Three years after gripping audiences, Channel 4's Welsh psychological thriller The Light in the Hall returns for a second series. The original slow-burn crime show, also available in an entirely Welsh-language version titled Y Golau, was set in the picturesque fictional town of Llanemlyn. There, gardener Joe (played by Iwan Rheon of Game of Thrones fame) is released from prison after 18 years for the murder of local girl Ela.
Nearly two decades later, Ela's mother Sharon (Joanna Scanlan) teams up with journalist Cat (Alexandra Roach) to uncover the location of Ela's undiscovered body and unravel the truth of what really happened all those years ago.
The six-episode thriller was praised for its touching themes of grief and loss, as well as standout performances. The Evening Standard called it 'gripping stuff, made all the more so by strong performances across the board… While it veers at times slightly too close to melodrama, this is a fascinating, slow-burn study of grief, obsession and the need for some kind of closure.' The i noted that 'it's this small detail that made The Light in the Hall stand out from its peers. This wasn't the classic story of “evil man is evil”.'
On IMDb, user andiroids-1 described it as 'mesmerising', while craig-snell called it a show 'actually worth watching'. Martin T echoed on Rotten Tomatoes: 'Excellent plot! The show gets better and better as it goes along. Touching look at a small town, and love and loss. The cast was amazing.'
With series two landing imminently, The Guardian has teased that the new episodes are 'a thrillingly murky Welsh drama'. Once again available in both Welsh and English, the new series is titled The Light in the Hall: Still Waters (Y Golau: Dŵr). It features an entirely new ensemble cast, including Mark Lewis Jones as Rhys Owen, Nia Roberts as Eve Davies, and Robert Glenister as Robert Davies. However, one character returns: Siân Reese-Williams reprises her role as Caryl Huws, a butcher-shop worker turned trainee journalist.
The new series, from the same creator Regina Moriarty, returns to Llanemlyn, where 'a controversial plan to expand the reservoir reignites long-buried tensions.' Winding back to 1995, we meet activist Llyr Owen, who dies in a bombing for which his cousin Rhys is jailed. The synopsis continues: 'Thirty years later, Rhys returns home to a community once again divided by protest. As trainee journalist Caryl becomes drawn into the story, her investigation begins to unravel hidden truths, exposing secrets that have shaped the town for decades, in a gripping drama of protest, guilt and generational reckoning.'
The Light in the Hall: Still Waters airs on Channel 4 from Tuesday, June 16 at 9pm. The first series is available to stream on Channel 4 now.
