Sion a Sian

Host

I B Gruffudd (1964-67)

Dai Jones (1971-87 and 50th anniversary special 2014)

Ieuan Rhys (1996-2003)

Stifyn Parri and Heledd Cynwal (2012-16)

Co-hosts

Hostesses:
Mair Rowlands,
Mari Emlyn,
Jenny Ogwen (60s-70s, also 50th anniversary 2014),
Rosalind Lloyd,
Gillian Elisa (1996-2003)

Broadcast

TWW, 22 April 1964 to 30 December 1967

HTV Cymru, 15 May 1971 to 1982

HTV Wales for S4C, 13 May 1983 to 1987

HTV Wales for S4C, 13 November 1996 to 2003

ITV Cymru / Mr Producer for S4C, 7 April 2012 to 16 December 2016

Synopsis

"Sion A... what?" I hear you cry. Never heard of it? In fact this was the original Welsh version of the programme which later became Mr and Mrs - first on HTV West and Border then, from 1972, picked up nationally by ITV.

Dai Jones and Rosalind Lloyd with contestants Beatrice and William Roberts in 1982.

Same principle as the Anglophone version: players answer quirky questions about their partner, and if the answer the partner gives about themselves matches, they win some money. If all the answers match, they win a jackpot or an additional prize. Questions were welcomed from viewers, with a prize for any used on the show.

The longest-running presenter on the show was Dai Jones, a farmer, broadcaster and highly renowned singer rolled into one. So much so that he would often sing viewers' requests at the end of the show.

The 2010s revival, with Stifyn Parri, Heledd Cynwal, and some silly glasses for the contestant to wear in the isolation booth.

Despite ITV's disastrous Julian Clary version in 1999, the programme had a good stab at a revival for about seven years. S4C announced another revival in 2012, along with the return of another favourite Jacpot. This latest revival was close in spirit to All-Star Mr and Mrs - there were two hosts, the players held up paddles in a simultaneous round.

Catchphrases

"Bant i'r Bocs" (To the box)

"Y'ch chi yn byw 'da'ch gilydd?" (You do live together?!)

Inventor

Roy Ward Dickson

Trivia

The longest-serving presenter of Sion a Sian, Dai Jones talks at length about the programme in his autobiography Dai And Let Live, which is a English translation of the original, Fi Dai Sy' 'Ma.

The show became so popular that HTV took the show on the road with special stage shows in local town halls and the like.

For the fiftieth anniversary, Dai Jones and Jenny Ogwen came back to host a special edition with a returning couple from each previous incarnation of the show (60s, 70s and 90s) competing for charity. And Dai and Jenny even sang at the end, just like the old days!

Stifyn Parri was not only one of the hosts for the 2010s revival, but produced it too.