Gavin & Stacey - The Christmas Announcement - 9:00 pm Sunday, December 21 on BBC Three HD

Mathew Horne (Actor) .. Gavin

Joanna Page (Actor) .. Stacey

Born: March 23, 1978 in Swansea, Wales

Best Known For: Gavin & Stacey.

Early-life: Born Joanna Louise Page on March 23, 1978, in Swansea. She's an only child, the daughter of a mechanic father and bank worker mother. She claims she felt adored while growing up, but that may have caused problems later on, because being turned down after auditions came as a shock. She left home to move to London at 18 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). She suffered from homesickness initially, but a friendship with fellow student Maxine Peake helped her settle down. They remain good pals.

Career: Page's first film was 1999's Miss Julie, the same year she made her TV debut as Dora in an adaptation of David Copperfield. She went on to have a regular role in The Cazalets. Page appeared alongside Johnny Depp in From Hell, but it was starring as the girl who steals Martin Freeman's heart in Love Actually that made her a famous face, although she didn't become a household name until tackling one of the lead roles in much-loved sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Other TV work includes appearances in White Van Man, The Syndicate, Gates and the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who.

Quote: "I don't go out a lot. The other day I was in the middle of doing the house cleaning and there was a knock on the door and I opened it to some man who went: 'Oh good God, it's you. What are you doing here?'"

Trivia: Page has also appeared frequently on stage, done panto and featured in numerous adverts.

Steffan Rhodri (Actor) .. Dave

Alison Steadman (Actor) .. Pam

Born: August 26, 1946 in Liverpool

Best Known For: Abigail's Party and Gavin & Stacey.

Early-life: Alison was born on August 26, 1946, in Liverpool, where she was raised with two older sisters by her mother Marjorie and father George, who worked for an electronics firm. She wanted to be an actress from the age of nine and later trained at the East 15 acting school. Success did not come quickly, and she worked as a secretary for the Liverpool Probation Service before making her professional debut on stage in 1968 alongside Vanessa Redgrave in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Career: In 1973, she made her TV debut in Mike Leigh's Hard Labour. She has also worked with Leigh on TV movies Nuts in May and Abigail's Party, and the films Life Is Sweet (1990), Secrets & Lies (1996) and Topsy-Turvy (1999). She made her movie debut in Champions (1983) and her other film credits include A Private Function (1984), Clockwise (1986), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989), Shirley Valentine (1989), Wilt (1990), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) and Confetti (2006). She earned a new army of fans with her role as matriarch Pamela in hit BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Her other TV credits include The Singing Detective, Pride and Prejudice, Fat Friends, The Syndicate, Love & Marriage and Boomers.

Quote: "I didn't become an actress because I wanted to tell people what colour my knickers were. I wanted to entertain people."

Trivia: Steadman won an Olivier Award in 1993 for her role in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.

Larry Lamb (Actor) .. Mick

Born: October 10, 1947 in London

Best Known For: Playing Archie in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born in London in 1943, Lamb joined the oil industry, which resulted in him working in Libya and Canada, where he attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This developed his amateur interest in acting into a professional level, performing at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1975-1976. He returned to the UK, and became a regular cast member, along with Kate O'Mara, in the BBC's North Sea ferry based soap Triangle (1981-83), in which he played Matt Taylor, the ship's Chief Engineer.

Career: Other credits include The New Avengers, The Professionals, Fox, Minder, Get Back, Lovejoy, Get Back, A Touch of Frost, Our Friends in the North, Taggart, Casualty, Kavanagh QC, Spooks, Midsomer Murders and The Bill. Lamb has also appeared in various films including the 1980s hit Buster also starring Phil Collins and Julie Walters, as Peter Chase in Essex Boys and in 1983, had a small speaking role in the blockbuster Superman III. Most recently, Lamb has been seen in Gavin & Stacey playing Gavin's father, Michael Shipman. In 2008, he began playing the part of twisted, manipulative Archie Mitchell in Eastenders.

Quote: "Archie is two characters rolled into one - he is Mr Nice and Mr Nasty!"

Trivia: He is the father of BBC 6 Music disc jockey, Celebrity Scissorhands and Big Brother's Little Brother presenter George Lamb.

Ruth Jones (Actor) .. Nessa

Born: September 22, 1966 in Bridgend, Wales

Best Known For: Gavin and Stacey.

Early-life: Ruth Alexandra Elizabeth Jones was born on September 22, 1966, in Bridgend, Wales. She has two older brothers and a younger sister; her mother was a child psychiatrist, her father a legal executive at British Steel in Port Talbot. Ruth attended the same school as future comedy actor (and Gavin and Stacey co-star) Rob Brydon. She graduated from Warwick University with a drama degree and also studied at Cardiff's Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Career: Jones struggled to make a living as an actress and was thinking of retraining as a solicitor - until she landed a panto job. Brydon also persuaded her to join an improvisational group in Bath which included Julia Davis; they would later work together on Nighty Night and Gavin and Stacey. Roles in East is East, Saxondale and Little Britain followed, but it was Fat Friends that changed the course of her career. It was there that Jones met James Corden, with whom she would create Gavin and Stacey. Its success turned them both into major stars. Since then she's hosted her own chat shows and starred in Marple, The Great Outdoors and Hattie. She is also the writer and star of Sky1's Stella.

