Gavin & Stacey's Larry Lamb says he's retiring from major acting roles

He said: "You get so involved with these characters that they become your favourite at that time, they are the focus of your life, but to finish up in my 70s playing a character like Mick who is beloved by millions of people, you have to give the writers credit... at this stage in my career Mick is the closest to my heart."

He added: "If you have been through a life in entertainment and people don't all know you to suddenly where pretty much everybody knows you as a character...

"I find it's a reward, it's better to be known than unknown as far as I'm concerned. Particularly if you are known as a character that people really love... what a way to finish your working life."

RadioTimes.com has approached Lamb's reps for comment.

Of course, many last saw Lamb in the anticipated Gavin & Stacey final ever episode, which debuted last Christmas to rave reviews. As well as his iconic stint at Mick, Lamb is known for his EastEnders villainous role as Archie Mitchell and more recently starred in 5's The Feud alongside Robson Green and Jason Watkins.

Lamb has also starred in other 5 drama The Inheritance, Paramount Plus series Curfew and has had past roles in New Tricks, The Bill, and Love and Marriage.

Aside from his onscreen work, Lamb is also best known for a variety of roles on the stage, telling MailOnline that he would spend his years divided into half of it doing TV and the other half doing plays in the theatre.

Read more:

• Ncuti Gatwa reveals whether he'd return to Doctor Who – after 'physical, emotional, mental' toll of role
• The Couple Next Door season 2 writer reveals why he brought back creepy key character

For now, we know that Lamb is focusing on his literary career, having released his debut novel All Wrapped Up earlier this year. The book centred on assistant director character Killian Wilde, who is filming on a Caribbean island but has to navigate his way around an impossible actor, power struggles and a missing crew member.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com at the time of the book's release, Lamb said of his debut novel: "I think everyone's got a novel in them, and [this] one's been bubbling along inside of me for a long, long time.

"The more I worked with film crews, the more I thought 'these are the unheralded heroes of this game'. People said to me, 'Nobody ever writes about them and nobody ever talks about them,' but I work with them all the time."

He added: "This is a story about regular working people that just happened to work in an industry that fascinates everybody!"

As for whether we can anticipate any more books or small TV roles on the horizon, we'll just have to wait and see.

Gavin & Stacey is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and you can buy All Wrapped Up now on Amazon.

Check out more of our Comedy and Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.