Ruth Joness Stella series inspired by south Wales valleys Ruth Joness character Stella is a born and bred valleys woman Continue reading the main story Related Stories Ruth Jones swaps Nessa for Stella Gavin & Stacey special still on Gavin and Stacey star on musical Everyday life in the south Wales valleys is the inspiration for Gavin and Stacey co-writer Ruth Joness new comedy series Stella, which starts on Friday. Comparisons with the hugely popular Barry Island-based comedy are therefore inevitable, but Jones has stressed there are few similarities with her new creation. For one thing, she says the new show is more of a drama than Gavin and Stacey - more gentle but still funny, she insists. And Stella the character, played by Jones is a very different creature to her fearsome Gavin and Stacey alter ego Nessa. She is a single mother of three in the valleys, or Pontyberry to be exact, who firmly puts her family before any other aspirations and is a bit under-confident, unlike Nessa. Despite these differences, both characters are obviously inspired by south Wales - albeit different parts - along with its characters and accents. I think the valleys accent is beautiful, said the Bridgend-born actor and writer. I think its poetic. I think the rhythms of the language are gorgeous to listen to and it was a joy to write it. And just the way people are there. I think all the people in Stella get up in the morning and want to have a good day. They dont actually want to have a rubbish day. There arent any evil, nasty characters there. Its lifes challenges. Its a gentle comedy drama. Bleached blonde hair It may be more gentle but Jones insists the script has had her laughing out loud in parts. There is even a surreal moment or two, with a horse called Vinny making an appearance in unlikely places. Stella is described as a comedy drama about lifes challenges My sister knows somebody whos a GP who went on a house visit somewhere in the valleys and there was a horse in the house, so its based on truth, said Jones. In episode two, you see a horse with his head sticking out of the window! The series came about after the director of programmes at Sky1, Stuart Murphy - who had commissioned Gavin and Stacey while at BBC Three - asked Jones what madness was going on inside her head. Jones said she and her husband David Peet, who run Cardiff-based Tidy Productions together, began thinking about a character whose life was going in a different direction to that originally expected. Initially I wanted to get away from it being Welsh because of Gavin and Stacey, so we did think about setting it in Bristol, she said.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 14:55:48 +0000
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