Work begins on a sequel to legendary Welsh rugby movie Grand Slam

Nation.Cymru staff

Two Welsh comedy stars have joined forces to write a sequel to iconic Welsh rugby film Grand Slam.

The original, released in 1978, starred Oscar-winning actor Hugh Griffith, as well as Windsor Davies, Dewi “Pws” Morris and Sion Probert.

It tells the story of four men, members of a Welsh rugby union club, who fly to Paris as part of a weekend outing to see Wales play France in the Five Nations Championship match that will decide the Grand Slam title.

One of the party is funeral director Caradog Lloyd-Evans, who briefly served in occupied Paris near the end of World War II. Caradog pays for his son Glyn’s air ticket on the proviso that Glyn comes on a ‘pilgrimage’ to find his ‘little butterfly’ who he spent a short romantic period with during the war.

Now, Mammoth star Mike Bubbins is set to get to work on a script alongside fellow Welsh comic actor Steve Spiers. The pair are both huge fans of a movie that has enshrined itself in Welsh cultural folklore.

Announcing the news on the latest episode of the Socially Distant Sports Bar Podcast, on which Bubbins appears alongside Elis James and Steff Garrero, he revealed:

“I’ve got an exclusive here. By Friday, the lawyers should have fulfilled all the legalities and the legal stuff, because I have just secured the screenplay rights to write a sequel to Grand Slam.

“So I’m going to write a sequel that is a homage to the original.”

The comic added: “I’ve already had a couple of meetings and the rights are there. The option’s been paid for. That’s been done. All the legal work’s been done. I’ve spoken to the copyright holders and the IP holders. That’s all done.

“I’m gonna do it. I’m writing it with Steve Speirs. We’re like the world’s biggest Grand Slam fans.

“Steve will type stuff. He’s used to that sort of thing. He’ll happily sit down with a keyboard.”

Bubbins pointed out that the movie will not be a remake.

“We had the first chat about it. We both love the film, and we agreed there’s no point remaking it, because it’s perfect as it is. So, where would that be now, set in the modern day?

“Let’s try and get the heart of the original, and hopefully a couple of the original cast members that are still with us.

“So we sat down and had a good couple of meetings about it. Fair play to Steve, he wrote up a lovely pitch document and then we went for a meeting with a very nice lady, who said ‘do you mind me asking why Grand Slam’, and I said it was one of my very favourite films. I love everything about it. It’s got that real sort of hiraeth and there’s a real heart to it. The characters are fantastic and the script is brilliant.

“She said then ‘I’m very glad you said that because my dad wrote it’.

He revealed a live version could also be in the works.

“We’ve got a potential live version. A stage version, which I’m involved with but don’t have the option on, but I get the option on a screen version of it.”

Find out more about the Socially Distant Sport Bar HERE