27th November
The Big Welsh Challenge celebrity learners have faced the toughest test yet of their progress in Welsh. Their third challenge involved asking incisive questions and gathering information to solve a murder mystery.
The learners came together at Tredegar House in Newport to attend the annual general meeting of the Historical Society from the village of Gonildeb. The chairman's late arrival prompted a search by one of the society's members, who found his body - and an axe - in a pool of blood in the study.
PC Bert Side finds the murder weapon - and wipes off the fingerprints!
So who killed Bryn Morgan? Could it be the incompetent policeman, Bert; the bumbling milkman Ernie; Cheyenne, the new-age hippy; businessman Tristan or Gwen, the prim and proper teacher?
An appeal went out to the learners to turn detective and help find the murderer. They could question in turn each of the suspects and witnesses but their time was limited and they could only use Welsh. This is the first time they have had to interact and improvise using the language.
"I found it difficult because the actors stayed in their roles when we were questioning them," said Colin. "I was looking for a bit of help or an encouraging smile but they remained stony-faced!"
Di questions suspect Cheyenne
The celebrities had help from other local learners during questioning and it emerged that each of the characters had a motive for the killing. Despite their excellent police work and some interesting lines of questioning, no-one succeeded in solving the crime. However their performance did earn them praise from the actors.
"I thought Colin Charvis and Di Botcher were particularly good," said Jonathan Nefydd who played PC Bert Side. "They didn't guess who did it but apparently that happens quite often at murder mysteries. I certainly had a lot of fun!"
