Totally agree with you guys! But also, do Welsh detectives really not carry firearms? They go running after bad guys but I don’t ever see them having a gun for their own protection. I do understand what sort of show it is, but it still makes me want to shout at them sometimes - “Are you crazy?!”
I am very impatiently waiting for Series 3 of Hinterland and Broadchurch to be available in the US!
Also, in case anyone’s still looking…I was accidentally sent Y Gwyll Series 1 in my order from Shop Cwlwm instead of Series 2, and I will be mailing it back to them tomorrow. Probably takes about a week for it to get there from here. They’ve been really nice about the mix-up. I wouldn’t hesitate to order from them again.
No, only specialist armed response officers, so the large majority of the police wouldn’t have access to firearms, (to the best of my knowledge) and if we saw the police regularly carrying guns I think that it would make many members of the public feel somewhat uneasy or uncomfortable.
I just had a look at the Government statistics and (as far as my quick count went!) there were 101 firearm related crimes of all types in the whole of Wales between march 2015 and march 2016 (latest available published details)
Yes, I’ve always found them to be really excellent there!
Most UK cops, even in London, definitely don’t want guns.
If cops have guns it encourages criminals to carry them and shoot first.
2, Cops who kill innocents by mistake already very unpopular. Public trust important.
British cops have reputation as nice folk, helpful to children and old ladies. They like that.
Now it isn’t that easy for folk to get unlicensed firearms! Feeling is. it would get easier if cops were armed - more incentive!
Mind times have changed, I doubt if, now, a 20-year old student could carry two rifles on her shoulders on the London Underground and the only reaction, other than people carefully looking away, a child saying, “Mum, look at her!” and being told, “Sh!” (Me, secretary of College Rifle Club on way to competition in about 1963, pre-IRA compaign and much pre-current violence!)
I was only asking a question, not expressing any opinion or wanting to start any kind of discussion about guns or gun violence. Please let’s not start anything here. The absolute last thing I want is to start heated discussion on the forum. I’m not saying that’s what you are doing, @henddraig, not at all, but your post made me realize I probably shouldn’t have brought the subject up to begin with. End of discussion
Ooh…just found this. It’s Series 3, Episode 1 - just shown on BBC 1 - I haven’t watched last episode yet. But, how do you know this is Welsh version with English subtitles? Isn’t described as such - on my TV at least. Getting excited - but not hopeful. Mind you - has anyone else noticed just how much Welsh is spoken in this last series? Ooooodles…basically whenever Mathias is out of shot - they’re all chittering away in Foreign!
I don’t think that’s quite what @henddraig said. She said it was in the slot (9pm BBC4, Saturdays) which is usually reserved for subtitled drama (very often from Scandinavian countries).
This is how it is currently being advertised in the BBC4 online schedule:
In Welsh and English with English subtitles.
If it’s billed as “Hinterland”, then it’s going to be in a mixture of English and Welsh.
If it had been the all (or almost all) Welsh version, it would have been billed as “Y Gwyll”. ).
But to be fair, I seem to remember that the 2nd series of Hinterland had a lot more Welsh in than the 1st series, so I hope this one does too.
BTW, Mali Harries had a R. Cymru programme recently about “Cardi Noir”. (Well, a repeat of a programme from 2016 I think).
(She seems to have made quite a success of Gwyll/Hinterland semi-spinoff docus, but chwarae teg iddi. She’s good actor, and deserves a bit of success / recognition).
Ah gotcha - I see that now. The series just about to start on BBC4 is a re-run of the one that has just finished on BBC1…which is fab for me because I watched them and deleted them (!) I can now record and keep a full set because the amount of Welsh spoken (and subtitled) is huge - massive compared to series 1. And yes, Mali Harries keeps popping up. I regularly watch a thing that she presents called Y Ditectif. It’s basically a documentary about Welsh crimes/murders…cold cases or cases that made the headlines, Lots of forensic detail - very interesting.
Sorry folks! I may have given the wrong impression, although what I put was literally true! What is about to be shown in all UK on BBC4 TV is Hinterland as has just been shown on BBC Wales, in English and some Welsh with English subtitles for the bits of Welsh.
