A “CREATIVE giant” has been remembered for his sparkling career producing much-loved Welsh television.

Tributes have been paid to playwright, actor and director Meic Povey, who has died at the age of 67.

Mr Povey, from Nant Gwynant, had been fighting a long battle with cancer.

He was well known for co-creating the soap opera Pobol y Cwm and he played DC Taff Jones in 1980s television series Minder.

S4C creative content director Amanda Reeds described him as a “rare talent”.

“I am saddened to hear about the death of Meic Povey, an author of rare talent that made a huge contribution to film, television and theatre in Wales and beyond­,” she said. “There is no doubt that he was among the great Welsh playwrights of the past decades, with the ability to write popular entertaining drama as well as challenging material, dealing with issues relevant to the people of Wales today and universal themes about the human condition.

“His television output, from the early days of Pobol y Cwm, up to his most recent drama series, Byw Celwydd, show how much of a loss he will be – he had so much more to offer.

“In admiring his talent to create memorable and engaging characters, we should note series such as Talcen Caled and Teulu, Ryan a Ronnie, and films such as Reit tu ôl i ti, Nel and Sul y Blodau, not to mention his vast amount of work as a television and stage playwright and actor­ in both Welsh and English.

“With his deep roots in Snowdonia, combined with his experiences of living in Cardiff since the 1970s, he had the ability to voice the experiences of people from all over the country. In conveying our deepest condolences to his family and his close friends, we mourn the loss of a creative giant.”

Among his TV acting credits, Mr Povey appeared in Doctor Who and A Mind To Kill.