"Meta Discussion" - Anyone want to have a discussion thread on the current series of Byw Celwydd?

Welsh
#1

"Byw Celwydd" “Meta Discussion” - Anyone want to have a discussion thread on the current series of Byw Celwydd on S4C?

I’m calling this a “meta discussion”, because

(a) I’m pretentious :slight_smile:and
(b) I would prefer if you didn’t start discussing the series as such in this thread.

The purpose of this thread is to see if there is enough interest in discussing the new series (Series 2 I believe) of “Byw Celwydd” on S4C which started on 15th of January 2017.
(Edit: Sorry, it started on 8th January; I was getting confused by Clic. So episode 2 has already gone out (15th Jan)).

There is always the problem of spoilers, which is one reason why I for one have never pushed the idea of series discussion threads too far, although I’ve always been interested in the idea.

I think there is a possible solution for this:

We have a new and different thread for each episode in the series, very clearly labelled as such, and the basic ground-rule would be:

Do not read or post in the thread until you yourself have seen the episode in question (unless you don’t care about reading spoilers yourself). Such threads would be clearly labelled at the top to say that you should not read or post in them unless you yourself have seen the episode in question, and that you should only post about the episode in question and no other.

Everybody then who had seen the episode in question would be free to write whatever they liked about that episode only (not even older ones, in case people watch out of order - it’s possible!), without worrying about spoiling it for anyone.

If people ignore spoiler warnings, and read a thread about an episode they haven’t watched, then I’m afraid that would be their lookout.

Would that work? I think it could.

Well, spoilers apart, what would we discuss?

Well, anything really, e.g.

Storyline

Characters

Actors (including trivia and juicy gossip about actors, not libellous, of course. :slight_smile: ).

Locations

Language - vocabulary, phrases, structures…anything else linguistic that comes to mind.

Politics … assuming we would all wear our Sunday Best Politeness and Mutual Respect hats of course…perhaps relating the on-screen politics to what is actually going on in Wales at the moment, as far as possible.

Plus anything else anyone can think of.

Maybe there could be an overall summary thread, mainly just containing links to the individual episode threads.

If there are at least, say, 5 positive responses to this (and not too many negative ones), I would be happy to create the summary thread, and start creating the episode threads.

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"Byw Celwydd" - Series 1 "spoilers allowed" discussion / summary, mainly to understand Series 2
#2

Sounds like a good idea to me. I’m hoping that if BT can sort out our broadband to be faster than delivering hand-written notes by pigeon then we might even get to see the new episodes. S4C signal here is dodgy too.
Well done, Mike, good suggestion, let’s travel hopefully!

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#3

@mikeellwood I was excited to see that Byw Celwydd is available on the International site, but it’s the second series and I wasn’t able to see the first. How hard is it going to be to understand what’s going on, given that (a) I didn’t see the first series, and (b) I’m American and don’t know much about the Welsh political scene?

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#4

Oh that’s great that it’s available internationally! I had not checked, but did wonder about it.

Others will have their own view about how difficult it would be to follow without having seen series 1. I think it should not be too bad, but it would be good to have a guide to the characters.

I haven’t checked recently, but there was a series webpage on the S4C website which gave a rundown on the major characters. Not sure if there is any summary of previous events, but there may be.

It might be a good idea for us to set up a separate thread to talk about Series 1, especially for people in your situation who haven’t seen it, and are probably not likely to have the chance to do so (I have not heard of any DVD of it. I don’t know if it’s on, or likely to be on Netflix).
Provided we warned people who might get the chance to see series 1 (somehow) in the future, that it would contain Series 1 spoilers, I think this should be ok.

I have suggested (I think?) that we explicitly do not discuss anything outside of the particular episode in the episode thread, and that sort of implies we don’t discuss series 1 there either, but I’m not sure if that is 100% realistic.

If we had a separate “no holds barred” Series 1 thread (i.e. Series 1 spoilers allowed) people could refrain from making too many series 1 references in the episode threads, and put all their Series 1 spoilers in the specific Series 1 thread. (Hope this is not getting too complicated now … :slight_smile: ).

I suppose not everyone is bothered about spoilers, but I would guess most people are.

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#5

Happy to join in the chat if you don’t mind my occasional spitting noises as my mind boils!!!

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#6

I’s be happy to discuss the series. I’m not sure whether demand is such for separate threads for each episode.
I’m also watching this series without subtitles. I’m able to follow most of it, but I am probably missing a lot of the finer points.

I actually think it would be difficult to follow if you missed or were unable to view the first series, Everything seems to me about the relationship revelations of the first series.

