''Meees'' ( Welsh for ''Baaas'', as in the sound of bleating sheep) is a

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). ...

children's

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

show from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is about a family of

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

-singing

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

, played by performers in sheep costumes. It is shown on

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

, the Welsh equivalent of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. 52 episodes over two series of the 15-minute show have been made.

Characters

The family run their own

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

plant from their home at

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

Cottage A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

, and are headed by Costaaas, a male sheep from

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, who is married to Baaalwen, a black Welsh ewe, (played by Tamsin Heatley) whom he supposedly met in a

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

ese

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. The couple live with their daughter Meeegan, her husband Meeelvyn, and their twins called Jaaason and Meeedea (named after the Greek mythological figures

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

and

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

, who also feature in opera). The characters in the series all have names which include an "eee" or "aaa", to reflect the sounds made by sheep. The fifteenth episode features the appearance of Aurora, Baaalwen's older sister, who has her nephew called Oscar, who never married an ewe or had children. Baaalwen and Costaaas live with Meeegan's older sister Alice, her husband Louis, and their three children called Terrence, Carol and David.

Show history

The show was first broadcast in 2005, and later in that year went on to win a

Bafta Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

, the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

news network, after Sheikha Mozah, the wife of the

Emir of Qatar The Emir of the State of Qatar () is the monarch and head of state of the country. The emir is also the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and guarantor of the Constitution. The emir holds the most powerful position in the country, and has a ...

and channel founder supposedly "fell in love with" them. In Arabic it is known as 'آل ماااع' An English-language version of the show is now in the planning stages, in part written by former ''

The Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...

'' guitarist Stan Cullimore. On 17 April 2007, the show was also broadcast on Discovery Kids Latin America. In the Latin American Dubs, Costaaas (Andrés in Latin America) is voiced by Andrés Bustamante, Baaalwen (Angélica in Latin America) is voiced by María Santander, Meeeegan (Sofía in Latin America) is voiced by Liliana Barba, Meeelvyn (César in Latin America) is voiced by Humberto Vélez, Jaaason (Luis in Latin America) is voiced by Irving Corona, and Meeedea (Teresita in Latin America) is voiced by Verania Ortiz. The fifteenth episode features Rocío Garcel as the voice of Baaalwen's older sister Aurora, Gael García Bernal as the voice of Costaaas and Baaalwen's youngest son Oscar, Laura Torres as the voice of Meeegan's older sister Alice (Alicia in Latin America), Xavier Lopez "Chabelo" as the voice of Meeegan's brother-in-law Louis (Luis in Latin America), Diego Ángeles as the voice of Terrence (Javier in Latin America), Verania Ortiz (Meeedea's Latin American dubber) as the voice of Carol (María in Latin America) and Ángel García as the voice of David.

Staff

*Director: Helen Sheppard
Sian Reid
John Walker
Cliff Jones *Music:

Paddy Kingsland Paddy Kingsland (born 30 January 1947) is a composer of electronic music best known for his incidental music for science fiction series on BBC radio and television whilst working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Educated at Eggar's Grammar Schoo ...

*All Character designs, Set & Costume design: Sally Preisig *Voices:

Tamsin Heatley Tamsin Heatley is a British actress. She has appeared on television programmes such as The Bill, The Young Ones, Horrid Henry, Fimbles, Tweenies, Big & Small and various other children's television shows. Her father was Norman Heatley, a bioche ...

Wayne Forester ''Horrid Henry'' is a British Animated series, animated children's television series based on the British Horrid Henry, children's book series of the same name by Francesca Simon. The series is produced by British company Novel Entertainment, i ...

Joanna Ruiz Joanna Ruiz (born ) is a British voice actress. She has mainly done voice acting for children's television shows. She attended the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. List of credits * ''Casper the Friendly Ghost'' – Casper (UK) (1991) * ...

Ian Sexon (season 2)
Nick Mercer *Voices (Welsh):

Huw Ceredig Huw Ceredig Jones (22 June 1942 – 16 August 2011) was a Welsh actor, best known for portraying Reg Harries in the Welsh-language soap opera ''Pobol y Cwm'' for 29 years, from 1974 to 2003. Early life Huw Ceredig was born in Brynamman, Carmar ...

Sharon Morgan
Clare Hingott
Olwen Rees
Liÿr Ifans
Rhys Parry Jones
Saran Morgan
Gwynfor Dafydd *Costume Characters: Jenny Hutchinson
Sian Reid
Colin Purves
Samamtha Dodd
Holli Hoffman
Garath Jones *Producer: Nia Ceidiog, of ''Cynhyrchiadau Ceidiog Creations''

References

{{reflist

External links

Official S4C website of the Meees
S4C original programming British preschool education television series British television shows featuring puppetry 2005 British television series debuts British children's musical television series

Characters

Show history

Staff

See also

References

External links