Gavin & Stacey favourites Dawn and Pete will be featured in the show’s upcoming reunion special, the BBC has confirmed.

The Sutcliffes – played by Julia Davis and Adrian Scarborough – are the best friends of Gavin’s parents Mick and Pam Shipman, known for their oversharing and frequent blazing rows.

A new synopsis for the Bafta-winning sitcom’s reunion episode has revealed that Dawn and Pete will be featured in the forthcoming Christmas special, and will play a pivotal role in the first half of the episode.

The description reads: “On Christmas Eve, Dawn makes a shocking discovery about Pete that jeopardises their marriage (again) and a visit to the pub that night is an eye opener in more ways than one.”

However, given that most of the action plays out in Barry rather than Billericay, we’re not sure exactly how much Dawn and Pete action we’ll be treated to when the show returns after 10 years this Christmas.

While all of the main cast of Gavin & Stacey cast will be back for the reunion, it had already been confirmed that Stacey’s brother Jason – played by Robert Wilfort, who appeared in a total of seven episodes – will also be returning.

Anyone speculating this means we’ll finally find out what happened on the infamous “fishing trip” can think again, though, as James Corden has already insisted this won’t be revealed in the episode.

But while Dawn, Pete and Jason have all been invited back for the reunion, other minor characters haven’t been so lucky.

Sheridan Smith – who played Smithy’s sister Rudi in seven episodes of Gavin & Stacey – confirmed back in June that she would not be appearing, joking “I wish” when asked if her character would be back.

Similarly, Russell Tovey told The Sun in October that Gavin’s friends, including Budgie, Dirtbox and Fingers, had also not been included in the episode.

Meanwhile, although Margaret John, who played Stacey’s neighbour Doris, died a year after the last episode of Gavin & Stacey aired, James Corden has confirmed that the special will feature a nod to her brilliant character.

However, there is still one big question mark over whether Steffan Rhodri, better known as Dave Coaches, will be putting in an appearance.

In the BBC’s episode synopsis, there’s a reference to Smithy “making the journey to Barry at weekends and every second Wednesday” to see his and Nessa’s son, which suggests the two are not together.

Of course, this doesn’t mean Nessa would be with Dave either – she did famously jilt him at the altar in the final series of Gavin & Stacey – but we’re still intrigued as to whether the two would still be in each other’s lives, and have contacted Steffan Rhodri’s reps to see whether he’s among the cast members returning.

The Christmas special of Gavin & Stacey was confirmed to be in the works in May, with an understated tweet from its star and co-writer James Corden.

Gavin & Stacey will return on Christmas Day on BBC One.