S4C hit drama Con Passionate has won one of the world’s most prestigious television awards, the Golden Rose d’Or.
The drama series, produced for S4C by Teledu Apollo, won a Golden Rose d’Or in the Soap/Light Drama Award at a glittering ceremony in Lucerne, Switzerland last night (Wednesday, 9 May).
This is the second major award for S4C this week, following the news that the Channel had won the top Design award for its rebranding package at the European Broadcasting Union Connect conference also held at Lucerne.
Con Passionate, which follows the trials and tribulations of a Welsh male voice choir led by the sultry musical director Davina played by Shân Cothi, was one of 64 productions short listed in various categories from an original list of 358 entrants.
The series, which also stars Mark Lewis Jones, William Thomas, Beth Robert, Ifan Huw Dafydd, Steffan Rhodri and Philip Hughes among others, beat off challenges from six other finalists, including EastEnders and The Bill, to pick up the golden award.
This is the biggest award yet for Con Passionate which has already won Celtic Media, Bafta Cymru and two Prix Europa awards.
Author Siwan Jones, currently working on the final series of Con Passionate, due for broadcast next year, said, "It’s a huge privilege to win this award, considering the sum and quality of entries from every part of Europe. The fact that it’s a series about a male voice choir may have struck a chord with the judges. In Wales, it seems to have appealed to many viewers who can’t speak Welsh, because people can relate to characters in a choir.”
Producer Paul Jones of Teledu Apollo, a company which recently joined the Boomerang Group of Companies, added, “Siwan Jones’ script for Con Passionate sets the benchmark for excellence in television scriptwriting and this award recognises this. Her modern, dynamic portrayal of a male voice choir blows away the stereotypes about choirs.”
Rhian Gibson, S4C’s Director of Commissioning, added: “The Rose d’Or hails talents from all over the world and to win the Golden Rose d’Or is a great achievement to all involved in the series, both on and off screen. We, at S4C, would like to congratulate everyone in the Con Passionate team.”
