Gavin and Stacey star recalls life-changing advice that led to role

Larry Lamb, the star of Gavin & Stacey, has revealed that his initial audition for the role of Mick Shipman was far from successful.

The actor admitted that director Christine Gernon harboured doubts, meaning the popular BBC series could have taken a very different turn.

Despite the shaky start, Lamb, 78, was recalled for a second audition.

It was then that advice from his then-partner, actress Clare Burt, proved instrumental.

Channeling her guidance, Lamb managed to impress Gernon, ultimately securing the part of Mick – father to Mathew Horne’s Gavin and husband to Alison Steadman’s Pam – in what has become one of the nation’s most cherished sitcoms.

“I did it and she said, ‘why are you doing that? Why are you acting that character?’,” Lamb said of Burt.

“This character’s you, just be you, you have gone in there and you have lost the job basically because you are pretending to be somebody who is not you.

“She said they are a really happy, upper-working class family, very representative of working Britain.

“They have a great life together, they absolutely love each other, and they have a lot of great sex – just be that person.

“So I went in, and I was that person and I got the gig because that’s what he’s like, he is me and I’m him.”

Lamb was speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival at an event alongside his son George to promote his debut novel, All Wrapped Up.

He said for his second Gavin And Stacey audition, he recorded scenes with Steadman.

“They were looking for the chemistry between the two of us that was going to have to work,” he said.

“All of a sudden I was in this thing which has become what it is now. It literally changed my life and changed all their lives.”

Lamb said that after the first series of Gavin And Stacey, he had not yet been given a contract for a second series and was offered the role of villain Archie Mitchell in EastEnders.

“They got to the point where Gavin And Stacey was going on, and that caused all sorts of hoo-ha because they had to do what they never do, and I could do both,” Lamb said.

“The boss of the BBC, her name was Jay Hunt, she knew they had a bit of gold in Gavin And Stacey so as far as she was concerned EastEnders will cope.

“I was really fortunate because there was a time years before, if that had happened, you would have to make a choice, one or the other.”

Gavin And Stacey spanned three series between 2007 and 2010, following the lives of Essex-born Gavin and his Welsh wife Stacey and their friends and family.

It then returned for a Christmas special in 2019 and a finale last Christmas.

The final episode saw Neil “Smithy” Smith, played by co-writer James Corden, finally decide to marry Vanessa “Nessa” Jenkins, played by fellow co-writer Ruth Jones, after leaving Sonia (Laura Aikman) at the altar.

One of Lamb’s scenes in the last episode, where Smithy asks for his opinion before deciding not to marry Sonia, was nominated for the 2025 Bafta memorable moment award.