James King as Chester Monk in Pobol y Cwm
Tonight at 9pm, young actor James King stars in the first episode of a new series of BBC One drama Ordinary Lies; but he started in the Valley - Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) to be precise – the Welsh soap made by BBC Wales for S4C.
Pobol y Cwm is the longest-running television soap opera produced by the BBC, and has been on screen for nine years longer than EastEnders.
James is just one of a select number of famous names who’ve walked the streets of the fictional village of Cwmderi, home to Pobol y Cwm. After four decades on the small screen it’s no surprise that the series has nurtured a whole host of up-and-coming actors with some becoming international names.
Iwan Rheon as Macs White in Pobol y Cwm
Any Games of Thrones fan will recognise Iwan Rheon as the twisted Ramsay Bolton. Rheon credits his stint playing Macs White in Pobol y Cwm - which he says challenged him as a young actor - with helping him achieve roles like Simon Bellamy in the E4 series Misfits before going on to star in the global HBO hit.
Ioan Gruffudd as Gareth Wyn Harries in Pobol y Cwm
Ioan Gruffudd, who attended the same Welsh-medium school in Cardiff as Rheon, is also a household name. Ioan started his career as a schoolboy playing Gareth Wyn Harries in the soap before moving on to appear in Hornblower, Titanic and the Fantastic Four films.
There’s also Alexandra Roach, who went from playing wayward teenager Elin Owen in the series to starring as a young Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, to Meryl Streep's mature Thatcher. She also played Becky in Channel 4 thriller Utopia.
Ordinary Lies series two starts tonight (Tuesday 18 October) on BBC One.