I really highlighted this because somewhere in the Forum folk had been asking why this slot on BBC4 was not used for Y Gwyll. The reason is now clear - why bother with that when you have a purpose built mostly-English version already subtitled for an English speaking audience?
The only way to watch yn y Gymraeg is to watch Y Gwyll!! The only way to watch that is on S4C in UK or via Satellite near UK (e.g. Ireland) or on line. Out of UK, it may or may not be on S4C International. but as BBC now pays for S4C out of license fees, I’d be very surprised if they didn’t grab what they can out of Hinterland!
Of course, those of us who live in Wales or watch BBC Wales are losing out! You see, we’ve seen Y Gwyll or Hinterland or both and now there will be no Scandi or Italian or French mystery drama with subtitles on BBC4 on Saturdays at 9.00 p.m. until Hinterland has finished!!
My point would be that this is a bit of a waste of the subtitled slot. People can watch English in every other slot on all the other mainstream BBC channels. So why show something which is mainly English there? Especially when they could have shown a mainly Welsh version of it (i.e. Y Gwyll).
Anyway, @siaronjames has already given possible reasons why they don’t, and I’m content to leave it at that. For now at least.
I just saw this and I can tell you you’re not the only American who responds that way instinctively. Real cops here rarely have to draw their guns, but they would feel naked without them.
I’ve also felt a little alien when a British show features a home invasion or other attack on a civilian where the perpetrator is completely confident of finding his victim unarmed. In the US (the part where I live, anyway) he’d at least have to consider the risk of getting his heinie blown off.
Also not expressing an opinion on the gun laws in either country. Just a cultural observation.
Don’t worry Joel, or @AnnaC, this is a well known difference in our cultures! It is true that most Brits (I think) are convinced that, if only the US adopted our gun laws, your murder rate would instantly drop to ours, but I doubt if it is true! Personally, I wish we would go back to the drug laws I grew up with, in which addicts were seen as sick and went to the chemist (pharmacist) for their prescribed drug - morphine, heroin etc. Of course this was before manufactured ‘legal highs’, but I still feel that making drugs illegal caused criminal gangs to get involved! (As per prohibition of alcohol sales in US!). But that is just my view and I know many disagree and I respect their opinions.
I have a box-set of the UK 70’s series “The Sweeney”, based on the Metropolitan Police’s “Flying Squad”. In many episodes, at least in the early days, you would see them drawing weapons from a special store (or being told to), prior to going out on a pre-planned raid or “sting” type operation.
(This didn’t happen in later episodes, because John Thaw (later in “Morse”, of course) said he was unhappy being portrayed handling guns).
I’m not sure what it was like then, but modern UK police forces can call upon Armed Response Units when required. This is probably most like to happn in London or other large cities, but it can probably happen anywhere if there is something like a siege or hostage situation.
But of course, the normal “Bobby on the Beat” (most often in a car nowadays) won’t have a gun, although they have something a bit bigger than the traditional “truncheon” nowadays, and some will have tasers. They probably have a few other gadgets that the general public don’t necessarily know about, as well.
I haven’t caught every episode, but I watched the last episode of series 3 which has been on BBC4 on Saturdays at 9pm for the last few weeks (having also watched it as “Y Gwyll” on S4C Clic).
I was pleasantly surprised how much Welsh was in it, including the dramatic scene near the end, by the waterside (won’t give more details to avoid spoilers).
It should be on iPlayer for a while, for those who have access to it.
Back to the armed police subject - things have changed in Britain this week, for obvious reasons. I’m not sure how it’s working out across the UK as a whole, but it seems pretty much OK in the Swansea area. A couple of friends have mentioned that they have been able to have friendly chats with the cops. One was at a well known sea-side ice cream café, where said cop had one hand on a large gun and an ice cream cone in the other
I suspect two factors, firstly a growing confidence about including more Welsh without alienating the audience, and going hand in hand with that, the opportunity to save money by shooting scenes only once!
I did not imagine such a sight ever in Abertawe in my lifetime! I do hope they put the guns away soon. These suicide nuts tend to blow up their belts, no shooting, no warning!
