Gavin & Stacey stars pay tribute to Doris ahead of final episode

Ruth Jones and Joanna Page have paid a touching tribute to Gavin & Stacey actress Margaret John who played cheeky neighbour Doris on the hit BBC sitcom.

“Working with Maggie John has got to be one of the highlights of Gavin & Stacey,” said Joanna Page in an interview with Alex Jones for the new BBC Sounds special, Barry Island Discs.

“I just love how her character got bigger and worse and saucier and sexier as the series went on.”

John died in 2011, aged 84, with the character Doris leaving her house, next door to Gwen’s on Trinity Street in Barry, to Gavin & Stacey in her will.

“I do remember when we were casting Gavin & Stacey and we had this character of Doris, the next-door neighbour who was a little bit rude,” said series co-creator, Ruth Jones.

“Chris Gernon, our director, said ‘I know exactly the actress to play that part – it’s Maggie John’.”

Doris was known for her frankness, as well as the hilarious reason she refused to make a salad for Neil the Baby’s christening.

“From, I think, the first series, I always remember filming it because it was my first scene as well,” said Page.

“Getting off the bus, walking across the road and going ‘Alright Dor?’ and then she gives me advice on what I should be like when I travel up to London to see Gavin, and she gives me a little bit of saucy advice.

“From that moment I just thought ‘Oh my god, this woman is just so hilarious and lovely, and brilliant’.”

One moment that stood out for Page was Doris appearing on drums at Neil the Baby’s christening as Uncle Bryn, played by Rob Brydon, sang the classic, So Strong.

“He was quite nervous when he was doing it, Rob, because he wanted to do it well. Oh my gosh, he does it so incredibly well,” she said.

“I remember sitting in the pews and laughing all the way through and just desperately trying to keep it together.

“Because you had Uncle Bryn going for it with a song that you never ever really hear at a christening, and then you had Maggie, the wonderful Margaret John who was on the drums, and we loved Maggie so much… but she was very nervous and she couldn’t get the timing.”

It turns out, the hilariously-timed drum hits weren’t intentional.

Producer Ted Dowd was forced to lie on the floor behind the pews and raise a biro every time John was supposed to hit the drum.

“She would wait like a second and then go ‘boom’ so it was always unintentionally late with the timing. It was absolutely hilarious,” Page added.

“One of the best days filming, ever.”

The final episode of Gavin and Stacey will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One on 25 December at 20:00 GMT