Larry Lamb, who has starred in EastEnders and Gavin & Stacey, has been writing poems to put his thoughts on death into words after slowing down from acting. The 78-year-old took a 40-year-old break from his love of poetry, but has been candid in a new interview about his mortality through the creative medium. He told the Daily Mail: “I'm writing about all different things, about getting to be an old man and facing the fact that death is not so far away anymore, it's getting closer all the time.

“It helps me to be realistic about mortality and having said goodbye to immortality. I've got two jobs this year, so it's not like I'm stopping acting, I'm just really enjoying being a semi-retired actor who's writing poetry. The stuff that I've written comes right from my soul. There's no need to be trying to be anybody else.”

Larry, who has spent half a century being an actor, added: “ I've had the most extraordinary life, so there are highlights in every corner of my life.

“Then all of a sudden, right when I'm pushing the wrong side of the wrong side of 70, if you want to look at it that way, I get this amazing burst of good fortune with Gavin & Stacey erupting into people's lives.”

The 90-minute finale of Gavin & Stacey aired on Christmas Day in 2024, when Larry returned to the role of Mick Shipman.

It was the first time in five years that a special for the beloved BBC series had dropped.

Despite the festive specials being hailed by viewers, Larry said the chances of a spin-off series are slim.

Larry, who played Nick for 17 years on the drama, told the BBC last year: "At the time, we all thought it probably won't be the end, I'm sure we will be doing it again, but gradually what's happened over the months, what I've realised is that was the end."

He described the Gavin & Stacey finale as a “masterpiece”, and almost 20 million BBC viewers watched it.