WALES hosted it's first world film premiere yesterday.

Arthur's Dyke, which stars - and was produced by - actress Pauline Quirke, shunned the glitz of London or LA to receive its first screening at the Savoy Theatre in Monmouth.

Three of its stars - Birds of a Feather star Ms Quirke, ex-Casualty star Rebecca Lacey and Richard Graham - made the trip to join dignitaries at the premiere.

However, the remaining cast members - ex-Minder star Dennis Waterman, Robert Daws, Nicholas Farrell, Brian Conley and Warren Clarke - failed to show, along with South Wales Film Commission patrons Ioan Gruffudd and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who were also invited.

Arthur's Dyke tells the story of three middle-aged men keen to recapture their youth by walking the Offa's Dyke path which follows the ancient boundary between England and Wales, and the complicated lives they lead.

Ms Quirke is Janet, a repressed housewife desperate to make her plumber husband proud of her.

The entire film was shot in Monmouthshire and Ms Quirke said the area had won a new fan.

"I am ashamed to say it was my first visit to Wales," she said. "But it was absolutely breathtaking and I now love Wales.

"We had some rain during filming, but with a country this beautiful, you expect to have a bit of rain."

Attracting her production company Quirky Films to the county was heralded as the beginning of a new era in the wake of the foot-and-mouth epidemic.

Grosmont councillor Bob Wilcox, whose ward was dubbed Death Valley at the height of the outbreak, said: "The film was superb and a lot of it was of course filmed in the Llanthony valley.

"I come from an area badly hit by foot-and-mouth and we need to help the tourism industry."

South Wales Film Commissioner Yvonne Cheal said: "I think this film is important because it is going to show off the landscape of Monmouthshire so well."

Rebecca Lacey, who was brought up in Pontypooland still owns a house here, said she was keen to do something for Wales.

"I felt passionate about that," she said. "Wales does not get the Press it ought to and it could do with a leg-up. This film has helped that."

Arthur's Dyke is being released worldwide on video and DVD, but will also be shown for the next four days at the Savoy Theatre.

* In the picture: From left, Rebecca Lacey, Pauline Quirke and Richard Graham.