Characters / Gavin & Stacey

The Character Sheet for Gavin & Stacey.

---

Gavin

Gavin Shipman

Played by: Matthew Horne

• Only Sane Man: Compared to his and Stacey's wacky families.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Smithy.
• Like Father, Like Son: Both he and Mick are the Only Sane Man of their respective units.
• Nice Guy: The vast majority of the time.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Towards the end of series two, where he becomes increasingly dismissive of Stacey's family and feelings. He gets better.

Stacey

Stacey Shipman (née West)

Played by: Joanna Page

• Covert Pervert: She acts sweet and innocent, but she's very open about how often she masturbates, much to the shock of Gavin, Smithy and Dan. She also doesn't think twice about showing her knickers to Smithy when he's lingerie shopping for his girlfriend.
• Disposable Fiancé: Has been engaged five times. But only in love once, with Gavin.
• Dumb Blonde: Has shades of this.
• Genki Girl
• Law of Inverse Fertility: She really wants to get pregnant with Gavin but struggles immensely to do so, while Nessa accidentally gets pregnant after sleeping with Smithy once.
• Ms. Fanservice: She gets a number of Shower Scenes and often wears outfits that show off her legs.
• Womanchild: She tends to be quite immature at times and whines constantly about being homesick when she temporarily moves to Essex with Gavin, but then gets upset when he's equally homesick living in Barry.

Smithy

Neil "Smithy" Smith

Played by: James Corden

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Nessa, since they do not like each other at all to start with, but it doesn't stop them from having sex occasionally and even begin to bond over food and the baby.
• Berserk Button: People asking him to share his food.
• Big Eater: His takeaway orders usually involve multiple dishes and are generally sizeable enough to feed an entire family at once.
• Doting Parent: No matter how awkward his relationship with Nessa might be, he's consistently a very affectionate father to Neil (the baby).
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Smithy is obnoxious, childish, self-centred, moody and ignorant...but he's also a very loyal friend and ends up being a very caring father to Neil, who he more-than-amicably co-parents with Nessa.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Gavin.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is Neil, but everyone calls him Smithy. In fact, we don't even learn his first name until the last episode of series two. Pam even lampshades this by telling him she thought his real name was Colin.

Nessa

Vanessa Shanessa "Nessa" Jenkins

Played by: Ruth Jones

• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Smithy - they can't stand each other initially, but they start to grow closer over the course of the series, especially after Nessa gets pregnant and they bond over food.
• Bouncer: Had this job as part of her Mysterious Past.
• Deadpan Snarker: Heavy emphasis on deadpan. Even while telling the most ridiculous story, she's able to do it with a serious tone.
• Hidden Depths: So many, it becomes a running joke.
• Iconic Item: No matter what else she wears, Nessa never takes off her knee-high leather boots. Even to the beach. Even at her own wedding!
• Marriage of Convenience: Narrowly averted, but when Smithy shows up at her wedding to Dave, he points out that Nessa doesn't really seem to love David as she just wants a stable father figure for Neil and tells her not to go through with the wedding if that's the case, since Smithy will always be there for his son. Even Dave agrees and says he knows Nessa doesn't really love him, but they part on amicable terms.
• Multiple-Choice Past: She's apparently been one of the original lineup for All Saints, played with Jools Holland, and had an affair with John Prescott. That is, if she's to be believed.
• Repetitive Name: Vanessa Shanessa nicknamed Nessa.
• Serious Business: She takes bowling very seriously.
• Shipper on Deck: For Gavin and Stacey. She even makes a special point of telling Stacey (while she's in labour, no less) that Gavin is a great bloke, if a bit short, and Stacey would be a fool to let him go.
• Vague Age:
  Gavin: How old is she, by the way?
  Stacey: I don't really know. No-one does. I don't think Ness is 100 per cent.
• Verbal Tic: "Crackin'."
  • "Tidy", as well.
  • "OH!!"
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Stacey admits she hasn't been taking her birth control for a year without discussing it with Gavin, Nessa comments on this being pretty devious behaviour and says Gavin is right to be angry with her about it.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: After seeing Smithy's girlfriend mistreating him and Smithy trying to change who he is for her, Nessa tells him that he's fine the way he is. And then proposes to him.

