Larry Lamb has teased a series of details (but no spoilers, phew!) about the upcoming Gavin And Stacey Christmas special.
Earlier this week, the show’s creators James Corden and Ruth Jones delighted fans when they announced that we’ll be catching up the much-loved characters this Christmas, in a new hour-long episode.
Speaking on Wednesday’s episode of This Morning, Larry – who plays Gavin’s dad, Mick Shipman – revealed that he learned about the reunion plans when James Corden called him out of the blue.
“All of a sudden I get this phone call from a Los Angeles number,” he said. “Then someone said ‘Hello, Larry, it’s James Corden’.
“He said, ‘I just want to know if you’re available in the next little while, as it looks like we’re going to be doing a Christmas Special’.
“It was quite extraordinary, the whole thing. It was quite Hollywood-esque getting this phone call from a Hollywood superstar over there in La La Land just to say we’re going to take a trip back down memory lane.”
“I’d gotten to the point where I thought it’d been left, this jewel as it was, and they don’t want to go on. It was only ever going to be one series anyway,” he admitted.
In the weeks that followed, Larry received the script for the one-off episode, and speaking to Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, he revealed that it brought a tear to his eye because it was so “poignant”.
“It’s amazing what he and Ruth have managed to do. I’ve finally read the script and it really… it got me,” he said.
“I just started to read the first little sequence and I just found myself crying. It was like running into somebody that was a major part of your life and you’re just so happy about it.
“It didn’t really matter what they were doing, it wasn’t funny, it wasn’t anything, it was just so poignant and they were immediately into the feeling of the whole thing, and it just took me along.”
Filming is set to start “soon”, Larry added, stating that the plans are all “super hush-hush” for the minute.
Meanwhile, his on-screen son, Matthew Horne, shared his thoughts on BBC 5 Live.
“The script is really beautiful, it’s really funny and it’s really heartwarming,” he said. “I think there’ll be laughter and tears. Ruth and James have done an incredible job particularly considering they live in different countries.
“There’s one scene in particular between me and Joanna [Page, who plays Stacey] which is absolutely beautiful.
“II was talking to Jo yesterday and we can’t wait to get going on it.”
When asked about how Gavin has changed over the years, Matt said: “There’s very, very little I can give away – suffice to say he’s a little bit tired and he’s a dad with an almost grown up child.
“I think the audience will be pleasantly surprised and warmed by what they see… I have every confidence people are going to really like it.”
The last episode of Gavin And Stacey aired in 2010 and was watched by more than 10 million people.
The Christmas Special will see Mathew Horne and Joanna Page return to their lead roles as Gavin and Stacey, while James and Ruth will be back as Smithy and Nessa.
Other supporting cast members confirmed to return are Rob Brydon (Bryn), Melanie Walters (Gwen) and the real star of the sitcom, Alison Steadman (Three Steaks Pam).
This Morning airs every weekday from 10.30am on ITV.