''Men Up'' is a Welsh television film broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

, about the first clinical trials for the drug

viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Ray ...

, which took place in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

in 1994.

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...

is amongst the executive producers. The cast includes

Aneurin Barnard Aneurin Barnard (; ; born 8 May 1987) is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Davey in '' Hunky Dory'', Claude in '' The Truth About Emanuel'', Bobby Willis in '' Cilla'', Tim in '' Thirteen'', King Richard III in '' The White Queen'', Will ...

Alexandra Roach Alexandra Elizabeth Roach (born 20 August 1987) is a Welsh actress best known for her roles as Becky in ''Utopia'' and DS Joy Freers in '' No Offence''. She has also made appearances in series including '' Being Human'', ''Inside No. 9'', '' Bl ...

, Phaldut Sharma,

Iwan Rheon Iwan Rheon (; born 13 May 1985) is a Welsh actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Simon Bellamy in the E4 series '' Misfits'' (2009–2011), Ramsay Bolton in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2013–2016), and Mötley Crüe gu ...

Steffan Rhodri Steffan Rhodri (born 1967, in Morriston, Swansea) is a Welsh film and television actor, best known for portraying bus driver Dave Coaches in the BBC comedy series '' Gavin & Stacey''. Early and personal life Steffan Rhodri was born in 1967, i ...

and Joanna Page. It aired on 29 December 2023.

Synopsis

In Morriston Hospital in

in 1994, a group of middle-aged Welsh men stepped into the unknown by taking part in the world's first medical trials for the drug that became

Viagra Sildenafil, sold under the brand name Viagra among others, is a medication used to treat erectile dysfunction and pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is also sometimes used off-label for the treatment of certain symptoms in secondary Ray ...

Cast

as Meurig Jenkins *

as Dr. Dylan Pearce *

as Ffion Jenkins * Phaldut Sharma as Peetham ‘Pete’ Shah *

Paul Rhys Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh actor with an extensive career in theatre, radio, television and film. Early life Rhys was born in Neath to working-class Catholic parents, Kathryn Ivory and Richard Charles Rhys, a labourer. He is of ...

as Tommy Cadogan *

as Colin White *

Mark Lewis Jones Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Mas ...

as Eddie O’Connor * Joanna Page as Moira Davies * Lisa Palfrey as Teresa Rigby * Alexandria Riley as Alys Shah *

Dyfan Dwyfor is a Welsh actor, originally from . Early life Dwyfor attended and before going on to . He graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in 2007. Career Dwyfor began acting in the drama series on S4C. His first appearance in f ...

as Leigh Bennett *

Katy Wix Katy Victoria J Wix (born 28 February 1980) is a Welsh actress, writer, author and artist. Her television roles include Carole in '' Stath Lets Flats,'' Mary in ''Ghosts'', Barbara in ''Ted Lasso'', and Jules in '' Big Boys''. She has also ap ...

as Joanna Wootle

Production

The programme was written by Matthew Barry. Executive producers were Nicola Shindler and Davina Earl for Quay Street Productions, Rachel Evans for Boom, Matthew Barry, Russell T Davies and Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC. ''Men Up'' was directed by Ashley Way and produced by Karen Lewis.

Casting

In 2023 the cast was revealed to include Phaldut Sharma, Iwan Rheon, Mark Lewis Jones, Steffan Rhodri, Alexandra Roach and Joanna Page. Dyfan Dwyfor and Aneurin Barnard also appeared.

Filming

Filming took place in

in early 2023. Filming had wrapped before the end of May 2023.

Broadcast and reception

The programme was shown in the UK on

and

during the 2023 festive period. Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...

described the programme as "a masterpiece" and awarded it five stars out of five.

Accolades

The programme was nominated for Best Single Drama at the

Royal Television Society Programme Awards The Royal Television Society Programme Awards, (often referred to as the RTS Awards) seek to recognise programmes or individuals who have made a positive and material contribution to their genre: either because their content or originality in for ...

in March 2024. The film won the award for Best Feature Length Film at the Banff World Media Festival Rockie Awards in June 2024. Matthew Barry was awarded Best Writer at the

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.Broadcast Awards ''Broadcast'' is a monthly magazine for the United Kingdom television and radio industry, owned by Media Business Insight. History ''Broadcast'' was started in 1973 by Rod Allen, who went on to work at LWT, HTV and HarperCollinsInteractive. ...

in the Best Single Drama category.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Men Up 2020s English-language films 2023 in British television British television films 2023 films 2023 television films Welsh television films