IN the 18 years since Gavin and Stacey made its first appearance on the BBC, Barry has regularly been highlighted on national media.
However, there can rarely have been a more emotional story than the one told by Richard E Grant when he made an early morning visit to the Island.
The actor has written with great sensitivity about losing his wife Joan to cancer, only eight months after her diagnosis. This week, however, he revealed how the comedy, written by Ruth Jones and James Corden had been a huge comfort during Joan’s final months.
Richard posted a video (below) with Ruth Jones and it was plain to see from his beaming smiles that it was a real thrill to be ‘on the island’. He told how he and Joan had watched the show on repeat and that its feelgood atmosphere had managed to keep up their spirits.
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In a video, Richard films himself with Ruth outside the home of Gavin & Stace’s character Stacey on Trinity Street in Barry, and on the promenade overlooking Barry Island’s beach.
It was on Tuesday, 24th June, that he and Ruth made an early morning visit. Naturally, they made a beeline for Marco’s café on the seafront. The early morning was essential because the two are filming in and around Cardiff in Bad Wolf’s star-studded addition to the Jane Austen universe, The Other Bennett Sister- for the BBC.
Richard and Ruth are the ‘oldies’ in the show, cast as Mr and Mrs Bennett. Also in the cast are Indira Varma (Game of Thrones and Torchwood) and Varada Sethu, who looked set to be Doctor Who’s next companion in the most recent series – until the surprise ending.
Richard spent some time talking to Marco Zeraschi, who told the Glamorgan Star: “He was a lovely man and was so interested in Barry, asking all sorts of questions about the town’s history.
“He was quite emotional and you could tell what the show had meant to him.”
The Other Bennett Sister, based on a novel by Janice Hadlow, will be 10 half-hour episodes and is scheduled to be broadcast next year.
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