Alison Steadman loves it when fans tell her they adore her work in ‘Gavin and Stacey’ as it helps ease her depression over the state of the world.
Alison Steadman loves when fans tell her they loved her work in ‘Gavin and Stacey’ as it helps ease her depression over the state of the world
The 76-year-old actress played party-loving Pam Shipman in the sitcom 16 years ago and her latest show ‘Alison and Larry: Billericay to Barry’ sees her team up with her on-screen husband from the series Larry Lamb, 75 – who played Michael Shipman – to retrace the same journeys their characters made.
She told Yours magazine about how she and Larry loved being recognised by friendly ‘Gavin and Stacey’ show while they were filming the new Gold show: “We love it. Every time you watch the news it’s depressing and sometimes I’m in tears when I watch the reports.
“So it’s lovely to be walking along the street and to have smiling people come up and say, ‘I love your show. We watch it as a family every year.’
“They’re so full of joy and you think, ‘Yes! That’s what we need in life!’”
Alison, who has also starred in ‘Boomers’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’, travels with Larry in their Gold show 210 miles in an electric car from their characters’ home in Billericay, Essex, to Barry Island, where Nessa, Uncle Bryn and Stacey lived.
The three-part series, which is airing on Mondays at 8pm, sees them reminisce about their time filming the show – which was co-written by James Corden, 45, and 56-year-old Ruth Jones – and meeting former cast members, as well as riding dodgems and going cold water swimming in the Cotswolds.
Despite ‘Gavin and Stacey’ being half-set in Essex, Alison admitted: “I’ve never been to Billericay.
“We met the mayor and he took us to a beautiful park. We were shown a plaque that will be placed in front of (a) tree bearing (mine and Larry’s names) and a tribute to ‘Gavin and Stacey’.”
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