Gavin & Stacey Friends". Corden claims to have been inspired by the story of his own real life best friend Gavin, who met his wife over the phone at work, and arranged to meet. They presented it to the BBC as a one-off play, but the BBC instead asked for a full series. The roles of Gavin and Stacey were cast through an auditioning process, but were almost immediately given to Mathew Horne and Joanna Page on the strength of their chemistry together. The roles of Nessa and Smithy were written by Corden and Jones for themselves. Some roles were written with certain
Ian Jones (television executive) Ian Jones (television executive) Ian Jones (born 14 January 1959) is the chief executive of S4C. A television executive with experience in the UK and the USA, Jones held senior positions at National Geographic TV and A&E Networks before joining Welsh-language broadcaster S4C in October 2011. Jones was born in Morriston, Swansea in 1959 to Margaret Jones and Lyle Jones. Educated at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera, he studied economics at Aberystwyth University. Jones was a commissioning executive and was part of the launch team at S4C in 1982, remaining at the channel until 1985 when he joined ITV as a unit