Young Gwynedd actress stars in ground-breaking TV drama

Nel Williams, 12, plays the part of Casi in new S4C series ‘Bex’, which tackles mental health issues and the tragedies that affect children and their families.

In the series, her character Casi suffers from severe anxiety, which has developed into a phobia of vomiting (Emetophobia), something which could derail the character’s hopes of playing professional football.

Hailing from Caernarfon, Ms Williams, a pupil at Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen, said: "This was my first time acting on television. I had a lot of fun and learnt that making a programme was a long process.

“I was amazed at how many staff work on these programmes. I felt like a queen because I had a personal chaperone.

“It was a great experience even though there were a lot of lines to learn.

“Another challenge was that I was playing the role of someone who was very good at playing football - and I've never played much football because netball is my game.

“I think it's really important to raise people's awareness of mental health and give children and young people the opportunity to talk openly about these issues.

“I haven't seen other programmes that discuss mental health and how it affects some young people, so I'm looking forward to seeing the other episodes of Bex.”

Rebecca Hayes as Bex and Nel Williams as Casi (Image: Ceidiog)

The title role of Bex is played by West End actress Rebecca Hayes, who says she would have loved to have seen a drama series like this when she was young as it would have been a big help in navigating the trials and tribulations of growing up.

The programme highlights how youngsters can be seriously disturbed by all kinds of real-life mental health and wellbeing issues and how talking about them can be a big help.

Among the other difficulties featured are a young boy whose sister has died of leukaemia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, panic attacks and Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Made by the Ceidiog production company, Bex consists of eight 20-minute episodes with the first being broadcast at 6.30pm on S4C on Tuesday, 22 March. All eight episodes will be available to view on demand on S4Cs Clic.

Ms Hayes, from Cardiff and currently appearing in a stage version of the classic American novel ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ at the Gielgud Theatre in London, said: "This is the first show I've done for children.

“The reason I did it is if I had had a programme like this when I was growing up dealing with the whole load of things I've had to deal with in my life and the lives of my friends I would have loved it.

"It's shown me it's not something to be afraid of or keep quiet about.

“I've learned things I didn't know much about as well and could have helped me recognise the issues in others.

“It's important for young people to see that things like panic attacks, anxiety, phobias and such do happen and its possible to live with these issues."

Rebecca Hayes as Bex and Nel Williams as Casi

During the series Bex visits Jac, who has lost his sister Anni to the blood cancer Leukaemia, and Casi, who suffers from severe anxiety. This has developed into Emetophobia, an extreme fear of vomiting, seeing vomit, watching other people vomit, or even feeling sick. It is a phobia that may occur alongside other mental health conditions which producer Nia Ceidiog says is not as rare as many people might think.

Nia Ceidiog said: “We saw a lot of actors for the part and Rebecca was excellent.

“Her performance is understated but strong and very realistic.

“The children who are in the show thought she was very cool.”

Ms Ceidiog added the programme is aimed at children aged eight to twelve years, with hopes that parents will watch Bex with their children, providing them with an opportunity to open up discussion on mental health topics.

She added: "The programme will be shown at 6.30pm, a little later than the normal children's programming time on S4C and it’s a time when families normally sit down to watch television.

"We have had experts and specialists behind us all the way through the making of this programme advising us about the issues portrayed in the programmes.

“The fictional dramas are challenging but realistic and the conditions portrayed are serious but BEX brings hope.

“The children go through a lot but we've done that with help from the experts, we don't want to trigger anything in anyone but we have tried to be honest.”

Nel Williams as Casi and Iwan Charles as her father, Alan Plwg

Ceidiog production company, which has won BAFTA awards for other pioneering children's television programmes, has been provided with support from the Welsh Government to provide educational resources to accompany the series.

A number of well-known authors, including Megan Angharad Hunter, Anni Llyn, Nia Morais, Angharad Blythe and Manon Steffan-Ros, have joined teachers, children and other experts to create these resources.

Ms Ceidiog added there will be a podcast with children talking about their experiences, and a special section for teachers only, offering webinars and so on, as well as a welfare section for them on how to deal with their own lives helping them to be more able to help children with serious problems.

Sioned Geraint, S4C's Commissioner for Children and Learners, said: "This series is ground-breaking in the way it deals with children's mental health, and it is hoped that it will open the door for family discussion about mental health, which is such an important thing. It's a pleasure to see talented young actors, most of them new faces to the screen, staring."