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The widower and divorcee - Ruth Jones and Steve Speirs' new comedy

Danielle HerbertBBC Wales
ITV Cymru Wales / BBC Cymru Wales Jones and Speirs in an old navy vintage car laughing with each other. Jones, on the right, is in the passenger seat and is laughing whilst looking at Speirs. She wears a cream jumper and has brown hair. Speirs, is on the left, and wears a light green t-shirt and is looking down whilst laughing.ITV Cymru Wales / BBC Cymru Wales
Ruth Jones said she "can't wait" to work with Steve Speirs again on the new comedy

Ruth Jones and Steve Speirs are set to team up once again in a comedy about the challenges of relationships in middle age.

The pair wrote and starred in Stella - about life in a fictional valleys town, which ran between 2012 and 2017.

Jones is perhaps best-known for her role as Nessa in Gavin & Stacey, while Speirs was behind The Tuckers, which focused on a south Wales family, and aired between 2018 and 2022.

Their latest comedy project together is about an unlikely friendship between two people who meet at a knee trauma clinic.

Retired teacher Clive is 60 and widowed, and environmental officer Shelley-Ann is 55 and going through a bitter divorce.

"Steve and I are old friends and working with him is always a thrill. Can't wait," said Jones.

Speirs added: "I've worked with Ruth for over 30 years and am really looking forward to doing it again."

Their most recent programmes together came last year when they showed each other around their home towns, visiting the places that helped shape them.

Speirs relived his youth in From Merthyr With Love while Jones showed him where she grew up in From Porthcawl With Love.

Actors Ruth Jones and Steve Speris stood near a coastline. There are rocks leading the ocean. Ruth is wearing a blue top and Steve has a short sleeved blue shirt on.
Ruth Jones and Steve Speirs have worked on a number of projects together

The two have been familiar faces on our screens for decades - with Speirs, 61, appearing in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Pirates of the Caribbean, and TV shows including Mrs Brown's Boys, Inside No.9, Death Valley and Benidorm.

Jones recently portrayed Mrs Bennet in another comedy series, The Other Bennet Sister, which was inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

The programme included some scenes filmed in Wales which prompted Jones to give the cast a tour of Barry Island.

Their latest, as yet untitled, comedy has been commissioned by BBC Wales and BBC Comedy.

It is described as a "tender comedy" centred on an "unlikely friendship" and the "challenges and rewards" of relationships for people in their 50s and 60s.

"We were genuinely weak at the knees when this script first landed in our inboxes," said BBC Director of Comedy Jon Petrie.

"It's a rare thing to read something that feels so instantly special, and we cannot wait to see it come to life."

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