Pam Shipman

Pam Shipman
Nicknames	Pam Mum Nana Pam Nana Pammy Nana Pammy (by Dawn, Smithy and Cath) Pamlar (by Smithy) Pamelar (by Smithy) Camilla (by Mick) Sweet cheeks (by Mick) My love (by Mick) Babe (by Mick) Love (by Mick)
Age	66 (born 1953)
Location	Billericay, Essex
Spouse	Mick Shipman (m. 1981)
Family	Gavin Shipman (son) Harri Shipman (grandson) Caitlin Shipman (granddaughter) Megan Shipman (granddaughter) Stacey West (daughter-in-law)
Appeared in	21 episodes
Portrayed by	Alison Steadman

Pamela Andrea "Pam" Shipman (née Gryglaszewska; b. 1953) is a fictional character in the television series Gavin & Stacey. She is portrayed by Alison Steadman.

Pam is 54 at the start of the series, who lives with her son, Gavin, and her husband, Mick, in Billericay, Essex. She married Mick in 1981, not long after the birth of their first and only child. She has a strong, maternal, caring relationship with Smithy, whom she treats as her second son. Her best friend is Dawn Sutcliffe. At the end of series 3, she and Mick are living alone, with Gavin having left home. They are expecting their first grandchild. By the 2019 Christmas Special, she is a grandmother, to Harri, Caitlin and Megan.

Characterisation

Pam is a typical Essex wife stereotype who doesn't have to work and who loves a good party and entertaining guests. She's glamorous and fun to be with, and still has a great relationship with Mick. However, she can get a little hysterical when her lively imagination starts to run wild. She also loves Camilla Parker Bowles.

She is also very caring of Smithy, Gavin's best friend, and treats him as if he were her own son. Pam wrongly feared that Stacey's family may be vegetarian so pretended to be vegetarian also, despite frequent cravings for meat. It is later revealed in the 2008 Christmas Special that all of Stacey's family (plus Nessa and possibly Dave) knew Pam was not vegetarian - with the exception of Gwen, who had bought Pam a vegetarian cookbook for Christmas. Pamela adores Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and acts out sexual fantasies of Charles and Camilla with Mick Shipman. Conversely, she hates Princess Diana.

Pam adores Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (referring to Princess Diana as a "hussy") and acts out sexual fantasies of Charles and Camilla with her husband, Mick. She dotes on Gavin, who she calls her "Little Prince". She is very welcoming of Stacey into the family - the first time Stacey meets her, she helps her with a pimple on her face, in a motherly fashion, which allows the two to bond. Although she is initially angry at Stacey when Gavin announces they're moving back to Barry, accusing Stacey of 'stealing' her son, she apologises the next morning for overreacting.

Pam and her husband, Mick.

Pam is prone to malapropisms, such as saying "ours is not to question while" (instead of "why") or "Barry's Island" instead of "Barry Island". She is often nervous and excitable and this leads her into awkward social situations, such as forcing Mick to go food shopping in response to an attack of paranoia about her guests' dietary requirements, and then falsely claiming to be newly vegetarian (a pretence she is forced to maintain, much to her frustration because she craves meat) in order to explain why he has arrived with several bags of vegetarian food. Her catchphrases include "Oh My Christ", "I panicked (name)" and "Mick! Michael!"

Quotes:

"Oh my Christ!".

"No, not drunk, drunk, but I have had some wines."

"Ooh, you and me are going to fall out today!"

"Smithy darlin', lets do some shots!"

"What you said just then was really boring. I switched off after banana!"

Trivia

• Pam is conscious of her weight and has tried multiple diets including Atkins, Pilates, and cabbage soup.