Ruth Jones on what's occurring now Gavin and Stacey's finished including new Netflix drama

Of all the thesps awarded Baftas at last Sunday's star-studded event, one stellar name stood out in the firmament. Dressed in royal blue satin, Gavin and Stacey co-creator and star Ruth Jones stole the show as she collected her deserved statuette for best female performance in a comedy.

And her acceptance speech was just as "tidy" - as Nessa would say.

"I'm not gonna lie, this is immense," said Ruth, channelling her character's blunt but hilarious manner in her broad Welsh voice. "I weren't expecting to win this - no way. I won a Bafta before. Of course, I have. In 1976. It was the Barry Arcade Fruity Technician Awards. And I was grateful for that - but this... this is cracking!"

Ruth, as herself, went on to express her heartfelt thanks to the entire Gavin and Stacey team before welling up and declaring her love for show co-creator and good friend James Corden, 46. The actress, 58, also alluded to them working together again, which in a way they are.

A jointly penned book, When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between: A Story of Love and Friendship, which tells the extraordinary story of how their little show became a full-on cultural phenomenon, will be published this October.

"I love working with James. I often say he's like my annoying younger brother and I'm like his very bossy older sister, but it just seems to work," smiles Ruth. "We have such a good laugh together and I hope that continues now Gavin and Stacey is finished."

But before that, she is going solo to talk about her new novel, By Your Side, published next Thursday. It is her fourth fiction release after Never Greener, Us Three and Love Untold.

And it goes to show the unstoppable force this award-winning actress and scriptwriter has become. So what's occurrin' with her new story?

"The main character is a 55-year-old woman called Linda Standish," reveals Ruth about her heroine. "She works for the Unclaimed Heirs Unit which tracks down next of kin of those who've died friendless and alone.

"Linda's on the cusp of retirement and she's taking on her last case - that of Welshman Levi Norman who spent the end of his life on the fictitious Scottish island of Storrich. But why did he end up there alone, apparently friendless with no family? As Linda solves the mystery, she finds out more about herself and her own life."

Ruth's initial inspiration for the story came from her fascination with the work of the real-life individuals whose job it is to investigate unclaimed inheritances.

She explains: "These people often attend funerals as the only mourners of those who have passed away with no next of kin. I thought there was something so sad yet compassionate about going to the funeral of a complete stranger just because everyone deserves a farewell. Then I wondered what it would be like to find out in your 30s that one of your parents was not biologically yours, and the impact of that.

"I was also inspired by the Thomas Hardy novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge, in which the principal character of Michael Henchard keeps a terrible secret from his daughter with huge repercussions. Finally, I wanted to set something in the Scottish Highlands because it's a place I know well and is absolutely stunning - so ancient and dramatic.

"I really missed Linda when I finished By Your Side. I became particularly fond of her.

"She's a similar age to me and we share some of the same pet hates. As a writer, it's important to bond with your characters. I suppose I feel if I'm not interested in them, then my readers won't be."

While Ruth loves the sociability of working with people when she's acting, and adores writing with James, she relishes the solitary nature of novel writing.

"It's something I can do at any time of the day or night and I don't even have to get out of bed to do it - although obviously, that's preferable!" she laughs. "I think I've taken to novel writing so well because you can work in your pyjamas if you want to. I write on my laptop but also make voice notes and written notes on my phone.

"I'd say I'm a have-laptop-will-travel type of writer. I love writing on trains. If I've got my laptop and nowhere to be in a hurry, a delayed train is an absolute gift!

"I do get writer's block massively at times, though. I write anywhere but there is one place that I write which has a magnifying mirror and tweezers, and I sometimes think I'll just check my eyebrows when I should be writing. Plucking away and I'll be in a whole world of eyebrow life.

"I do get easily distracted and it's a good idea to leave the phone somewhere else in the house. Otherwise you're on the clickbait looking at 'a woman found a spider coming out of her head, look what happens next!' And you can't help but click on it and then you're desperate to know what happened!"

Ruth previously revealed how writer's block almost derailed the 2019 Christmas special of Gavin and Stacey. The pair were swapping dialogue and script ideas long distance, as Corden was living in America at the time. Inspiration failed to strike, until they met up for dinner with their respective partners and the banter started flowing.

"Out of the blue we just got this idea and I think that was the heart of the Christmas special," said Ruth at the time.

The friends have also joked about holing themselves up in hotel rooms for hours to find their writing flow, sticking Post-It notes to the walls and eating chocolate buttons between naps. But speaking today, she says she has no writing rituals.

"I wish I was one of those people who had routine, and started and finished at a certain time," she admits. "But I will say in my defence that once I start, I don't stop."

For 26 years, Ruth's been married to TV and radio producer David Peet. They met while working at BBC Wales and she's a devoted step-mother to his three grown-up children.

"He's the one who has to read everything," she laughs. "I feel sorry for him as he has to hear me moaning. He's great in that regard and it's better for me to say it out loud rather than mull it over in my head."

Ruth's novels are much loved for their emotional warmth, gentle humour and light-at-the-end-of-every-tunnel feel.

"I find it very hard to write anything that's dark. There are plenty of better writers than me who can write about that," she admits. "I don't want to write about it as there's enough horribleness going on in the world.

"I want to give people something to uplift them. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I've written novels. I look at them and think, 'Who wrote these?'

"When I was first taken on by my publishers, we talked about how people would perceive me as a novelist and whether they would expect everything I wrote to be about the life and loves of Nessa, or, 'Hang on, she can write something else.'

"I mean, I had written my comedy-drama Stella for Sky. I think I thought people would have a particular expectation about me but then the first book went down well.

"One of the benefits of being an actress is that I can read the dialogue out loud and hear how it sounds, and that helps a lot. You kind of write something as a scene with dialogue but also recreate the environment that you're in."

Right now, Ruth is back wearing her actress hat. "I'm working on an adaptation of the Harlan Coben novel Run Away for Netflix, I'm having a great time," she says.

"I play a private investigator who used to be in the police. She's a great character and it's so different for me. Another genre I'd like to appear in is a good period drama. I'd have loved to be in The Crown. I think I'd say I enjoy writing and acting the same.

"I'm very fortunate to do all of them, and I get a variety of work, which is a great privilege. Writing-wise now, what I'd really like to do is write a film script."

Having already created and co-penned an iconic sitcom in addition to four novels, we'd say it's only a matter of time before she does.

By Your Side by Ruth Jones is published next Thursday (Transworld, £22)