Ruth Jones looked worlds away from her Gavin And Stacey character as she filmed scenes for her new role in a Harlan Coben Netflix series in Liverpool on Tuesday.

The Welsh actress, 58, is swapping Barry Island for the north of England as she gears up to star in the thriller Run Away following the final ever episode of Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day.

She reprised her role as Nessa Jenkins for the emotional special but has now turned her attention to highly-anticipated upcoming limited series.

With more than 80 million books sold and everything that comes off his smoking-hot keyboard optioned for TV by Netflix, Harlan Coben is taking the world by storm.

And with Ruth joining the cast, the new twist-filled crime thriller is set to be another huge hit.

The actress cut a smart figure as she was spotted on set in a patterned, knitted sweater vest, layered on top of a dark green polo shirt.

Ruth Jones looked world’s away from her Gavin And Stacey character as she filmed scenes for her new role in a Harlan Coben Netflix series in Liverpool on Tuesday

The Welsh actress, 58, is swapping Barry Island for the north of England as she gears up to star in the thriller Run Away following the final ever episode of Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day

She teamed the look with flared blue jeans and brown brogue shoes, before throwing on a maroon waterproof jacket.

In one scene, the star had a white plastic disposable full-body suit on her lower half as she read something from a piece of paper. 

And it looks like Ruth’s character is set to be in the midst of the drama as she was seen filming on set with police tape and a police car.

She seemed to be in extremely high spirits as she flashed an excited smile and waved at passers-by watching the filming.

The star also made sure to get a quick hair and makeup touch-up in between takes as the team flocked around her. 

Also starring in the show are James Nesbitt, Minnie Driver, Alfred Enoch, Ellie de Lange and Lucian Msamati.

The eight-episode series, based on the bestselling book, follows Simon (played by James Nesbitt) as he searches for his daughter Paige (Ellie de Lange).

Ruth will star as private investigator Elena Ravenscroft who is looking for a missing young man.

Harlan told Netflix’s Tudum: ‘Run Away is about family – about what we will do to keep our family intact, what secrets we keep within our family, and what secrets we keep as a family.’

She seemed to be in extremely high spirits as she flashed an excited smile and waved at passers-by watching the filming

The actress cut a smart figure as she was spotted on set in a patterned, knitted sweater vest, layered on top of a dark green polo shirt

She teamed the look with flared blue jeans and brown brogue shoes, before throwing on a maroon waterproof jacket

The star also made sure to get a quick hair and makeup touch-up in between takes as the team flocked around her.

In one scene, the star had a white plastic disposable full-body suit on her lower half as she read something from a piece of paper 

And it looks like Ruth’s character is set to be in the midst of the drama as she was seen filming on set with police tape and a police car

Ruth will star as private investigator Elena Ravenscroft who is looking for a missing young man

He added: ‘Every time you walk past the house, there’s a whole universe that goes on behind that door and none of us have a clue what it is.’ 

Run Away comes following the success of Harlan’s thriller Fool Me Once in 2024, starring Michelle Keegan in a lead role.

The show became the most-watched series for the first half of the year, racking up an impressive 108 million views.

It saw the British actress, 37, spot her presumed dead husband on a baby camera as her niece and nephew struggled to get to the bottom of the murder of their mother.

The drama, which aired in January 2024 to positive reviews, also starred Joanna Lumley and Richard Armitage.

More recently, Harlan’s mystery series Missing You filled Fool Me Once’s big boots after it was well-received by viewers following its release at the end of December.

The five-part series followed Missing Persons detective Kat Donovan (Rosalind Eleazar) who was shocked to see her ex fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters) on a dating app 11 years after he disappeared from her life without a trace.

Josh’s reappearance forced her to dive back into the mystery surrounding her father’s (Lenny Henry) murder and led her to uncover long-buried secrets from her past.

Run Away’s James and Fool Me Once actor Richard joined lead actress Rosalind in the cast which also included Steve Pemberton and Jessica Plummer.

Run Away comes following the success of Harlan’s thriller series Fool Me Once in 2024, starring Michelle Keegan in a lead role

Harlan’s series Missing You filled Fool Me Once’s boots following its release in December (pictured: Rosalind Elezar as Kat Donovan, Ashley Walters as Josh Buchanan in the show)

Elsewhere, almost 20million viewers sat down to watch Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day, making it one of the BBC’s most-watched scripted dramas ever (Ruth pictured as Nessa)

Elsewhere, almost 20million viewers sat down to watch Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day, making it one of the BBC’s most-watched scripted dramas ever. 

Viewers had been waiting for five years to learn the fate of the BBC sitcom’s beloved characters and see if Smithy had accepted Nessa’s proposal.

The final episode was hailed ‘perfect’ by viewers, who were left in tears as the long-running show finally aired its last episode after 17 years.

The series, which debuted back in 2007 after being created by stars James Corden and Ruth , concluded with on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declaring their love for one another and tying the knot, but not without a few hiccups along the way.
Despite ruling out a return to the series, James has said he wants to work with Ruth again.

He said: ‘We don’t know if we have another idea in us but I can honestly say that if we didn’t attempt to try and even explore the idea of writing together then I’d be so disappointed.’