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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Bronte Howard & Emilia Bona

Ruth Jones explains the reason behind the names of Gavin and Stacey's children

Gavin and Stacey returned to our screens on Christmas Day for a one-off episode that brought viewers back to Barry Island.

A decade has passed since Gavin and Stacey tied the knot in the original show, and a lot has changed since then.

After struggling to have a baby (and Stacey making her way through 34 pregnancy tests just to be sure), the couple now have three children.

With Neil, the baby, practically ready to start high school, plenty of viewers were left feeling old after seeing how much the show had moved on.

Gavin and Stacey named their children Harri, Caitlin and Megan - and the show focused on their struggle to keep the magic alive in their marriage as they embraced their new roles as mum and dad.

After the show aired, Wales Online reported Ruth Jones' logic behind the Shipman family names.

She said: "It was a little nod to Pam’s love of the royal family, we wanted it to be transferred through Gavin into their name choices.

"So it is a little nod to the royal family."

Pam often calls Gavin 'her little prince' in the show, with Stacey becoming her 'princess of Wales' after the couple wed.

She even gets Mick involved in a bit of role play as Charles and Camilla in some hilarious scenes.

This might explain why Harri and Megan received names inspired by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

Along with the royal family, producers have also drawn inspiration from notorious serial killers for character names - Fred and Rose West, Peter Sutcliffe, and Harold Shipman.

Gavin's family's surname is Shipman while Stacey's is West and the character of Pete Sutcliffe was introduced in the 2008 Christmas special.

In the episode when Gavin and Stacey are planning their wedding, Doris comes out with the hilarious one-liner: "She lives for the day she can change her name from West, what with all the connotations and what have you, and what does she become? A Shipman."

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