4 March 2022

S4C has paid tribute to the broadcaster Dai Jones whose death has been announced today.

In the pantheon of Welsh broadcasting legends, Dai Jones, Llanilar, stands at the top.

He had a natural talent of getting the best out of people, employing his natural charm, wit and warmth to introduce a myriad of unforgettable countryside characters to a curious, fascinated TV audience in the evergreen series Cefn Gwlad.

In this rural TV programme, he created a unique genre, providing sensitive profiles of the people he met without using the conventional methods of interviewing.

A natural compere and a commanding tenor singer, he made his mark on TV entertainment series such as Noson Lawen and in his early years, Sion a Sian, where his talents as a people's person first came to the fore.

Geraint Evans, S4C Director of Content, said;

"As we sympathise with his family and friends, we salute one of the most natural broadcasters in Welsh TV history.

"Whilst born in London Dai was as closely connected to rural Wales as it is possible to be, but he appealed to everyone, rural and urban.

"From the farm yard to the eisteddfod stage, and from the tv studio to the mart, Dai was comfortable on all of them and with the ability to make everyone in his company feel at ease.

"Our broadcasting landscape and the countryside will be all the poorer without him."