The Dragon Has Two Tongues

Last updated

The Dragon Has Two Tongues was a 13-part television series, broadcast in the UK in 1985 by HTV and Channel 4. It was about the history of Wales and was presented jointly by Gwyn Alf Williams and Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, and produced by Colin Thomas. [1]

Contents

The series has been described as ground-breaking in terms of its length and subject matter but also in terms of its presentation, with two presenters representing opposing points of view, Williams being a Marxist historian and Vaughan-Thomas a journalist associated with the establishment. [2] Gwyn Alf Williams' presentational style was described as "the most passionate and the most articulate about the importance of the past in understanding the present and anticipating the future". In his entry on Williams in the Dictionary of Welsh Biography, Geraint H. Jenkins wrote that "the fiery Marxist historian ran rings around his affable Whiggish co-presenter". [3]

A copy of the recording is held in the archive of the National Library of Wales but it has not been repeated on UK television, despite a broadcast at a later date in Ireland. An attempt to post it online in 2017 was stopped by ITV Wales on copyright grounds, despite initially offering to sell the rights to the footage. In 2021 the Welsh Government was asked to preserve the series for future generations after ITV Wales had claimed that it could not be released in any format due to third-party copyright problems. [1]

The title had been previously used by Glyn Jones in 1968 for his study of inter-war Welsh literature. [4] The book emphasised the relationship between writers, their community and their language, and was the first academic study of Welsh writing in English. It was updated and re-issued several times and won the New Welsh Readers’ Poll in 2018 as the best essay collection ever published in English. [5]

Production

Colin Thomas was asked to produce, write and direct the series by HTV Wales, with Wynford Vaughan-Thomas already committed as sole presenter. Thomas realised when contemplating the series that his view of Welsh history did not align with Vaughan-Thomas's, and inspired by Colin MacArthur's book 'Television and History', [6] he decided to add a second presenter. His first idea was the feminist historian Angela V. John but as Vaughan-Thomas would not accept John at any cost, [7] Colin Thomas suggested Gwyn Williams, whom Vaughan-Thomas reluctantly accepted.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Welsh literature in English</span> Works written in the English language by Welsh writers

Welsh writing in English, is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wynford Vaughan-Thomas</span> Welsh journalist

Lewis John Wynford Vaughan-Thomas was a Welsh newspaper journalist and radio and television broadcaster. In later life he took the name Vaughan-Thomas after his father.

Dr. Geraint Bowen was a Welsh language poet, academic and political activist.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1959 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1953 to Wales and its people.

Barry Welsh Is Coming is a Welsh sketch show produced by Absolutely Productions for HTV Wales. The programme was first broadcast at 10:40 pm on Friday 6 September 1996 and originally ran for six series with some episodes later broadcast on the Paramount Comedy Channel. It was produced by Pete Baikie, and almost all the main characters were played by John Sparkes, who also played the inept presenter Barry Welsh. For the final series, the show was renamed Barry Welsh Is Going and consisted of three compilation specials. The series was replaced by Jeff Global's Global Probe, which ended after six episodes.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1936 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1932 to Wales and its people.

This article is about the particular significance of the year 1928 to Wales and its people.

Tynged yr Iaith was a radio lecture delivered in Welsh by Saunders Lewis on 13 February 1962. Reaction to it brought about a major change in the politics of Wales. Historian John Davies has said that the lecture was "the catalyst" for the formation of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, and the start of a period of direct-action agitation to enhance the status of the Welsh language. Its direct effect on the formation of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg is described in a history of that society. It has been said that "of all the memorable phrases coined in the twentieth century none has greater resonance for the Welsh speaker than Tynged yr Iaith. .. which still haunts or inspires champions of the native tongue on the cusp of the new millennium". It had the unintended effect of establishing language agitation as a movement separate from the mainstream of nationalist politics. The burgeoning effects from the initial stimulus of Tynged yr Iaith were listed by Gwyn Williams:

The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is an amateur philharmonic orchestra based in Cardiff, Wales. The CPO played its first concert in 1982 and subsequently played over 250 concerts, primarily in Wales but also in England, Switzerland, and France. The CPO has a wide repertoire and appears regularly at Wales' premier concert hall, St. David's Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV Wales & West</span> Former ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom

ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom.

The Dictionary of Welsh Biography (DWB) is a biographical dictionary of Welsh people who have made a significant contribution to Welsh life over seventeen centuries. It was first published in 1959, and is now maintained as a free online resource.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwyn A. Williams</span> Welsh historian

Gwyn Alfred "Alf" Williams was a Welsh historian particularly known for his work on Antonio Gramsci and Francisco Goya as well as on Welsh history.

Wynford Evans was a Welsh tenor.

Hidden is a Welsh television drama serial, created by Mark Andrew and Ed Talfan. It was initially broadcast in Welsh on the Welsh-language channel S4C under its Welsh name Craith. The bilingual version of the series, under the English name Hidden, was broadcast on BBC One Wales and BBC Four. The Welsh-language versions of the first two series aired on S4C in 2018 and 2019, respectively, with the third and final series beginning on 10 October 2021. The English-language version of the third and final series aired in April 2022.

When Was Wales? is a 1985 book on the history of Wales by Professor Gwyn A. Williams, a Welsh historian and political activist.

References

  1. 1 2 Martin Shipton (24 December 2017). "Blogger threatened with £143k bill if he uploads iconic Welsh history TV series to YouTube". WalesOnline. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  2. Rob Brown (21 March 2019). "The Dragon Has Two Tongues Again". Bella Caledonia. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  3. Jenkins, Geraint H. (1 May 2013). "Williams, Gwyn Alfred (1925-1995), historian and television presenter". Dictionary of Welsh Biography . National Library of Wales.
  4. Stephens, Meic (11 April 1995). "Obituary: Glyn Jones" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  5. Tony Brown (28 May 2015). "The Dragon Has Two Tongues". New Welsh Review. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  6. Colin MacArthur BFI 1978 p47
  7. Thomas, Colin (Summer 2010). "The need to think laterally about history". Agenda. Institute of Welsh Affairs.