The Story of Wales

Furnace of Change

58 min

The Industrial Revolution turns Wales into a global player, bringing unimaginable wealth - and desperate poverty. From Parys Mountain on Anglesey to Copperopolis, Swansea, in the south, the copper trade transforms the landscape and economy. Iron does the same for Merthyr Tydfil, making it a world-class centre of technology. This brave new Wales fuels massive social turmoil, riots and uprisings - and leads to the first national demands for democracy and workers' rights.

A New Beginning

58 min

It's boom time as Wales becomes known the world over for one particular product - Welsh steam coal, the best you can get. In the space of 50 years, 'black gold' builds a new Wales. The coalfield pulls in hundreds of thousands of migrants with a different language and culture, becoming a bustling modern world of its own. Yet no sooner has Wales found itself at the centre of global trade, than the Depression causes an industrial crash with a bitter social fallout.

Wales and Britain

58 min

In the last 70 years, Wales has changed more rapidly than ever. In this final episode, a Welshman battles to set up Britain's most cherished institution, the British parliament votes to drown a Welsh valley, a new generation of sporting heroes sets the flags waving, and television itself becomes part of the story of Wales. We're a nation of commuters and consumers, but our sense of history has revived: we are a people with a story - and that story gives us power.