REAL LEADING LADIES
A look at the Welsh mams who light up our screens
TO CELEBRATE a proper Welsh Mother’s Day, we’ve taken a look at some of the most iconic Welsh mothers to have appeared on screen.
From films to sitcoms to cartoons, there have been plenty of classic Welsh mams who have entertained us over the years. And yes, I said “mams” rather than “mums”.
Whatever you call them, below is a list of some of the most iconic to have put their stamp on Welsh popular culture over the years, from obvious ones to a few some may have forgotten about. Technically speaking, some of the fictional characters aren’t even mothers, but that doesn’t stop them from being mams to the people in their lives.
Kath Jones Pobol y Cwm has been on S4C since the channel’s launch in 1982, and in that time it’s hard to think of a more memorable character than Kath, played by Welsh actress Siw Hughes.
Kath first appeared in the Welshlanguage soap opera in 1993 and initially left Cwmderi in 2007. She returned to the show in 2014 and again in 2017, and is still a part of it today.
She is best known for trying to keep her wayward son Mark Jones in check over the past 25 years or so.
Nessa Jenkins Vanessa Shanessa Jenkins (Nessa) could appear in any list with the word “iconic” in the title. Forget mams, or Welsh characters, she is surely one of the most iconic screen characters of the last 30 years.
Played by Ruth Jones, who co-wrote Gavin & Stacey alongside James Corden, Nessa made Wales and the rest of the UK laugh for three whole series and two Christmas specials.
Firstly, just as Stacey’s well-travelled, slightly mysterious and acerbic best mate, and later as a devoted, if unconventional, mother to “Neil the baby”.
Dilys Price Ah, Dilys Price, otherwise known as the long-suffering mother of the most naughty fictional character in Welsh history, Norman Price. Residing in the Welsh cartoon village of Pontypandy, Dilys, since the show’s inception in 1987, has run the local shop.
However, her main job has always been running after her tearaway son who, despite not having arsonistic tendencies, manages to start the majority of fires to which the eponymous hero Fireman Sam is called upon to extinguish.
But for all his ills, Norman’s mother still dotes on him in her pinny and refers to him as her “little darling”. A classic Welsh mam who would grace any generation.
Maureen Rees Now then, not everyone will remember Maureen Rees, but for those that do she is impossible to forget. Maureen, then in her mid to late 50s, appeared on BBC reality show Driving School. Before the age of streaming services or even widespread digital television, she appeared in several episodes in front of more than 10 million viewers.
She was given driving lessons by her husband, which often ended in disaster, and failed her driving test six times before she eventually passed in 1997. Despite her sometimes erratic nature behind the wheel, Maureen – nicknamed “The driver from L” – found a place in the nation’s hearts.
Gwen West As Nessa in Gavin & Stacey is more of a hellraiser than a conventional mother, the matriarchal role in the hit sitcom is instead taken up by Gw en . Mother of Stacey a n d Jason, more or l e s s mother t o Ne s s a , Gwen i s never happier than when making her home the place to be for her family.
That, more often than not, includes faffing about with a duster and asking whoever sets foot in the house if they want an omlette.
Played by Welsh actress Melanie Walters, Gwen’s qualities as a Welsh mam are highlighted at the end of the third series when Nessa says that, when asked, she tells people that she is her mother, because of all the love she has received over the years. She follows that up with a kiss on the lips, much to Gwen’s amazement/awkwardness.
Moira Price It’s hard to believe that Satellite City has been off our screens for more than two decades, but for anyone who watched it back in the 1990s it will have left an indelible mark on their perception of Valleys culture and humour.
The sitcom, which ran for three series, centred on Gwynne, his father Idris and his wife Moira, together with an American lodger named Randy.
Moira and Gwynne didn’t have children, but the former (played by Welsh actress Ri Richards) was basically a mam to her entire house – her husband, father-in law, house guest and anyone else who would call into the Price home. Every Welsh village has a Moira.
Sali Mali Sali Mali has been a popular fictional character in Wales since she was first created in the 1960s. Thousands of children across different generations have learned to read with Sali Mali, and in 1994 a pre-school TV series was made for S4C, cementing her legendary status further.
An animated series was then made in 2000, which later aired on Channel 4. To prove the pull of old Sali, the show was narrated by Rhys Ifans and its theme tune was sung by Catatonia’s Cerys Matthews.
Jean Lewis The name Jean Lewis might not strike a chord with many upon first hearing it, but when put next to the words “Lewis twins” or “Fatty’s boys” it suddenly takes on a different meaning.
Jean, played by Di Botcher, is the classic Welsh mam in 1997 hit film Twin Town, set in and around Port Talbot and Swansea. The wife of “Fatty Lewis” and mother of Julian and Jeremy Lewis (the Lewises), she spends most of her time doting on her husband and trying to keep her drug-taking, car-stealing, rugby pitchspoiling twin sons out of trouble, without much success.
Her character is t ragically killed off in a caravan fire before the film’s third act, but she m a d e enough of a mark in a couple of scenes to be an iconic Welsh mam, thanks to unforgettable lines such as: “Have a bath, feed Cantona, and leave your father’s glue alone.”
Beth Morgan This is the mother from the 1941 Hollywood film How Green Was My Valley. It tells the story of a hard-working mining family living in a Welsh village. Based on a book by Richard Llewellyn, the film was nominated for 10 Oscars, winning five.
One of the central characters in the film is Beth Morgan, the mother of the Morgan family and someone described by her son as “the heart of the house”. Beth Morgan was played by Irish actress Sara Allgood, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal.
Elsie ‘Mam’ Hepplewhite High Hopes was created by the man behind Satellite City, and many of the same characteristics typical of the Welsh working class family are on display.
Chief among them is a powerful woman who holds her family together, keeping a tidy house while the men in her life usually mess things up. Elsie was played by the late, great Margaret John, who would, after High Hopes, go on to find greater fame as Doris in Gavin & Stacey.
Faith Howells Faith is the central character and heroine in criticallyacclaimed drama Keeping Faith, which was made by the BBC and S4C and first aired in 2017.
It tells the story of a mum-of-three whose life is turned upside down when her husband mysteriously disappears with no explanation, leaving her to fight for the truth while singlehandedly bringing up her children.
The popular drama was filmed in several locations across Wales, mainly Carmarthenshire, and ran for three series in total. The actress who portrayed Faith, Eve Myles, learnt Welsh specifically for the Welshlanguage version (Un Bore Mercher) which went out on S4C, and filmed every scene in both Welsh and English. She won a Welsh Bafta for her performance in 2018.
Peggy Tucker The Tuckers only aired on the BBC for the first time two years ago, but in just 12 episodes the mother and head of the Tucker household, Peggy, played by Lynn Hunter, has left a mark on TV viewers.
Mother to Glyn, grandmother to Bobby and Billy, and sister to Murphy, “old Peg” spends her days trying to make sure the boys living in her house/in her garden don’t fall out, get into too much trouble or left out of pocket, all while earning for the family herself by “going on the knock” or by pretending to slip on wet floors in supermarkets.
“Leave it to old Peg.”