A full-length BBC film, including some of the most breathtaking scenery Wales has to offer, will tell the amazing true story of one of the world’s earliest medical trials for the medicine that eventually became Viagra.
Men Up, which premieres on BBC One on Friday, December 29 at 9 p.m., is set in the city where the drug’s initial trials were conducted at Morriston Hospital in 1994 and has Swansea as a breathtaking backdrop throughout. Participating in the trial was a step into the unknown for a group of regular middle-aged Welsh men years before the little blue tablet changed millions of lives worldwide.
One thing unites Meurig Jenkins (Iwan Rheon), Eddie O’Connor (Mark Lewis Jones), Colin White (Steffan Rhodri), Tommy Cadogan (Paul Rhys), and Peetham ‘Pete’ Shah (Phaldut Sharma) in the drama impotence. They get so mired in guilt and quiet that it impacts every part of their lives.
After trying in vain to fix their problems and feeling like failures, the group is given a lifeline: a spot on a clinical nurse Moira Davies’ (Joanna Page) and driven Dr. Dylan Pearce’s (Aneurin Barnard) trial for an unidentified medication that may cure impotence.
Will this small pill be able to rekindle their spark as each man battles their anxieties and conceals the truth from those closest to them, including their spouses and companions Ffion Jenkins (Alexandra Roach) and Teresa Rigby (Lisa Palfrey), who are also going through difficult times?
Men Up, which blends humor and drama, is hailed as a moving tale about a group of modest men who take on the challenge of taking back their sexual lives. Here are a few of the most notable places from the movie that are highlighted.
Men Up Filming Locations
Swansea Bay, Mumbles Lighthouse and Mumbles Promenade
In the opening moments of the movie, viewers are treated to expansive vistas of the breathtaking Swansea Bay beach before the camera pans to a glimpse of Mumbles Lighthouse. Additionally, Mumbles Promenade serves as the setting for a scene in which Meurig (Rheon) is shown riding a bicycle down the cycling path.
Mumbles Village, Gloucester Place
The movie features a significant role for Mumbles. The neighborhood where Meurig’s character resides, Gloucester Place, is recognizable for its small streets lined with colorful terraced houses and far-off vistas of the ocean. These streets are synonymous with the popular beach resort.
Langland Bay
Langland Bay, one of Swansea’s most stunning beaches, is also shown in all of its splendor while taking a promenade at night with Tommy, a fictional character who goes to the beach for some alone time to think. Later in the day, when Tommy and his companion take the dog for a walk, we see the beach once more.
Guildhall and Victoria Avenue
In the movie, Swansea’s Guildhall doubles as the police station for the city. Earlier in March of this year, we brought you the news that film crews had also been spotted filming sequences along Victoria Avenue, close to Guildhall.
Mumbles Pier
In one of the last shots, the four main characters are seen sitting around a wooden table near Mumbles Pier, sipping coffee, and thinking back on their adventure together. We can once more make out the famous Mumbles Lighthouse in the distance.
Plot Of The Movie
The movie follows the five guys as they set out on their medical trip, and since each of them has gone through both happy and sad times in their personal lives, viewers will understandably wonder if the characters are based on actual trial participants.
Men Up is a documentary film that chronicles the lives of five Welsh men, Meurig, Colin, Peetham, Tommy, and Eddie, as they enlist in a clinical trial to test a new Pfizer drug that may be able to treat erectile dysfunction. The characters in the movie are entirely made up, even if the pill is quite genuine.
Barry may have created the patients, but Dr. Dylan Pearce (Aneurin Barnard), the physician overseeing their experiment, is based on a real person: Dr. David Price, the original trial physician, who also served as a medical consultant for the movie. In the 1980s, Dr Price, a Swansea Morriston Hospital specialist, started researching the reasons for and remedies for impotence.