Actor and comedian Mike Bubbins is embarking on a personal mission – and with plenty of laughter and joy along the way – he is learning Welsh in just one year for his children. His journey is captured in Mike Bubbins: Welsh Learner, available on BBC iPlayer and airing on BBC One Wales this St David’s Day.
The programme follows Mike as he reconnects with his roots, revisits the places that shaped him, and meets the people who inspire him to embrace the Welsh language.
On his first return to Gladstone Primary School in Barry, Mike reflects on his upbringing and education, and talks about how important he and his wife felt it was to send their children to a Welsh‑medium school.
Mike says: “I was very nervous about my kids going to a Welsh school… but it’s the best thing they ever did. They love it.”
Welsh heroes, friends and fellow learners
Along the way, Mike meets some of Wales’ most recognisable faces. His rugby hero Sir Gareth Edwards shares how he and Barry John used Welsh as their on‑field code during matches.
“We always spoke Welsh to each other in the game,” Sir Gareth tells him. “Barry would say, ‘Throw it here – I’m going to go left.’ He’d tell me what he was going to do.”
Later in the programme, friend and BBC Radio Wales presenter, Eleri Sion agrees to help him write a St Dwynwen’s card for his wife, and he visit’s Welsh reggae star Aleighcia Scott to compare notes on learning the language.
A final challenge at Tafwyl
After months of practice, Mike sets himself a bold final test: spending an entire day speaking only Welsh at Tafwyl, Cardiff’s Welsh‑language festival, surrounded by thousands of people celebrating Welsh music, culture and identity.
Follow Mike Bubbins on his journey to learn Welsh, carried by a lot of laughter and joy along the way.
Mike Bubbins: Welsh Learner, available on BBC iPlayer and airing on BBC One Wales this St David’s Day at 7pm. This programme was commissioned by S4C and produced by Cwmni Da for BBC Cymru Wales.
