At last the wait is over and the second series of the hilarious ‘Gavin and Stacey’ returns later this month. The award winning BBC comedy, which charted the fortunes of an Essex boy and a Barry girl from meeting to marriage, was a huge hit when it was shown last year.
The series features a stellar cast including Matthew Horne and Joanna Page as the eponymous couple along with Alison Steadman, Larry Lamb and Rob Brydon. Arts Hub caught up with Stacey’s ‘Mam’, Gwen, AKA Melanie Walters to find out about life away from Barry (the seaside town, not the fella).
Melanie Walters, plays Gwen, the very Welsh ‘mam’ in a show that can list two British Comedy Awards along with a South Bank accolade.
Written by Ruth Jones, who was last seen doling out advice to the only gay in the village, and James ‘History Boys’ Corden, it has proved a hit on both sides of the Severn Bridge.
I caught up with Melanie as she had just returned to her home in Mumbles, a little west of the show’s setting, after a second stint filming in Liverpool for Channel 4’s teen soap, ‘Hollyoaks’. She plays another mum, this time to Elliot Bevan and it is yet another role in a long career that takes in The Bill, Holby City and Casualty along with the heart warming ‘ We Are Seven’.
But Melanie admits she is very proud of Gavin and Stacey. “Britain hasn’t been ready for Welsh humour but this time it’s broken through. The cast is fantastic and we all gelled well so yes, it’s a dream job.”
Melanie plays the wide-eyed Welsh widow, Gwen, whose horizons were considerably widened with a single trip to Essex to meet her in-laws in the first series. From her terraced house in Barry she has looked after Stacey along with her gay hairdresser son, Jason ever since her husband Trevor passed away three years ago. Very much a homebody she will rustle up an omelette as soon as look at you. She is not alone thanks to Bryn, her dead husband’s brother who is fiercely protective of his girls. While Gwen may appear a timid mouse there have been occasional flashes of a more daring side to this middle-aged Mam.
While Melanie has to commute to Liverpool for Hollyoaks, it was only a short trip up to Barry for filming on Gavin and Stacey. Melanie said, “We filmed everything in and around Barry – even the scenes which were set in Essex! Gwen’s terrace house is in the centre of the town and the big Essex house is in Dinas Powys.”
But despite a hit comedy under belt, Melanie is not one to rest on her laurels. Like most jobbing actors, she has developed a second career which has flourished over the years. As a trained Pilates instructor she stages classes around Swansea under the banner of Practical Pilates.
Melanie said, “I started learning Pilates when I lived in London and when I moved back to Mumbles ten years ago it was hard to find an instructor. So I decided to train at the Pilates Institute in London.”
Melanie’s second career was useful when she put acting on the back burner for a few years while she had her family, but she admits this is not a mere second string to a bow. “I am obsessed with it. It’s all about rebalancing the body and I can see how it really helps people with bad backs. I see people in the work place as well as with the over 60s.”
Melanie’s skill in balancing is evident as she runs her business alongside offers for acting work, which show no sign in falling off. With an open door for her Hollyoaks character and at least a Christmas special in the offing for Gavin and Stacey, Melanie will be on our screens for quite some time this year.
You can see Melanie in action when the second series of Gavin and Stacey returns to BBC3 on Sunday 16th March at 9pm. And if that is just not enough, then take the M4 to Swansea and find your inner core.
