Gavin And Stacey cast spotted stepping into their characters for final episode

Ruth Jones and Joanna Page were spotted filming in Barry, in Wales’s Vale of Glamorgan.

Joanna Page, who plays Stacey Shipman (left), and Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa Jenkins (right), during filming for the Gavin And Stacey Christmas Day special at Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales

The cast of Gavin And Stacey have been spotted stepping into their characters for the last time on the set of the show’s final episode.

Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa Jenkins, and Joanna Page, who plays Stacey Shipman, could be seen laughing together while filming for the Christmas special in Barry in Wales’s Vale of Glamorgan on Wednesday morning.

Jones was wearing an all black outfit, while Page wore a blue denim jacket with jeans and an orange top.

Cast on set of the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special — Ruth Jones and Joanna Page chatting on set (Ben Birchall/PA)

It comes after James Corden, who plays Neil “Smithy” Smith, was seen in the town chatting with locals on Tuesday as filming got under way.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning about filming the final episode, he said: “It’s lovely, it’s wonderful, all of it, it’s all overwhelming, the fact it’s probably the last time I’ll probably ever be here.

“All of it, it’s wonderful.”

The hit TV series aired for three series between 2007 and 2010 and made a comeback in 2019 for a one-off festive episode which ended on a cliff-hanger when Jones’s character Nessa proposed to Smithy.

In the sitcom, Mathew Horne and Page play lovers Gavin and Stacey, Larry Lamb is Gavin’s father Mick, Melanie Walters portrays Stacey’s widowed mother Gwen, and Rob Brydon plays her Uncle Bryn.

Joanna Page, who plays Stacey Shipman (second left), during filming for the Gavin And Stacey Christmas Day special at Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales — Joanna Page enjoys a laugh during filming for the Gavin And Stacey Christmas Day special (Ben Birchall/PA)

Former chat show host Corden, 46, announced the show’s return in an Instagram post on May 3 by sharing an image of him and Jones with a 2024 script titled Gavin And Stacey: The Finale.

Corden visited an ice cream shop for a brownie and a chat, with its owner Laura Davenport telling the PA news agency it had been “a great day”.

She said: “We waved madly at James and got him over to the shop.

James Corden in Barry with Laura Davenport (right) (Laura Davenport/PA)

“He’s really lovely, asking about the shop, saying that it was really lovely, really different.

“He was great, he had some photos with us – one of the girls that works for us is our baker so he had one of her brownies as well.

“He’s been lovely to everybody to be honest, all the fans, he’s had photos with them – so it’s been a great day.”

Corden revealed in July that he and Jones had finished writing the script for the final episode.

Ruth Jones, who plays Nessa Jenkins (left), and Joanna Page, who plays Stacey Shipman, during filming for the Gavin And Stacey Christmas Day special at Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales — Ruth Jones and Joanna Page in Barry (Ben Birchall/PA)

The 2019 festive episode scored the highest overnight Christmas ratings in 12 years, attracting an average audience of 11.6 million viewers, making it the biggest festive special since Christmas Day 2008.

By the new year, it had been viewed by 17.1 million people, making it the biggest scripted programme of the decade at the time.

It went on to win the impact award at the National Television Awards in 2020.