THE BIG NAMES WHO BELONGED
BELONGING was a Welsh television drama series that revolved around the lives of the Lewis family, and their various trials and tribulations in the town of Bryncoed.
It ran from 1999 to 2009 and had a legion of fans and also starred some of Wales’ most famous actors and actresses. A one-off 10-year anniversary special was broadcast in 2009, centring on a reunion of the family.
It was one of the first appearances on screen of Eve Myles, who recently starred in BBC hit drama Keeping Faith. Let’s take a look at where they are now.
EVE MYLES
Belonging was one of Eve’s first appearances on screen, she played Ceri Owen (nee Lewis) a mother, wife and business woman.
Ceri was a young mum, having son Jake before taking her A-levels. She had been through a lot but worked hard to achieve success. She was married to Robbie and owner and manager of Naughty Nights lingerie boutique.
Most recently, Eve starred in Welsh drama series Keeping Faith which has been hailed as “a phenomenon” after reaching the major milestone of being streamed 50 million times.
The BBC says the acclaimed thriller passed the mark this week, having debuted on the broadcaster’s iPlayer in February 2018.
The show was originally broadcast in Welsh on S4C in November 2017, as Un Bore Mercher (One Wednesday Morning) before its English version premiered three months later.
It became the most popular show on BBC Wales in more than 25 years, and with more than 8.5 million downloads by May 2018, became the most downloaded non-network show on the BBC’s iPlayer.
OWEN TEALE
Trained at the Guildford School of Acting, he went on to star in major blockbusters and to star in some of the biggest television shows ever.
One of the biggest roles was Ser Alliser Thorne in HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones, but despite never actually having to say anything, he played the major part of Chief Constable Osborne in the latest series Line of Duty.
In 2012, he played Dai in Welsh comedy-drama Stella and also has a part in upcoming film Dream Horse, a new Hollywood feel-good film about an award-winning Welsh race horse and the Rhymney Valley community who helped raise him.
DI BOTCHER
The legendary Welsh actress played Vanessa James (nee Doyle) who was described in the show as a “fun, sexy, housewife”. Married twice before, she was married to Will James and reunited with Desiree, her daughter from her disastrous first marriage.
Today, Di, who also had an iconic role as Aunty Brenda in Stella, plays ambulance worker Jan Jennings in long-running drama Casualty.
MATTHEW GRAVELLE
He played Andy Owen, Robbie’s brother, who never stuck at anything for very long. He looked up to his brother but he lacked confidence and would often turn to alcohol.
Andy arrived in Robbie’s life having just heard that their father had died. He was angry that his brother didn’t try and find him for the funeral/cremation.
In 2015, the actor got the part that made his character one of the most hated men in Britain.
He was the alter-ego of Joe Miller, the child-murderer in Britain’s biggest TV murder-mystery in years, Broadchurch.
They filmed a few different endings and even Matthew didn’t know which one was real until it was shown on ITV.
He also went on to star in S4C’s Byw Celwydd.
RICHARD MYLAN
Richard played Joe Andrews who was married but found himself attracted to Owen and took a risk in starting a relationship with him.
When his wife Danni became pregnant at the end of series 2 she gave him an ultimatum to give up his double life. He moved to London but when Danni died he came back to be a single father to their children.
After Belonging, he appeared in BBC dramas Doctors and Waterloo Road. He teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff and in 2017 presented a documentary on the subject of his son and autism which was broadcast on the BBC entitled Richard and Jaco: Life with Autism.
ALUN RAGLAN
He played Ceri’s husband Robbie and ran a chain of mobile phone shops before taking a hands-on approach to property development.
A central role in the drama, actor Alun went on to have roles in Doctor Who, Doctors and a part in 2000 blockbuster Gladiator.
CHARLES DALE
He played Steve who worked as an engineer at the same pit as his dad until the miners’ strike and helped to run a garage in the town. He had a very up and down relationship with his wife Ruth.
After Belonging, the Tenby-born actor went on to become well known for playing Big Mac in Casualty and Dennis Stringer in Coronation Street. He was most recently seen in The Pembrokeshire Murders on ITV.
STEFFAN RHODRI
In Belonging Steffan played only child Ed Gordon who was educated at boarding school and was now the pub landlord who was never short of female admirers.
The actor is now probably best known for playing Dave Coaches, Nessa’s occasional boyfriend in iconic Welsh comedy Gavin and Stacey.