Barry Welsh is Coming

Barry Welsh is Coming was a sketch show produced by Absolutely Productions for HTV Wales. The programme was first broadcast at 10:40pm on Friday 6 September 1996 and originally ran for 6 series with some episodes later broadcast on the Paramount Comedy Channel. The main star was John Sparkes, who played the geekish presenter Barry Welsh, along with other roles. For the final series, the show was renamed Barry Welsh is Going and consisted of three compilation specials. The series was replaced by Jeff Global's Global Probe, which ended after six episodes. The TV series also featured cast members from the Channel 4 series Absolutely, while some character elements from Absolutely were incorporated into the programme. Denzil and Gwynedd, two of the original Absolutely characters, briefly returned in Barry Welsh is Coming for shorter sketches, now accompanied by their 21-year-old son, Codfyl. The show returned in 2007 in the form of three themed specials broadcast throughout the year, presented by Sparkes in the guise of Fishguard news reporter Hugh Pugh. The new episodes were produced in-house by ITV Wales.