Honorary Welsh bloke and Hollywood legend Ryan Reynolds has continued to endear himself to the nation by announcing six hours of Welsh TV on his newest venture, TV channel Maximum Effort.
It comes after the Hollywood actor’s production company Maximum Effort – behind the Deadpool films and Netflix documentary Welcome To Wrexham – struck a deal with streaming service Fubo to launch Maximum Effort Channel earlier this month.
Reynolds and the co-owner of Wrexham football club, Always Sunny In Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney, have promoted the Welsh language and culture globally since buying the team in 2020, leading some to label them as unofficial ambassadors to Wales.
Read more: Hollywood star Paul Rudd just casually turned up for a pint in Wrexham
What are Welsh Wednesdays?
Welsh Wednesdays will showcase six hours of Welsh language programmes every Wednesday, starting from June 28.
The first shows include popular series The Red Wall (Y Wal Goch), Wrexham Our Club (Wrecsam Clwb Ni) and the short film Gareth Bale: Living the Dream (Gareth Bale: Byw’r Freuddwyd).
Other programmes range from the bilingual crime drama Bang to Petrol Head (Pen Petrol), about young people and their cars, to Vets (Y fets), which follows Ystwyth Vets in Aberystwyth.
How to watch
Welsh Wednesdays will be part of Maximum Effort's programming in the US. But, of course, those in the UK interested in catching up with the Cymraeg content can do just that as it's all made by S4C. And their catch-up service, Clic, is a well established streaming provider - find that, here.
Some of the programmes are also available globally on S4C’s streaming and social media platforms.
What has Ryan said about Welsh Wednesdays?
Speaking to PA about the new venture, the Deadpool star explained: “As many have noted, there is an alarming lack of Welsh content available for American viewing pleasure. That stops today. Well, actually Wednesdays.
"We're so grateful to S4C for helping bring Welsh programming to a broader audience. And to that broader audience: Don't worry, I am told there will be subtitles."
S4C’s chief content officer, Llinos Griffin-Williams, said the Wednesday takeover will be an opportunity to showcase “Welsh culture, language and talent on the international stage” something which Reynolds understands adding that his respect and commitment to Wrexham and Wales is “unquestionable”.
"Together with Ryan and the Maximum Effort team we have curated a slate of exciting shows for a global audience,” Ms Griffin-Williams said. "This commercial deal will take Welsh language content to Hollywood and the world. It will benefit the entire creative sector and talent pool here in Wales as we showcase everything from S4C dramas to entertainment formats, documentaries and sport. We’re a small nation that punches well above our weight.
“Forty years ago, people campaigned to establish S4C as Wales’s national Welsh language channel – now we will be able to stream Welsh language programming to millions of people on the other side of the globe.”
