Plucking turkeys, 80s technology and churning butter in a washing machine… what else will Elis find in the archives? / Plufio tyrcwn, Hywel Gwynfryn a menyn mewn peiriant golchi… beth arall mae Elis James wedi’i weld yn archif S4C?

Plucking turkeys, 80s technology and churning butter in a washing machine… what else will Elis find in the archives?

Elis James has been loitering around the back at S4C, where all the archive tapes are thrown out. Elbow deep in the skip, he’s dusted off some classic clips to share with us on the new series Elis James: Cic Lan yr Archif.

From using a washing machine to churn butter, to the latest in brick-size mobile phone technology, Elis has uncovered the weirdest things as he spins through the S4C, BBC Wales and HTV archives.

In the first episode, on Wednesday 25 April (English subtitles), he focuses on technology. But, nothing, from farming through to sport and fitness, and indeed nobody escapes his attention, not even the National Eisteddfod.

Elis says; “looking through the technology programmes, you laugh when you see the size of the mobile phones and the technology people thought was going to change the world in 1985. Nobody ever bought or used this stuff; like the device to avoid cheque fraud. I haven’t written a cheque for fifteen years!

“You just see these programmes and they promise that this is how we’ll be living in the year 2000. As someone who lived through the year 2000, I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have a mobile fax machine!”

The series has also allowed Elis to indulge in his obsession with iconic Welsh broadcasting all-rounder Hywel Gwynfryn – “a national treasure and a genius” according to Elis. Several other iconic broadcasters, including Arfon Haines Davies and Sulwyn Thomas, are also given the ‘Cic Lan yr Archif’ treatment by Elis through hilarious clips and sketches.

“I think Hywel Gwynfryn is a national treasure,” says Elis. “He works on a totally different level to everyone else, because he did so many different programmes. He was like a utility player. S4C just chucked Hywel in and he never complained, never groaned. He’s always prepared to do dangerous stuff and to make a fool of himself.”

Elis’ quest to learn more about the Welsh is the drive behind this series. Using the archive, he’s depicted half a century of Welsh life, from the serious to the funny – to the downright absurd. One particular clip set in Elis’ own backyard stands out for him as a picture of the 1960s in Wales.

“Imagine the scene: The Beatles have just released Sgt. Pepper, Bob Dylan has just gone electric, it’s the British Summer of Love – and people in a club in Croesyceiliog near Carmarthen are meeting up to pluck turkeys. And then you realise just how little entertainment they had!”

Elis James: Cic Lan yr Archif

Wednesday 25 April 9.30, S4C

English subtitles

On demand: s4c.cymru; BBC iPlayer and other platforms

A Boom Cymru production for S4C

Plufio tyrcwn, Hywel Gwynfryn a menyn mewn peiriant golchi… beth arall mae Elis James wedi’i weld yn archif S4C?

Mae Elis James wedi bod yn loetran ‘mas y bac’ yn S4C, ble mae hen dapiau’r archif yn cael eu taflu. Wrth dyrchu at ei benelin yn y sgip, mae e wedi dod o hyd i ambell classic i’w rhannu gyda’r byd yn y gyfres newydd Elis James: Cic Lan yr Archif.

O wneud menyn mewn peiriant golchi, i dechnoleg ddiweddaraf ffonau symudol maint bricsen, mae Elis wedi dod o hyd i’r pethe rhyfeddaf wrth dwrio drwy archif S4C, BBC Cymru a HTV.

Technoleg sy’n cael sylw yn y bennod gynta’ ar nos Fercher, 25 Ebrill, ond does dim byd – o ffermio i chwaraeon – na neb, y tu hwnt i’w hiwmor. Ac mae’r Eisteddfod yn ei chael hi ganddo hefyd.

Meddai Elis, “Wrth edrych ar raglenni technoleg, ti’n chwerthin ar faint y ffonau symudol a gweld pobl yn rhyfeddu at dechnoleg oedd yn mynd i newid y byd yn 1985. Ti’n sylwi nawr fod neb wedi prynu nhw; fel y ddyfais i osgoi cheque fraud. Sa’i wedi ysgrifennu siec ers pymtheg mlynedd!

“Ti jyst yn edrych ar y rhaglenni, ac maen nhw i gyd yn addo mai fel hyn y byddwn ni’n byw yn y flwyddyn 2000. Ac, fel rhywun wnaeth fyw drwy’r flwyddyn 2000, sa’ i’n gwybod amdanoch chi, ond doedd dim fax machine symudol gyda fi!”

Mae’r gyfres wedi rhoi cyfle i Elis ehangu ei obsesiwn gyda Hywel Gwynfryn – “trysor cenedlaethol a genius” yn ôl Elis. Ond caiff ambell eicon arall, gan gynnwys Arfon Haines Davies a Sulwyn Thomas, dipyn o ‘gic lan yr archif’, a hynny ar ffurf clipiau a sgetsys.

“Fi’n meddwl bod Hywel Gwynfryn yn drysor cenedlaethol,” meddai Elis. “Mae’n gweithio ar lefel hollol wahanol i bawb arall, achos wnaeth e gymaint o raglenni gwahanol. Oedd e fel utility player. Oedd S4C jyst yn towlu Hywel mewn a doedd e byth yn achwyn, byth yn conan. Ac mae e wastad yn fodlon gwneud pethau peryglus a gwneud ffŵl o’i hunan.”

Awydd Elis i ddarganfod mwy amdanom ni’r Cymry yw’r sbardun y tu ôl i’r gyfres. A drwy ddefnyddio’r archif mae e wedi creu darlun o hanner canrif o fywyd yng Nghymru, o’r dwys i’r digri’, i’r hollol absẃrd! Ac mae un clip wedi’i leoli yn ei filltir sgwâr ei hun yn sefyll allan iddo yn ddarlun da o’r 1960au.

“Ges i real syndod faint mae bywyd wedi newid dros yr hanner canrif ddiwetha’,” meddai Elis. “Dychmygwch y 60au; Mae’r Beatles newydd ryddhau Sgt. Pepper, Bob Dylan wedi mynd yn drydanol, mae’n Summer of Love ym Mhrydain – ac mae pobol mewn clwb yng Nghroesyceiliog ger Caerfyrddin yn cwrdd i blufio tyrcwn! Ti’n sylwi cyn lleied o adloniant oedd i’w gael yng nghefn gwlad Cymru!”

Elis James: Cic Lan yr Archif

Nos Fercher 25 Ebrill 9.30, S4C

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Ar gael ar alw: s4c.cymru, BBC iPlayer a llwyfannau eraill

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