via @BBCXray or @lucyowenwales.

2014-10-02T11:53:56+00:00

Would you ever consider allowing a TV crew to follow you 24/7 for a week asking you endless questions about your life, your lifestyle, your opinions on parenting and on being a teenager while all the while you are living someone else’s life?

If the answer’s ‘Not on your Nellie!’, you might want to watch the new series of Family Life Swap –(part BBC Wales’ Real Families season) it just might make you think again. Or not.

When the Crabtree family from Llanvetherine, and the Beynon family from Abertillery agreed to take part in Family Life Swap they probably had very little idea what they were letting themselves in for. But they weren’t the only ones – the production crew had very little idea of what was going to happen either!

The Crabtree family who feature in Family Life Swap

This is the fourth ‘life swap’ series I’ve been involved in, and a large part of the fun and the terror of making them is that you’ve really no idea how things are going to pan out.

The premise is quite simple: take two families from completely different backgrounds, with seemingly differing beliefs and lifestyles, get the teenagers from the families to swap lives for a week, and then film what happens.

The Beynon family who feature in Family Life Swap

In this case, the brief was to explore attitudes to parenting in modern Wales alongside the attitudes, hopes and fears of Welsh teenagers.

On the surface, our two families were poles apart. For the Beynons, and their five kids – Amy, Connor, Rhys, Katy and Daisy, discipline and boundaries ruled the family roost: and to an outsider, Mam Jo and Dad Ivor appear incredibly strict and somewhat scary.

Whereas the Crabtree parents – Mum, Vicky and Dad, Neil - appeared much more laid-back and liberal in their parenting of their two teenage daughters, Megan and Bronwen; who appeared to have the run of their lovely country home, and whose social diary looked like an endless round of barn dances and young farmers’ parties.

Of course, life – and parenting – is never that black and white. And what quickly emerged during the filming is that the two families had far, far more in common than first appeared. Love, warmth, care, comion – for family, for friends, for their communities – poured out of both families, parents and teens.

The Beynon and Crabtree teenagers

Yes there were issues that troubled everyone: drink, drugs, sex, relationships, hopes and fears – all the usual teen stuff we’ve all been through. But for this generation there is something different: all of their triumphs and trials are played out in the glare of the 24/7 new media revolution. And it’s inescapable, whether you live in a Valley’s town, or out in the depths of the Welsh countryside.

As the father of two growing kids myself, I was secretly absorbing everything for tips, good advice and no-nos. I’ve taken away several book loads. I’m sure anybody watching the series will do the same too.

It takes a special family to be brave enough to swap their lives with another family while allowing TV cameras to film the whole shebang, warts and all. Luckily for us, we found not one but two families who were prepared to put themselves under the microscope for the whole of Wales to stare at them.

To the wonderful Crabtree and Beynon families, thank you for letting us into your worlds. Wales will never be the same again.

For tips on getting your family to communicate better, watch an exclusive video with psychologist Pippa Davies.
Family Life Swap starts Friday 3 October, 7.30pm, BBC One Wales.

2013-10-30T12:01:03+00:00

The Live Longer Wales season finished this last weekend and over the last three weeks our TV, Radio and Online services have looked at inactivity at work, diets, what's in our food, how you can cook and grow your own food, body image, Type 2 diabetes and a host of other subjects.
The weekend started on Friday with the Radio Wales Cook-along curated by Simon Wright and finished with Dudley's Grow It, Cook It, Eat It with the people of Ynysybwl on Sunday. And around 50 organisations from across Wales opened their doors for free last weekend to let us get a taste of what a more active life might be like.

Welsh chef Dudley Newbery

Most of our programmes are still available through our Live Longer Wales website and after that you will be able to access all the online material that’s been created alongside the programmes from tips to keeping fit and how to eat more healthily.
Thanks to all of you who have been in touch with us and kept up with the programmes. I know that the Live Longer Wales season has given rise to sometimes ionate debate and we have welcomed your comments whether you were sympathetic or disagreed.
We hope at least that the last three weeks have helped you get inspired about how you and your families can live a longer and healthier life.

2013-09-20T13:52:23+00:00

Our waistlines are bulging often with alarming consequences. Over half the population of Wales is now classed as overweight with about a quarter in the obese category.

The results of this weight gain are increasing levels of ill health in the population at large with a heightened risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure among the unwelcome medical conditions we suffer.

And there are other consequences too like the problems of impaired mobility or the yo-yo dieting that can follow on from the crippling feeling of having a supposed inadequate body-image.

Live Longer Wales is a social action season in which we try and get at the causes of this weight-gain phenomenon and take a constructive, non-finger-wagging look at what might be done.

Live Longer Wales season trail

Across radio and television, in Welsh and in English, a host of programmes from our big strands including Wales Today and Good Morning Wales up with specially commissioned content to take a forensic look at the problem and provide us with more than a few tips as to what solutions might work. There is also a survey that gauges the attitude of the Welsh people on all the main talking points.

And our Interactive and Learning team will be providing back-up information online, from what exercise you should take weekly to how to rustle up a quick, healthy meal instead of a greasy takeaway.

Is it simply a question of getting off your backside, being more active and eating less or is it more complicated than that?

Live Longer Wales is a new season of programmes from BBC Cymru Wales throughout October on TV, radio and online.

2012-01-19T16:55:56+00:00

When Welsh wildlife is in trouble, it's often humans who are to blame although nature and the weather can also take their toll.

Dr Rhys Jones is back with a brand new series of Rhys to the Rescue on BBC One Wales, Wednesdays at 7:30pm.

Reptile and animal handling expert, Dr Rhys Jones.

In episode one, currently available on BBC iPlayer, Rhys deals with an escaped snake in a bathroom, a big cat sighting and a lonely chimp!

Next week, Rhys rescues two tawny owl chicks found in the middle of a wood in Cwmbran. Had they become distressed and disorientated during a recent storm or taken and later abandoned by humans?

His next call is to Caerleon to see a grass snake, before travelling to Bridgend to save a Manx shearwater and attempt to release it back into the wild off cliffs at Southerndown.

2010-12-20T11:00:06+00:00

Astronomy will be brought down to earth in a special moment of live stargazing that will motivate the nation to look up at the wonders that fill our skies every night of the year.

The three episodes on BBC Two, stripped over the three consecutive nights of 3 - 5 January will be presented by Prof Brian Cox, Dara O Briain and One Show astronomer Mark Thompson whilst Liz Bonin is live from Hawaii.

In his own inimitable fashion, Brian shows how anyone can be an astronomer, as he encourages the audience to set off on their own journey of discovery.

This event is being planned to coincide with a series of three exciting celestial events that should be visible to amateurs and experts alike in the UK (weather permitting!).

Each of these events will provide an ideal way to theme each programme including the appearance of Jupiter in conjunction with Uranus for the first time since the 14th Century, a spectacular partial solar eclipse and the Quadrantid Meteor Shower.

The presenters will answer questions, request photographs of the sky from the audience and use demonstrations and real-time astronomical images to guide the nation's amateur astronomers across the skies.

There will be plenty of resources on offer such as able star charts and audio guides to get you started and plenty of events happening throughout Wales.