A POPULAR TV drama screen-written by a Monmouth author has been awarded £300,000 for its second series.

Written by Matthew Hall, who lives in Welsh Newton Common, the first series of Keeping Faith was the highest viewed drama on BBC Wales in over 20 years. After achieving over 15 million views on iPlayer it was bought by the BBC Network and has just finished a hugely successful run with BBC One nationwide.

The majority of the show was produced by Pip Broughton who also lives in Monmouth. Matthew and Pip met in Monmouth in 2003 when she was directing an episode of ITV’s Blue Murder which Matthew had written.

Pip’s production company, Vox Pictures, has now been awarded £300,000 by Welsh Government to help create the second season.

Keeping Faith was commissioned originally by S4C from a proposal Matthew submitted in late 2012. It took nearly five years to get from the beginning of the process to screen.

Keeping Faith tells the tale of Faith Howells, a solicitor whose husband Evan, with whom she works at their family-run law firm, disappears whilst she is on maternity leave following the birth of their third child.

Series two will follow on from where the first left off and will see Faith (Eve Myles) attempt to re-build her life after the dramatic conclusion of series one. The series will consist of six hour long episodes with the majority of filming taking place on location in Laugharne (standing in for the fictional town of Abercoran) and showcasing some of Wales’ finest coastline. Filming will also take place at Dragon Studios.

Like the first series it will be filmed in both Welsh and English with S4C broadcasting in Welsh before it is shown on the BBC.

Welsh Government Economy Secretary, Ken Skates said: “We have been working extremely hard to attract high-end TV and film productions to Wales, and to ensure we maximise the associated economic benefits. The last two years have been the Welsh Government’s busiest yet for supporting TV and film with high profile productions such as Journey’s End, Requiem, Britannia, Kiri and of course Keeping Faith all cementing Wales’ reputation as a five star place to film.

“We have seen a steep increase in the number of Welsh Government assisted productions filmed in Wales, and a consequential rise in the amount of money injected into our economy as a result. Indeed for every £1 the Welsh Government invests into TV and Film production we are seeing at least £8 being spent within the Welsh Economy.

“I expect that the second series of this hugely successful drama will serve to attract even more high quality production to Wales.”