Michael Sheen's The Way is 'incredibly close' to harsh reality of Welsh town

20 February 2024 , 11:42

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Steffan Rhodri plays Geoff Driscoll in The Way (Image: BBC)

Michael Sheen has made his directorial debut with dystopian BBC drama The Way, and many are wondering if the 'extraordinary' story is based on true events.

Starring Steffan Rhodri, Callum Scott Howells, Sophie Melville and Sheen himself, the three part series tells the story of an 'ordinary family caught up in an extraordinary chain of events that ripple out from their home town". It's also an "emotional and darkly humorous story about what it means to be faced with impossible choices".

The story is an incredibly personal one for Sheen, 55, as it's set in his own hometown of Port Talbot in Wales. In the drama, we meet the Driscoll family, who are forced to scape from the place they've always called home.

One of the main plotlines of the story is the authoritarian government crackdown on protests over job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks. This comes just weeks after real life demonstrations took place in Port Talbot after Tata Steel announced they would be closing at the end of the year.

Is The Way based on a true story?

Michael Sheen made his directorial debut with The Way (BBC)

While the story is said to cut "incredibly close to the truth" of what is currently happening at Port Talbot steelworks, Sheen himself explained that the story behind The Way is "entirely fictional". Speaking to the BBC ahead of the premiere of the gritty drama, he explained: "But obviously, knowing the town, knowing the relationship the town has with the steelworks, knowing the insecurities and the anxieties that have always been there in my lifetime around employment and work there - that was part of what drew us to setting the story in this town."

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In the first episode of the series there is growing concern over the future of the steelworks, causing protests which turns into riots. While some take to the streets to join the fight, others hide in their homes. Resembling a war zone, the town is eventually locked down by armed police. While this is a fictional event, it does tap ito "all the political and social themes of the moment".

Tata Steel in Port Talbot did recently announce it would close both its blast furnaces in the UK's biggest steelworks by the end of 2024, which puts 2,000 jobs at risk.

Writer James Graham said: "Working with Michael Sheen and Adam Curtis on building this story has been one of those pinch-me moments in the life of a writer. To tell a story set in Michael's home community, and tapping into all the political and social themes of the moment - strikes, division, chaos and a loss of control - all while infusing it, we hope, with humour, magic and imagination, has been the most creatively satisfying experience."

Sheen himself grew up in the town, explaining: "It's been incredible to tell this story here in a place that I grew up in, that I know so well," he also praised the town's "amazing range of landscapes and places to film in". He continued: "We've been able to tell a story that takes place across the whole of the United Kingdom but to shoot it all here."

The whole synopsis for the series reads: "Ambitious, powerful and surprising, The Way taps into the social and political chaos of today's world by imagining a civil uprising which begins in a small industrial town. Fleeing unrest, The Driscolls are forced to escape the country they've always called home and the certainties of their old lives. Will they be overwhelmed by their memories of the past, or will they lay their ghosts to rest and take the risk of an unknown future?"

The Way is available in full on BBC iPlayer now, with the next two episodes airing at 9pm on Monday, February 26 and Monday, March 4.

Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz