The BBCGavin and Stacey’s character Nessa is one of a fleet of famous voices who will be reproducing old versions of the shipping forecast on BBC Radio 4 when the weather report marks 100 years.
Barry Island’s finest will appear in New Year’s Day centenary celebrations alongside Dame Ellen MacArthur and The Archers’ Eddie Grundy.
Ruth Jones, who plays Stacey’s best mate on the show, said: “Nissa has had quite a colorful history and one of her jobs was on the high seas. Sailing forecasts were always very important and useful to her. “
The final of the BBC sitcom attracted an average of 12.3 million TV viewers – the biggest Christmas Day audience in more than a decade.
Jones recently told the BBC’s Colin Patterson that he and writing partner/co-star James Corden “felt very fortunate to have chosen to end it, rather than say, ‘Sorry, we don’t want any more'”.
She will reprise her role on a special day for Sailing Forecast – a Met Office broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles.
It will also feature Umbridge’s beloved villain Eddie Grundy (Trevor Harrison). Dame Ellen MacArthur, who broke the record for round-the-world sailing Read historical weather reports and reminisce.
Former Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh and actors Stephen Fry and Adrian Dunbar will also join.
Comedian Paul Sinha, poet Imtiaz Dharkar and writers Ian McMillan and Val McDermid will also perform alongside Damon Albarn.
Radio 4 controller Mohit Bakaya described the shipping forecast, which Albarn referred to in the blurb track This is a Low, as “one of our national treasures”.
He said: “As well as providing vital information for seafarers over the years, the sailing forecast is also a favorite ritual that captures the essence of Radio 4 for many of our listeners.
“It’s also a moment for those great, so-called heroes and heroines of the Radio 4 schedule – the continuity announcers.”
Shipping forecasts are produced by the Met Office Maritime and Coast Guard Agency.
It was first broadcast on 1 January 1924 as a weather bulletin called Weathershipping before transferring to the BBC a year later.
To mark its 100th anniversary, BBC presenter Paddy O’Connell will also present a documentary about the history of the ferry, while historian Gerry Broughton will explore how Britain evolved from its maritime past. How is it formed?