Alison Steadman at the BBC Comedy Festival

It became the biggest comedy on British TV, but Gavin and Stacey had a modest start on BBC Three – and certainly didn’t have the brand recognition it enjoys now.

But Alison Steadman – who played Pam Shipman – recalled being recognised soon after the series came out. Well, kind of.

She recalled: ‘I was with my partner in France to watch Wales play rugby. We were outside a pub in a garden just before going to see the game and next to us were about 12 Welsh supporters – all dressed as miners and having a pint. 

‘Suddenly, this chap came over looking very shy and very embarrassed and goes "Excuse me love, sorry to bother you, but my mates was wondering… was you the mother in Cagney and Lacey?"’

The line got a big laugh at the BBC Comedy Festival in her Liverpool hometown this week, where she was interviewed by Ruth Jones.

Steadman then explained: ‘This other guy jumped up in the air and said: ‘Gavin And Stacey, you pillock!".’

To which the humbled bloke who’d been sent over to ask had to sheepishly admit: ‘Sorry love, but I never seen it, see.’

Steadman also spoke of how the affection that came through on screen between the characters was real, and that the cast still have a WhatsApp group together. 

She also shared another anecdote about filming with Tom Jones that she didn’t include in her memoir, Out Of Character, ‘because I didn’t want people to misinterpret it’.

The pair appeared together in the 2012 TV film King Of The Teds, written by Jim Cartwright and starring the Welsh singer as an ageing teddy-boy.

She told of the scene when Jones – dressed in character – seduces her with a song. ‘Then  I see in the script my character has quite a passionate kiss – it’s Tom Jones and I’m getting paid for it!’ she recalled delightedly. 

For the raunchy scene she was lying on a bed, and after the second take the heartthrob ‘jumped off the bed and said, "I don’t know about you, Alison, but I’m feeling a bit horny!"’

Telling it first-hand Steadman made it obvious Jones was being playful, but still felt the need to stress the singer was ‘lovely and never behaved inappropriately’.

As the actress approaches her 80th birthday this summer, she revealed she intends to carry on working but ‘might want to slow down because I can’t do the 5am starts’ on set.

So she put out a call to radio producers for more work, because in that medium ‘you don’t have to learn the scripts.’

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Published: 16 May 2026