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It's a Sin star on his 'gripping' new TV thriller set in Wales

Carmen DupreBBC Wales
News imageThe Other Richard Callum Scott Howells looks at cameraThe Other Richard
Callum Scott Howells will star in a five-part rock-climbing thriller set and filmed in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia

It's A Sin actor Callum Scott Howells, who will star in a new thriller set and filmed in Wales, says the Eryri landscape is a character in itself.

Deadpoint follows Howells' character Aaron as he tries to overcome a new fear of rock climbing following a traumatic event, searching for his sister.

His storyline crosses over with characters including a violent far-right group which has set up in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia.

Howells, who trained with professional rock climbers for two months to prepare for his role on the Channel 4 show, said: "Gripping, if you pardon the pun, is the word really. I'm so excited about it."

News imageGetty Images Spectacular Eryri landscape over Tryfan and Llyn Ogwen from the slopes of Pen yr Ole WenGetty Images
Spectacular Eryri landscape over Tryfan and Llyn Ogwen from the slopes of Pen yr Ole Wen

Channel 4, which first worked with Howells on It's A Sin in 2021, described the wilderness-set thriller as a "literal cliff-hanger" that's "grounded in the tensions existing in our society today".

Howells praised writer Matt Hartley for the show's themes.

"Sometimes writers can just do this kind of magic where they can almost tell the future.

"And that landscape in Eryri, that's sort of a character in itself."

The five-part drama also stars Christine Tremarco and Annes Elwy, who plays Howells' sister, and will be shown on Channel 4 in late 2026 or early 2027.

It's Howells' first time in a thriller, having recently starred in Madfabulous, a film about a wealthy and eccentric 19th Century Welsh aristocrat, which is due for release in June.

He also won the Bafta Cymru for best actor in 2021 for his portrayal of Colin in It's A Sin.

News imageChannel 4 This photograph includes five friends. From left to right we have a man in a black jacket with a fur collar, a man in a red puffer coat, a man in a denim jacket, a woman in a blue dress and finally (on the far right) a man in a grey jacket. They're all looking in different directions. Channel 4
It's a Sin tells the story of a group of friends in 1980s London

Howells will also appear alongside Michael Sheen in the Welsh National Theatre's upcoming stage production of Amadeus, written by Peter Schaffer.

He was cast on the phone to Sheen when he was walking his dog, saying his answer was a "no-brainer".

But he said if he had been asked to audition, he would have "done it in a heartbeat".

"It's Michael Sheen. He plays the tune and we all follow," he said.

The Welsh National Theatre's production of Amadeus will open at Cardiff's New Theatre next March.

It will then run in the West End, which Sheen said was an "important next step" for the company.

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