Alison Steadman hasn't been able to go outside without being asked about the 'Gavin & Stacey' Christmas special.

Alison Steadman

Alison Steadman

The 73-year-old actress plays the role of Pamela 'Pam' Shipman in the popular sitcom, and she's thrilled to be reprising her role for the one-off Christmas special.

She shared: "I've not been able to go out in the street without people stopping me since the word got out. It's wonderful to see people so excited.

"They've been calling out, 'Pamelaaaaa!' and, 'Oh, my Christ!' Somebody even sent me a card with a picture of Pamela on it, clutching her face, saying, 'Oh my Christ-mas!' Very funny."

'Gavin & Stacey' is based on a romance between a young couple, whose relationship brings together two unusual families - one from Essex and one from Wales.

And Alison has admitted to being initially shocked when she first arrived in the English county from Liverpool.

She told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "Essex gave me quite a shock, really, when I arrived.

"Just the tone of people's voices. They swore all the time. My parents didn't swear. My friends didn't. I didn't.

"Suddenly all these young students were saying f***ing this and f***ing that. It took me months to come to terms with that!"

Meanwhile, Alison remained tight-lipped about the plot of the Christmas special - but she feels long-time fans of the sitcom will be entertained by the one-off show.

She said: "I think it's really going to make people happy."


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