Larry Lamb didn't ever think 'Gavin and Stacey' would return.

Larry Lamb

Larry Lamb

The 71-year-old actor is to reprise his role as Mick Shipman in the popular BBC sitcom, which will return for a one-hour special episode on Christmas Day (25.12.19), and he was left shocked when co-writers James Corden (Smithy) and Ruth Jones (Nessa Jenkins) rang to ask about his availability for a potential return.

Speaking on 'This Morning', he said: "He [James] said, 'I want to know it you'll be available, it looks like we're doing a Christmas special.'

"It was quite extraordinary. It was quite Hollywood-esque. Getting the call from this super-star over there in La La Land saying, 'You're gonna take a trip down memory lane.' "

When asked if he thought the show would comeback, he replied: "No. I got to the point, where I just thought, 'They've left this jewel as it was and they don't want to go on.'

"They were only ever going to do one series anyway."

'Gavin and Stacey' - which stars Mathew Horne as Gavin and Joanna Page as Stacey - first aired in 2007 and then concluded after three seasons in 2010.

And former 'EastEnders' actor Larry has teased fans the Christmas special will be very poignant.

He said: "It's amazing what he [James] and Ruth have managed to do.

"I just started to read the first sequence and I found myself crying.

"It was like running into someone who was a major part of your life and you're just so happy about it, it didn't matter what they were doing.

"It was just so poignant and I immediately was into the feeling of the whole thing."

Larry admitted filming will begin "not too long from now", and he thinks the reunion will be "extraordinary".