The Way is the latest BBC drama to shock and delight viewers, and many want to know where exactly this series was filmed - here's what you need to know...
The Way is a new series set in Wales created by actor Michael Sheen. The new show launched on Monday, February 19th, 2024 and has intrigued fans who want to know more about this atmospheric show and where exactly it was shot and set. Here are some of the key filming locations in The Way that you need to know about...
Where is The Way filmed?
The Way takes place in a fictional version of Port Talbot, a real place in the South of Wales. Port Talbot is in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, which is on the east side of Swansea Bay and around eight miles from Swansea. Even though the second and third episodes aren't set in Port Talbot, the entire series was shot in and around this local area.
Michael Sheen's hometown is Port Talbot. In a behind-the-scenes video for Neath Port Talbot Council, the actor said, "It's been incredible to tell this story here in a place that I grew up in, that I know so well."
"One of the brilliant things about this area is that there's such an amazing range of landscapes and places to film in. We've been able to tell a story that takes place across the whole of the United Kingdom but to shoot it all here," he said.
Per Wales Online, Michael said, "From the moment when we decided that it would take place in Port Talbot and that it would be a family from Port Talbot that immediately started to colour what the tone of the piece might be."
"The fact that I've always equated people in Port Talbot with a particular kind of sense of humour, and a particular sort of attitude towards things, all reflected what we wanted the tone of the piece to be so it made sense to pursue that. And to always look for a surprising take on things rather than going for bleak working class, council estates and tired tropes that you get a lot of the time. It's actually very colourful, bright, vivid, rich, full of humour, wit and kind of sharpness - all of those qualities that I associated with the community that I come from," he said.
The cast of The Way is filled with Welsh actors who have spoken about the filming locations and how so many things felt 'very Welsh.'
Mali Harries who plays Dee, told Wales Online, "There’s a sequence that we filmed near Port Talbot, but there you could be anywhere, you know. You've got the steelworks, which some people would think are beautiful or ugly, and then beautiful scenery right next to it. So it's like a real beautiful juxtaposition of industrial, rural and urban, it's a bit of everything."
Callum Scott-Howells who plays Owen added that the varied landscape in and around Port Talbot helped to tell the story. "The Way has huge epic ideas and it feels really mythical. I remember first reading it and there's all this stuff at the beginning about feeling like there is a mythical force running through the town and the country in general. I don't think you could get that if you were filming anywhere else. You need to have the ocean and the mountains and the forests because the landscape is so varied. I think you really get that it feels mythical, it feels poetic and very Welsh in that sense," he said.