Like how they managed to avert a zombie apocalypse in Cardiff Bay at in the first season finale. How did S4C afford the budget for that! Or am I thinking of Torchwood?

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#7

I have been told (and I’ve specifically asked not to have any details during the making as I wanted to enjoy it when it went out) that the political storylines are getting particularly interesting this series. Looking forward to it (and still have to catch up on Ep2).

#8

Post deleted as contained spoilers, despite Mike’s very clear instructions above (which I managed to miss). Aargh! Sorry, folks!

I’ll post the information that was here direct to Anna so that she’s set up for the second series. If anyone else would like it, please just PM me.

#9

The problem is, I don’t see how one can avoid spoilers if it’s all in one long thread, especially if, as Clic allows, people are watching episodes on different days, and maybe weeks after first broadcast.
(And I for one can only watch it via Clic).

There were “only” 8 episodes in the first series, and presumably this will be the same or similar, so “only” 8 threads…hmm…I suppose that’s a lot of threads, but each thread will presumably go quiet after a while. But I take your point about demand. Let’s wait and see if anyone else responds, and also maybe a moderator will comment about the number of threads.

I think it would be a good idea to have a separate, no spoilers barred, summary thread about Series 1, for people like @AnnaC who didn’t see series 1, and perhaps never will, to understand series 2 better, and know the characters, etc.
(People who don’t want to read series 1 spoilers would be advised not to read that thread).

As far as I know, there is no DVD of series 1, and I don’t know if it’s on Netflix or similar. It’s not on Youtube (only previews). I have found some episodes on other websites, but I doubt their legality, so would not post any links to them. So other than people having private recordings made at the time, and making them available to friends etc, I don’t see how anyone can legally watch or re-watch series 1 at this point in time. (Unless S4C repeats it of course - I’m a bit surprised that they didn’t repeat it priot to series 2 showing, as a sort of taster/ reminder. That’s what BBC does sometimes. (Or did they, and I missed it?).

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#10

AmI allowed to comment om Episode 1 of Series 2 yet? Do I do it here or will you direct me to a thread. I am up to date so if I don’t comment soon, I’ll have forgotten what I saw!!

#11

Not here in this thread please Hen bach.

Keep it “meta”. This thread is to decide how we go about organising the actual discussion of the series / episodes. I’m suggesting that actual discussion will be in one or more separate threads.

That’s why I asked people if they would kindly not discuss the actual series in this thread, at the beginning.

If you really can’t wait, you could start your own thread, but please warn people about spoilers and make it very clear which episode you are discussing. Thanks!

#12

Well, having thought further, I think that @Y_Ddraig_Las is right, and just one thread for the series would be enough (and one per episode would be almost certainly OTT).

So unless there are any strong disagreements, or better ideas, I will start a thread before the end of today. (writing this on Friday 20 Jan 2017 16:50 UK time).

Hopefully, spoilers should not be too much of an issue, provided it is made clear to potential readers readers of the thread, that it will contain spoilers for any episode which has been broadcast, and this will continue as all the episodes are broadcast, until, by the end of the series, it can be assumed that it may contain spoilers for all episodes, including the ending, and that people should avoid reading the thread at all, if they are concerned by this.

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#13

What is “Byw Celwydd” about?

#14

Well, this isn’t really the thread to discuss what it is about, but it’s a political drama, set and shot in Cardiff Bay.

I am encouraging people to post all they know about Series 1 in the following thread, so might be worth looking there:

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#15

Thank you!

#16

Out of curiosity, am I the only one who mentally refers to this program as “House of Cardis?”

#17

House of Cards was much more true to life and the politics were realistic! The theme was personal ambition. This is more like some sort of bodice-ripper with no recollection that being gay is no longer a crime or even a disadvantage. In fact folk emerging from their closets are respected. Mind, leave it too long and it looks like cowardice!.

#18

The series doesn’t suggest that being gay is a crime, unless that’s next week topic? The issue is more about the fact that he hasn’t discussed it with his pregnant wife!

#19

If he is bisexual, why marry? If he is gay? Only, surely, if he thinks it’s some way shameful? A lot of writers seem to use this in plots, but really, surely it’s totally outdated? Back in the 60s, I was truly sorry for friends who were gay - though I only found out the ‘new’ meaning of gay in 1969 or 70! But when it was illegal, a lot of folk tried to force themselves to change by marrying. Surely not now?

#20

I actually haven’t gotten that far into the show yet; only started the first episode. I didn’t find it all that gripping, but I wonder if that’s just because as a Yank I don’t know the ins and outs of Welsh politics. Also, except for SSIW most of the Welsh I know was learned from a man from Llanberis and the Cardiff accent takes some getting used to.

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