Quote: "At drama school I can remember thinking: 'I will never be Juliet. I'll always be the nurse'."

Trivia: Jones is married to TV producer David Peet. They own their own company, Tidy Productions, which makes Stella.

James Corden (Actor) .. Smithy

Born: August 22, 1978 in Hillingdon, London

Best Known For: Playing Smithy in Gavin & Stacey.

Early-life: Born James Kimberley Corden on August 22, 1978, in Hillingdon, London, to a social worker mother and an RAF musician-turned-bookseller father. He has two sisters. After being spotted in a school play, he attended stage school, and at 17 appeared in the West End production of Martin Guerre. James also featured in Shane Meadows' breakout feature Twenty Four Seven in 1997, and in 2000, starred alongside Ruth Jones and Alison Steadman in Kay Mellor's ITV comedy drama Fat Friends. He also enjoyed roles in TV offerings Boyz Unlimited and Teachers.

Career: Alan Bennett's internationally successful play and film The History Boys boosted his profile. He co-hosted Big Brother's Big Mouth in 2007, the same year he re-teamed with Fat Friends' Ruth Jones to pen and star in BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, which was a huge, Bafta-winning hit. Corden also worked with Gavin & Stacey's Mathew Horne on sketch show Horne & Corden and the film Lesbian Vampire Killers. In 2010, he fronted a series of comedy chat shows for ITV1 revolving around that year's World Cup. Since then he has hosted Sky1's sporting quiz A League of Their Own and appeared in Doctor Who, The Wrong Mans, The Three Musketeers, One Chance and Gulliver's Travels. He has also been the subject on Piers Morgan's Life Stories and hosted the Brits. He returned to the stage in 2011 in the critically acclaimed One Man, Two Guvnors.

Quote: "There's nothing nicer than getting a round of applause for turning up for work, It's amazing! You start work and people clap. Do you know what I mean? And then they stand up and clap at the end."

Trivia: In 2012, Corden won a Tony Award for his performance in the Broadway version of One Man, Two Guvnors.

Melanie Walters (Actor) .. Gwen

Margaret Walters (Actor) .. Doris

Rob Brydon (Actor) .. Bryn

Born: May 03, 1965 in Swansea

Best Known For: His chat show and Gavin & Stacey.

Early-life: Born Robert Brydon Jones in Swansea, South Wales, on May 3, 1965. His early years were spent in Baglan near Port Talbot before he and his family moved to Porthcawl. He attended two secondary schools, one alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, the other with Ruth Jones. Under the guidance of his drama teacher at the local comprehensive school, his interest in acting grew, leading to him attending The Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. During the second year of his course, he quit to work for BBC Wales and enjoyed six years of presenting work on local TV and radio stations.

Career: While still presenting, Brydon ventured into comedy, and made ends meet by providing voices for adverts and animations. A small role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels inspired him to make a short film of his comic characters; series of Marion & Geoff, A Small Summer Party and The Keith Barret Show followed. Other credits include Director's Commentary, Human Remains, Supernova, A Cock and Bull Story, Little Britain, Annually Retentive and Gavin & Stacey. He's also hosted his own BBC chat show and has chaired the comedy panel show Would I Lie to You? since 2009. In 2010, he starred alongside Steve Coogan in the partially improvised BBC Two sitcom The Trip and has since appeared in its follow-up.

Quote: "I was always very good with girls, I could talk to them no problem at all. But I could never close the deal. You need Dutch courage to do that, to kiss them."

Trivia: He released an autobiography, Small Man in a Book, in 2011.

Julia Davis (Actor) .. Dawn

Best Known For: Nighty Night.

Early-life: Born and raised in Bath, she was a natural performer and story teller. English and drama were her favourite subjects, so it came as no surprise she opted to study these at college. Unfortunately, she was forced to return home from her course in York after developing glandular fever. Ill for more than two years, she became introspective, but believes the experience has made her the person she is today.

Career: While working at a local supermarket, she joined a theatre group in Bath and formed a double act with friend Jane Roth. Later, they joined forces with Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones in an improvisation troupe, before securing a role in a Radio 4 comedy with Arabella Weir. Introduced to Father Ted creators Arthur Matthews and Graham Linehan, she was cast in the sketch show Big Train, closely followed by Jam, Human Remains and Marion and Geoff. After three years of writing, her dark comedy Nighty Night hit our screens in 2004. She has since appeared in Love Actually, Nathan Barley, Confetti, and Four Lions.

Quote: "If I claim I'm the opposite of my characters it'll sound awful, but I tend to write the sort of things I'd never say."

Trivia: In the last edition of The Office, she voiced the woman from a dating agency in conversation with David Brent.

Adrian Scarborough (Actor) .. Pete

Robert Wilfort (Actor) .. Jason

Edna Dore (Actor) .. Edna

Ted Dowd (Producer)

Christine Gernon (Director)

Gavin & Stacey: The Christmas Announcement

9:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Sunday, December 21 on BBC Three HD (107)

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The Christmas Announcement
Season 2, Episode 8

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