Second foray into short-form medium heading to PSB’s youth brand

S4C has ordered its second vertical drama from Mojo Productions, committing to a major 60-episode order.

The drama, called Signal, will land on the Welsh PSB’s youth brand Hansh on TikTok, and unfolds as a love story between a boy from Cardiff and a girl from rural Wales. Principal photography on the series, which is designed to be watched on phones, will begin at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells this week.

Signal follows S4C’s first vertical drama, The Call (Yr Alwad), a much shorter 7 x 3-minute run, which landed on Hansh on TikTok last year. Each episode followed a phone call between a mother and her son on a night out with friends, being followed by a gang of bullies.

It was nominated at the National Films Awards in the Vertical Series category and in the Broadcast Digital Awards in the short form scripted category.

The latest commission will have four up-and-coming writers, Brynach Higginson, Mari Izzard and Rhiannon Williams, as well as the writer and director of Yr Alwad, Alexander Williams. Gwenno Hughes (Hafiach, Fflam) will lead the writing team.

The lead actors include Gwenan Lloyd, Gabriel Owen and Joshua Romain.

S4C’s young audiences commissioner Guto Rhun said: “As viewing habits continue to evolve, we have to be bold, especially in creating content for younger audiences.

“I am delighted to see S4C working with the production companies to experiment on exciting content which entertains our audiences and meets them where they watch.”

S4C’s chief content officer Llion Iwan said: “Vertical dramas are a popular international format which reflect S4C’s vision of transforming to a digital-first broadcaster.

“We are very proud at S4C of Yr Alwad’s success and are looking forward to watching content that builds on that success. Bold content that travels is key to expanding our viewing.”