GAVIN and Stacey star Joanna Page has opened up about the behind-the-scenes chaos of filming the upcoming Christmas Special as she juggles motherhood with her busy TV schedule.
Joanna, 47, is best known for playing Stacey in the beloved sitcom.
Gavin and Stacey burst onto screens in 2007 and had a successful three-series run, including one Christmas special, before ending in 2010.
Fans were delighted when they were treated to another Christmas special in 2019, which revealed the titular couple, played by Mathew Horne and Joanna, had welcomed three children.
However, it ended on a major cliffhanger after Nessa’s (Ruth Jones) proposal to Smithy (James Corden) and fans have been clamouring for more ever since.
Happily, they don’t have long to wait now. It was confirmed back in May that the sitcom would return for one last Christmas Special later this year.
Matthew and Joanna have now reunited with creators James and Ruth to begin filming the special in Wales.
Speaking about how special it is to be back in Barry, Joanna told her Off the Telly co-host Natalie Cassidy: “It’s been so much fun! It’s mad though you know, we did the read-through, and that was mad – everybody all in the same room again – but then really moving. You just think, this is going to be the last time that we do this.”
The Love, Actually star got emotional as she confirmed this is the last ever episode of the sitcom.
“It will. We were like, we will never be in this situation now, all of us here like this together, ever again,” Joanna said.
She added that it feels completely different from filming the 2019 special.
“I always felt like it was going to be the end, but then there was always a window open still,” she admitted.
“The only time it really felt like it was completely the end was at the end of series three, and we were told ‘that is it’ and I remember crying a lot and I remember Ruth coming into the make-up truck and I couldn’t even look at her and I couldn’t speak because I was crying.
“It’s only ever felt really final then. So with all of the other ones, it’s kind of felt like the window was still open, but with this, it feels like it will never be like this again.
Joanna then opened up about rehearsals and getting ready to shoot the series as she admitted that balancing motherhood and her filming schedule is a bit “mad” as she gets very little time to herself.
Joanna is mum to four children, sons Kit and Noah, and daughters Eva and Boe, with husband James Thornton.
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On one occasion, the actress had to sit in a layby and learn her lines just to get some peace.
“Rehearsals have been fun and everyone’s so lovely,” she said.
“But now Boe has come along and I’ve got a fourth child learning lines is insane,” Joanna admitted.
She continued: “I finished rehearsals the other day, I drove home, and I parked up near the house, and I sat in there just to learn lines until 9 o’clock at night, until it got really dark and I thought I might be attacked, then I drove home.
“As soon as I get in it’s ‘mummy, mummy, mummy,’ and then they want their toys and they want to read to them and I was on my arse. I was exhausted.”
Filming is officially underway for the upcoming special which is set to hit screens on Christmas Day.
Temporary traffic have marked out the areas where Welsh residents can no longer drive on Trinity Street, where Stacey’s mum Gwen (Melanie Walters) and uncle Bryn (Rob Brydon) live, and Laburnam Way, home to Gavin’s parents, Mick (Larry Lamb) and Pam (Alison Steadman).
Ahead of their return to Wales both James and Rob opened up about Gavin and Stacey’s final episode and got visibly emotional.
James welled up during an appearance on Virgin Radio’s The Chris Evans Breakfast Show as he shared what it felt like to finish the script with Ruth.
He said: “Last night we were like ‘oh that’s it now. We’ve finished writing.’ We’ll never write anything that Pam says again.
“We’ll never write interior Gwen’s house.
“We’ll never come up with an interesting thing that Bryn has done.
“We just looked at each other and we were like ‘oh wow – isn’t that amazing?’”
Meanwhile, Rob admitted he was moved to tears when he saw the final script for the first time.
Gavin and Stacey is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. The upcoming special will premiere on Christmas Day.