Mick

Michael "Mick" Shipman

Played by: Larry Lamb

• Deadpan Snarker: Responds to most of Pam's melodramas with dry wit.
• Happily Married: In contrast to Pete and Dawn, he has a loving relationship with his wife (even if he gets exasperated at her histrionics occasionally).
• Only Sane Man: Acts as this for Pam and for Smithy. Especially after Gavin has moved to Wales.
• Like Father, Like Son: He and Gavin are very alike.
• Silver Fox: He gets quite a few comments from younger women who seem into him - even Vanessa flirted with him quite a bit in early episodes.
• Supreme Chef: Both his leg of lamb and his Christmas turkey are revered by his extended family.

Pam

Pamela Andrea "Pam" Shipman

Played by: Alison Steadman

• Delusions of Eloquence: She butchers common expressions or misuses words when trying to appear more articulate than she actually is.
  Pam: Ours is not to question while.
• Department of Redundancy Department: Occasionally has her moments: "Your only son has emigrated abroad to another country..."
• Dumb Blonde: She's considered very attractive for her age, but she's pretty dim and prone to drastically misunderstanding things.
• Embarrassing Nickname: Calls her son Gavin "my little prince."
• Happily Married: With Mick, as opposed to Dawn and Pete's unhealthy Slap-Slap-Kiss, she and her husband are still very much in love.
• My Beloved Smother: Extremely protective of her "little prince", often to the extent of being controlling or meddling. She's a well-meaning example of the trope, though.
• Supreme Chef: She's always shown feeding everyone whenever they come around.

Bryn

Brynfor "Bryn" West

Played by: Rob Brydon

• Ambiguously Gay: Bryn certainly shows a lot more interest in men than women, but it's never confirmed as he's entirely chaste and implied to be a virgin. Given that he's unfazed by other people's homosexuality, it seems not so much that he's in denial as that the thought he is gay has just somehow never occurred to him. Rob Brydon has stated that he thinks that Bryn is gay.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: A couple of pints has him weeping and retching on the kerb outside the club.
• Catchphrase: "I won't lie to you."
• Easily Impressed: He takes delight in the most mundane of things.
• Entendre Failure:
  Bryn: It's not fallen off the back of a lorry, Mick! It's been stolen!
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: He often cheerfully recounts quite shocking things his brother Trevor did to him as a child.
• Nervous Wreck: A mild example, but all sorts of scenarios get Bryn into this state: fairground rides, organising a surprise party, getting a little too drunk in Cardiff, any mention of the infamous fishing trip...
• Nice Guy: The sunniest, most cheerful person in the whole show and a constant fountain of support to his family.

Gwen

Gwen West

Played by: Melanie Walters

• Beware the Nice Ones: Probably the sweetest person on the show, but she won't hesitate to snap if Pam takes her anti-Welsh sentiment a bit too far...or if Jean shows up to her party.
• Covert Pervert: Like Stacey, she seems sweet but apparently has quite a kinky side. During Gavin and Stacey's wedding, she jumps into a conversation between Pam and Dawn about the latter's rocky marriage and suggests they try roleplaying, saying it did wonders for her relationship with Stacey's dad.
• Extreme Doormat: Has shades of this, particularly during the final episode, where she offers no response to Nessa's constant unnecessary rudeness towards her.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Doris, who comes over to the house regularly and seems to see Gwen as a surrogate daughter.
• Parental Substitute: To Nessa, who tells Gwen on her wedding day she considers her a mother figure.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Does anybody want an omelette? Slips into One Note Chef since this is the only thing she seems able to cook.

Dawn

Dawn Sutcliffe

Played by: Julia Davis

• Awful Wedded Life: She and her husband Pete are at each other's throats.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Pete.
• Trophy Wife: She is quite a bit more attractive than her husband.

Pete

Peter "Pete" Sutcliffe

Played by: Adrian Scarborough

• Awful Wedded Life: Pete and his wife Dawn are constantly at each other's throats.
• Exiled to the Couch: It's mentioned that Pete often sleeps in the shed when he and Dawn are fighting.
• Impossibly Tacky Clothes: The ridiculously flashy ring Pete buys for the vow renewal ceremony.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: With Dawn.
• Series Continuity Error: He is mentioned to work as a chartered surveyor iin season 1 and a butcher in series 2.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While not exactly ugly, he is balding and shorter and stockier than his comparatively glamorous wife.
• Unfortunate Name: Pete shares both his first and last name with the Yorkshire Ripper, a notorious British serial killer.

---