Filming has begun on a warm new BBC comedy co-written by and starring Porthcawl-raised Ruth Jones and her long-time friend Steve Speirs — a project Jones says has been “35 years in the making”.
The six-part series, Better Later, follows two strangers who strike up an unlikely friendship after meeting at a knee trauma clinic, and is being filmed across South Wales, including in the Bannau Brycheiniog, also known as the Brecon Beacons.
It is set in a fictional Welsh village called Brynfach.
Jones — born in Bridgend and raised in Porthcawl — plays Shelley Anne, a 55-year-old environmental health officer going through a bitter divorce.
Speirs plays Clive, a 60-year-old retired teacher adjusting to life after being widowed.
The pair first announced the comedy last autumn, and with cameras now rolling, the production has moved from script to screen.
Jones said the show had been a long time coming. “In a funny way this show has been 35 years in the making, which is when I first met Steve,” she said.
“It’s not that we’re slow writers, it’s just that we’ve been up to other things. It’s fantastic to be back in front of the camera with him again.”
Speirs joked that the reunion could test his composure on set. “Our first time acting together for quite a long time, Ruth makes me laugh more than anyone and I’m a terrible giggler,” he said. “This could be a long shoot.”
It is not the first time the two friends have worked together recently. Last year they returned to Jones’s Porthcawl roots for a nostalgic BBC programme marking the seaside town’s 200th anniversary, revisiting childhood haunts and sharing unseen home movies.
Jones is best known for co-creating and starring as Nessa in the hit comedy Gavin & Stacey, much of which was filmed in Barry. Speirs is known for the south Wales family sitcom The Tuckers.
The two also previously wrote and starred together in Stella, the comedy-drama set in a fictional valleys town, which ran from 2012 to 2017.
The new series is made by Tidy Productions in association with BBC Studios Comedy, and was commissioned by BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Comedy with support from Creative Wales.
It will run to six half-hour episodes, and is being made for BBC iPlayer, BBC One and BBC One Wales.
A transmission date for Better Later has not yet been announced.
