Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Eve Myles, Mark Lewis Jones, Bradley Freegard, Aneirin Hughes, Hannah Daniel, Lacey Jones, Demi Letherby, Eiry Thomas, Alex Harries, Catherine Ayers, Suzanne Packer, Rhian Morgan¸ Rhashan Stone, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Anastasia Hille, Brochan Evans, Martha Bright, Boryana Manoilova, Richard Lynch, Owen Arwyn.
Keeping Faith is a hard ask of modern audiences, the temptation to wander away from the serial that once had you gripped is an understandable response to the way we live today, the instant and continuous gratification, the need for visual stimulation is so overwhelming that we do not understand why such a television programme cannot keep up with the initial demand, why it cannot behave like a soap opera.
Whilst series like Keeping Faith are few and far between, they thankfully retain their value, the viewer confident that the reason that they were initially grabbed will continue, and that the dynamic will obligingly persist.
Whereas the first series of the Welsh drama focused on the disappearance of solicitor Evan Howells and the investigation by his wife, the excellent Eve Myles as Faith Howells, the second series is absorbed with the exploration of fallout, and in many ways it is a natural conclusion to study the after effects and ripples of the breakdown of trust and honour, to investigate the motives further, and witness how an entire family can spiral out of synch.
The issue perhaps with the second series of the Welsh drama comes with how the community reacts to the murder of a local farmer, the focus and attention almost becoming a distraction as the six-part story unfolds. It is obvious that the writers understand that Faith Howells has to be shown to be living more than just that which revolves around the expectation of dealing with her husband’s betrayal and lies, but it also feels like a forced wedge in which to show an example of how difficult becomes when facing up to the problems of being the head of the family and the responsibility of a career; the lines of communication blurring to the point of exasperation.
As with the first series though, the pleasure of the programme comes from the stirring effort put in by the whole creative team when it comes to delivering a serial that is recorded in both in Welsh and English, the determination to show how Welsh language drama can unfold across the barriers is a huge plus in creativity.
A series that continues to be enormously satisfying, even if it loses the point from the directness shown in its 2017 predecessor, one which suggests there is still more to be revealed.
Ian D. Hall