Sex education has been a major hit for Netflix since it was first released in 2019. It tells the story of modern school children and their journeys through sex and relationships, and here’s the real bonus. Most of it is set in Wales, so I’m on a mission to explore all the iconic locations from this iconic show.
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00:00 When you're thinking of sex education, there's no place better to start than Moordale Secondary
00:05 School itself. The old University of Wales Newport campus here in Killian is, as far
00:10 as I'm concerned, one of the iconic settings of any TV show of the last few decades. The
00:15 campus here played host to the bulk of the first three series, but sadly in the latest
00:19 it wasn't able to be used. Besides the big main building here behind me, which is a listed
00:23 building, the rest of the campus has been torn down for houses. Thankfully the old campus
00:27 got a proper send off in series three, but it's a shame we couldn't have seen Otis and
00:31 the rest of them cut about in Killian for one more series.
00:35 But if you're going to lose an iconic setting like Killian campus for Moordale Secondary,
00:40 where better than everyone's favourite, St Fagans National Museum of History. We've all
00:45 been here on days out and school trips, but to see it decked out as Cavendish College,
00:49 the hyper-progressive sixth form unit that many of the original cast moved to in the
00:53 last term, kind of feels right. Many people watching the show on Netflix might have had
00:59 that nagging feeling that I know that place, but I can't quite picture where it is. Well
01:03 now you know, it's St Fagans. It also features some of the modern buildings inside the museum,
01:07 but some other buildings for the college and fair play, it really works.
01:13 The show creates an amazing setting at every location, making the whole area around Moordale
01:17 feel disparate like a woodlands, while also being a bustling population centre for all
01:22 the antics the cast get up to on the show. A new location for series four was Ebbervale's
01:28 Festival Park shopping centre, which is now closed down. They've fitted the whole area
01:32 out with fictitious shops and cafes and banks, giving the whole place a real retro feel,
01:36 thanks to its beautiful stonework. For me, this shopping centre was one of my favourite
01:41 spots when I watched the series. I've been here plenty of times before, so it's really
01:45 nice to see this now desolate, once bustling shopping centre get its last hurrah.
01:51 And that bus stop right there is the actual bus stop that features a few times, but blink
01:55 and you'll miss it. So for the eagle eyes out there, that's one to spot.
02:00 When it comes to iconic locations, it doesn't get better than this. That redder house up
02:05 there is Otis and his mother Jean's house, and it's called the Chalet. It's phenomenal,
02:09 overlooking the River Wye near the hamlet of Simmons Yat.
02:12 While all the other locations I've seen today are easily accessible by main roads and have
02:16 parking and things like that, this is in the middle of nowhere, and I think the car took
02:20 a bit of a battering to find it. This seems like the "I found it so you don't have to"
02:25 location, but fair play, it's certainly worth a bit of effort. But don't try and get to
02:29 the property itself, since it's a private residence on a private road, accessed by a
02:32 single track country lane. I find out the hard way.
02:37 That house realistically is the heart of the show. Plenty of iconic and poignant scenes
02:41 take place, and it really is a sight to behold.
02:49 Most of where I've been to today is here in Wales, with the Chalet just a stone's throw
02:53 over the border in England. And what I've learned scouting around South Wales in the
02:57 Wye Valley is just how beautiful the surrounding areas are where we live. James B. Swatkins,
03:02 Local TV.
03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]