Welsh TV

So fine Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd has been pretending to be English on the CW’s Ringer for 19 episodes now. His character speaks with an English accent, has an English name and keeps going back and forth to London on business.

Of course, Ioan is Welsh. Here he is speaking Welsh with former Cardiff flatmate Matthew Rhys from Brothers and Sisters and Gethin Jones from Blue Peter:

See – proper Welsh.

So how delightful was it that despite the fact his character is obviously English, they decided to make him Welsh in this episode of Ringer, albeit somewhat unusually:

Huh. Apparently, to Juliet, his own daughter, being Welsh means having a stiff upper lip and underplaying everything. Why should this be?

1. Do Americans have literally no idea about the Welsh at all, presumably never having bothered to watch Torchwood (oh, lucky people), and assume they’re the same as the English?
2. Do Americans have completely differently stereotypes about the Welsh than the English do?
3. Does Juliet simply have no idea about her heritage?
4. Is there in fact an American expression, “Don’t be so Welsh about this” (or similar), that I was previously unaware of?
5. The scriptwriters originally had it as ‘English’ and Ioan got them to change it?

Anyone want to venture a suggestion?