Pren ar y Bryn / Tree on a Hill

Rockies Awards - Winner - 2025
Best Use of Music in a Series

(From the Banff World Media Festival Site)

“Pren Ar y Bryn (Tree on a Hill) is a mischievous dark comedy drama created, written and directed by one of Wales’s most acclaimed and translated playwrights, Ed Thomas.”

“The distinctive tone and theatricality of his writing and his ability to create identifiable yet complex characters with a genuine warmth and absurdist sense of humour is what makes this series so relatable and compelling for the viewer.”

“The music from John Hardy has been the soundtrack to “Welsh noir” for over a decade and more - but the original score for Pren Ar y Bryn is an altogether different beast and sounds, at times, like an old Bolivian brass band playing with broken instruments.”

“The unique soundtrack, loosely influenced by Tom Waits and John Lurie, plays an integral part in bolstering the playful and absurdist tone of the series and has proven hugely popular amongst the show's fans.”

Fiction Factory / S4C / BBC Cymru Wales / All3Media InternationaL / Creative Wales

A darkly comic caper through the repercussions of mysterious yet devastating crime, and its impact on a close-knit community. Quirky and nostalgic, the series was lauded for it’s Wes-Anderson infused style and standout soundtrack.

Music reviews:

““Tree” has one of the most present and invigorating musical scores I’ve heard in a long time, which adds to the show’s murky-dreamy atmosphere. All that ache comes out as a wailing trumpet; the anxious, morose busyness of a cover-up expressed through bluesy clarinet.” (Margaret Lyons, New York Times)

“The music for the series has been lauded for its distinctive approach …In their quest to create a sound-world unlike conventional drama scoring, the composers utilized acoustic, ancient, and found instruments, eschewing big orchestral gestures and sample pack sounds familiar from other genres.” (Nation.Cymru)

“The score is sensational, at times majestic, comic, eerie, extraordinary, frightening and absolutely unique” (Rotten Tomatoes, Critic review, Anne Brodie)

General reviews:

“A darkly comic tale, a love letter to the stunning landscapes, characterful communities and languages of the Swansea valley.” (Guardian UK)

“Another iteration of the ‘regular people accidentally do a big crime’ format. But it is executed with edge and originality, correcting some of the genre’s most frustrating elements and adding its own jazzy panache.” (Margaret Lyons, New York Times)