Ruth Jones (I)

Ruth Jones proved herself a far less capable interviewer than actress when her lacklustre chat show debuted at the end of last year. Perhaps inviting gobby Gavin & Stacey collaborator James Corden onto the couch will spice up this seasonal special. Feisty singer Lulu, comedian Mickey Flanagan and Welsh rockers Manic Street Preachers will feature.

Radio Times review

The 36th best TV show of 2011 according to the Radio Times.

A superb example of BBC4's curious but rewarding obsession with mid-ranking, mid-20th Century entertainers, and the misery success brought them. Hattie Jacques, trapped by sexist typecasting and her supportive but inert husband John Le Mesurier, welcomes a sexy young lodger (Aidan Turner) into the family home and proceeds to have an affair with him. As Jacques, Ruth Jones captured the desperation of someone who knows, deep down, that she's destroying herself, but can't quite stop. Robert Bathurst was just as fine as Le Mesurier, who could see what Jacques was doing but couldn't quite rouse himself to prevent her. A sensational-on-paper story became sober, classy and sad.

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Ruth Jones: Gavin and Stacey special is being planned

Ruth Jones, who stunned fans earlier this week as she showed off her dramatic weight loss, has revealed that she and Gavin and Stacey co-creator James Corden are planning to write more of the hit TV series in the future.

Ruth Jones dips her toe into chat, something she's done before at Christmas and Easter. Let's hope it doesn't become more than a seasonal sideline: this show is 40 minutes of pleasing fluff, but I'd swap it for four minutes of her writing or acting.

First onto the cheery, retro sofa is Sarah Millican, who's a trusted guest because she's inoffensive without being bland. She gets away with discussing her attraction to gorillas while still seeming cuddly and safe. Animal-based innuendo becomes a theme thanks to Jonathan Ross, who's less cuddly but as always has a lot of wit behind the smut. Episodes star Stephen Mangan arrives last, offering a random but funny anecdote about an Israeli immigration official.

It all feels like an unfinished pilot, or a dream about a 1970s chat show with modern guests.

The third of Ruth Jones's seasonal chatshows offers up the unusual opportunity of seeing Jonathan Ross in the role of interviewee. Anyone hoping for a grilling on Sachsgate and extravagant pay packets is likely to be disappointed by Jones's puffball questions but Ross is an engaging guest and the patter between him, Green Wing's Stephen Mangan and stand-up Sarah Millican makes for pleasant, undemanding viewing.

Following on from the success of her Christmas Cracker and Easter Treat, the ebullient actress Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey) returns for another one-off chat show. It promises to be a jovial affair, with Jonathan Ross, Geordie comic Sarah Millican and the actor Stephen Mangan all joining her on the sofa, as well as music from an irrepressible Irish rockabilly star called Imelda May.

Ruth Jones's Summer Holiday

Haste ye Back!" - you'll see that written a lot at Edinburgh airport.

Corden and Jones reunited for Sky1 comedy Stella

Gavin & Stacey stars James Corden and Ruth Jones are being reunited in a new comedy set in Wales.