A Child's Christmases In Wales

A Child's Christmases In Wales is a British hour-long Christmas special that aired on BBC Four on 17 December 2009. It stars Ruth Jones, Paul Kaye and Steve Speirs and is narrated by Michael Sheen.

It is loosely based on A Child's Christmas In Wales by Dylan Thomas.

Plot
The special centres on Owen Rhys who lives with his parents Brenda and Geraint in a terraced house in the small mining town of Ferndale in South Wales during the 1980s. Every Christmas, Owen and his parents are visited by his two paternal uncles Huw and Gorwel and his cousin Maurice.

In a series of glimpses from three Christmases across the decade (1983, 1986 and 1989), Owen and Maurice grow from boys into young men, while Geraint and his brothers seem to regress to a childhood of sibling rivalry and Brenda watches in despair.

The years change but the Christmas routine remains the same. Geraint and Hugh, bicker and undermine each other; Maurice, and Owen are forced into competitive games which play out their respective fathers' rivalries; Gorwel, the black sheep of the family, arrives late, hands out badly judged presents, usually destroys the bathroom and bets every year for a White Christmas; while Brenda, tries to prevent everything from going to pieces.

Yet despite all this antagonism there is a peculiar joy in the certainty that they couldn't really have Christmas without the family.

Cast

 * Oliver Bunyan as Owen Rhys (aged 9 and 12) - Brenda and Geraint's son, Huw and Gorwel's nephew, Maurice's cousin, and the main protagonist.


 * Mark Charles Williams as Owen Rhys (aged 15)


 * Ruth Jones as Brenda Rhys - Geraint's wife, Owen's mother, Huw and Gorwel's sister-in-law and Maurice's aunt.


 * Mark Lewis Jones as Geraint Rhys - Brenda's husband, Owen's father, Huw's younger brother, Gorwel's older brother and Maurice's uncle.


 * Steve Speirs as Huw Rhys - Geraint and Gorwel's older brother, Maurice's father, Brenda's brother-in-law and Owen's uncle.


 * Paul Kaye as Gorwel Rhys - Huw and Geraint's younger brother, Brenda's brother-in-law and Owen and Maurice's uncle.


 * Jamie Burch as Maurice Rhys (aged 9 and 12) - Huw's son, Geraint, Brenda and Gorwel's nephew and Owen's cousin.


 * Rhys McLellan as Maurice Rhys (aged 15)


 * Alex Beckett as Carol singer


 * Michael Sheen as Narrator