Gavin & Stacey favourite announces retirement from acting - 'the finale was my last job'

The Gavin & Stacey Christmas finale was watched by millions of fans on Christmas Day - but one for one of the stars it will be the last time they will be seen on screen. Larry Lamb today announced his plans to step away from acting for good.

The star, 77, said he was delighted to end his illustrious career by playing Mick Shipman in the BBC sitcom. Larry said he is happy to end on a high and let others perform the 'bigger roles.'

As well as starring as loveable patriarch Mick in the Ruth Jones and James Corden written sitcom, Larry was also known as the evil Archie Mitchell in EastEnders.

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However, Larry said out of all the roles he's held in his six decades long career, playing Gavin & Stacey's Mick will always be his favourite.

He said today: "You get so involved with these characters that they become your favourite at that time, they are the focus of your life, but to finish up in my 70s playing a character like Mick who is beloved by millions of people, you have to give the writers credit... at this stage in my career Mick is the closest to my heart."

He continued: 'I have had a very fortunate career; I've done so much that I am really proud of that maybe not so many people know. I have worked at the Royal Shakespeare company, the National Theatre, I have been in 12 West End shows, I have done all the principal fringe theatres in London, on Broadway, I have been very lucky and now I am quite happy to let someone else play the big roles.'

Mick said a lot of people don't realise the variety of his acting career. "If you have been through a life in entertainment and people don't all know you to suddenly where pretty much everybody knows you as a character...

'I find it's a reward, it's better to be known than unknown as far as I'm concerned. Particularly if you are known as a character that people really love... what a way to finish your working life," he told the Daily Mail.

Larry reunited with the Gavin & Stacey cast at the Bafta Awards in May this year where they were expected to take home the Memorable TV Moment award.

However, they were pipped by Chris McCausland on Strictly Come Dancing as the blind comedian performed a 'blackout dance' with the lights turned down.

Gavin & Stacey picked up a nomination for the moment Smithy asks Larry's character Mick ask for his opinion before deciding not to marry girlfriend Sonia.

Larry said Ruth Jones had asked him to speak on behalf of the actors and crew if the award had gone their way.

Speaking after fans finally got to see the long-awaited and much hyped finale, Larry said he was 'relieved' it was over.

He said: “In a funny, sad sort of way I’m relieved that it’s finished because in the end people were desperate to see the end of it, and then to know that the whole thing’s all been wrapped up, the story’s told, and it’s had its life.

“You know, that’s what I like about it – we can all sit back and say this is a completed story.”

The show’s Christmas 2024 finale episode saw Neil “Smithy” Smith, played by co-writer James Corden, finally decide to marry Vanessa “Nessa” Jenkins, played by fellow co-writer Ruth Jones, after leaving Sonia (Laura Aikman) at the altar.

Prior to the final episode, the show spanned for three series following the lives of Essex-born Gavin and his Welsh wife Stacey and their friends and family, after they first met on work phone calls.