Stephen Fretwell: 'Gavin and Stacey song was as good as a part-time job'

In 2007, burgeoning UK singer-songwriter Stephen Fretwell received a call from his friend and publisher Joe, asking him to approve the use of his track Run on a "small BBC Three comedy" by the similarly up-and-coming James Corden and Ruth Jones.

The heartfelt acoustic single from his debut album Magpie had, along with the even more popular Emily, already helped Fretwell to bag support slots with the likes of Elbow, Oasis and Travis.

And he went on to receive an Ivor Novello songwriting award nomination later that year for his follow-up LP, Man on the Roof.

"I was like, 'No, no, I don't wanna do that'," he recalls of the sitcom proposal. "And then we talked about something else.

"Then about two months later it came out and it had the song on it," he continues. "I saw Joe a few nights later and I said to him, 'Hey that song is on that show' and he said, 'Yeah, it's great isn't it?'

"I was like, 'I told you not to put that on that show'. And he was like, 'No, you said you wanted it on', and he was smirking at me.

"And... it's the best thing anyone's ever done for me."