BBC Gavin and Stacey stars missed out on big paydays when joining sitcom as future 'confirmed'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Gavin and Stacey cast members missed out on big paydays when they agreed to star in the comedy. The first series of the beloved sitcom aired on BBC Three back in 2007.

But the tight budget meant that the stars didn't earn as much cash as they could by working on other shows, which meant that co-writers Ruth Jones and James Corden had to provide quality scripts.

James, who also stars in the series as Neil 'Smithy' Smith, said: "We felt if we wrote parts that were good enough, we might be able to entice them to do it because they're certainly not going to be doing it for the money." James explained that getting Alison Steadman on board as Pam Shipman would allow the programme to be made by convincing other actors that the show had credibility.

The 46-year-old star said: "When we wrote it we really set out to write Pam for Alison. If we could get Alison to do the show, then other actors would think it's legit.