Mark Lewis Jones will portray Neil Foden in Mojo Productions’ three-part series

S4C has commissioned a three-part drama about the failures and missed opportunities to stop former headteacher and paedophile Neil Foden.

Mojo Productions is producing Y Pennaeth/The Headteacher (w/t), which will feature Mark Lewis Jones (Y Golau: Dŵr, The Crown, Dal y Mellt) as Foden.

It will examine the events following Foden’s arrest in 2023. A former headteacher at Friars School in Bangor, Foden was sentenced to 17 years in jail after being convicted of sexually abusing four girls between 2019 and 2023. An independent review in 2025 concluded that more than 50 opportunities were missed to stop his sexual abuse.

Based on evidence and notes from the trial, as well as an independent report on the case, the drama will recount the events from the perspectives of two survivors of Foden’s abuse, who will be fictionalised to protect the real victims’ identities.

It will examine how he took advantage of the girls’ personal situations, the failures of safeguarding procedures and the missed opportunities to prevent further crimes taking place.

Mojo and S4C have been developing Y Pennaeth for the past 18 months, with the indie and writer Llinos Gerallt (Yr Amgueddfa, Pobol y Cwm) working with a journalist who serves as a contact point with those involved and affected by the events. They also contacted North Wales Police who have ensured that all survivors involved in the court case are aware of the project, and Mojo has offered them access to professional support.

Y Pennaeth was commissioned by Gwenllian Gravelle, S4C’s outgoing head of drama and film, is produced by Llyr Morus and directed by Huw Chiswell. It is expected to TX in 2027.

Gravelle said: “This is an important and shocking story about how one man in a position of trust and power betrayed his status over a period of many years, and asks difficult questions about cultures where one individual is seen as someone who cannot be challenged.

“Developed with great care and sensitivity, the production deals with the subject in a responsible way, focusing on the wider results of the betrayal by a public figure who was entrusted with responsibility and care.”