She's put South Wales on the comedy map and created some of contemporary TV's best-loved characters, with Gavin And Stacey and Stella - not bad for a woman who almost opted for a law career.

Sophie Herdman finds out what's in store for Ruth Jones, and even manages to make her laugh

After years of ­plugging away as an actress before making her name with Gavin And Stacey - there's just no stopping Ruth Jones.

Jones teamed up with James Corden to write the comedy and struck gold.

The show that gave birth to phrases like 'What's occurring?' and 'Tidy', proved a pivotal point, rebranding Jones as one of the most talented comedy-drama writers on the scene and making her a household name.

The writer and actress went on to create Welsh comedy drama, Stella, which returns for a third series this month.

She's not the only female writer doing well on the box - Kay Mellor's The Syndicate, Sally Wainwright's The Last Tango In Halifax and Jessica Knappett's Drifters all prove that women are finally having their voices heard. Just don't ask Jones about it.

"I get a bit wary when people ask me about women writers," she says. "People think I'm going to come up with some great feminist statement and I'm not."

It was actually Mellor - the creative talent behind shows including Band Of Gold, Playing The Field, A Passionate Woman - who gave Jones her first writing break, back when she played Kelly in Fat Friends between 2000 and 2005 (Corden was also in the series, which is how the pair met).

The Welsh star showed Mellor a script she'd written.

"It must have been terrible," she says, looking back.

That wasn't the case, of course - Mellor offered Jones the chance to write an episode of Fat Friends and later, an episode of The Chase.

"I e-mailed her the other day actually," says Jones, 47. "I said: 'I just want you to know I'm really grateful to you for what you did'. With someone as successful as she is, she didn't have to give it away, but she did."

She might now be a big success in her own right, but she still has moments of jealousy.

"I was watching The Last Tango In Halifax the other day. I wish I'd written that," she says. "I don't think that often, but that's the area I enjoy writing - character-led comedy drama."

Jones is queen of characters, from Gavin And Stacey's Ness and Uncle Bryn to Stella's Alan Williams and Paula Kosh.

She's always been interested in people, she says.

"I know this might sound boring, but I watched a series called Cathedrals on BBC Four. There were some interviews that were fascinating," she says.

"The number of times I watch a documentary and go, 'People are amazing aren't they?' Because they are."

She's said in the past that the Welsh valleys are full of characters.

"If I have said that, I probably miscommunicated it," she says now. "But what I love, being Welsh myself, South Wales in particular, is that there's a sense of latching onto the melodrama of situations. The accent lends itself well to great big reactions."

No-one does big reactions better than Stella's eccentric relative, Auntie Brenda (Di Botcher).

Jones isn't sure she'd want to be friends with Brenda in real life: "She would drive you insane, but on the other hand, she's someone you'd want on your side."

In general, though, she and her husband David Peet, who she co-created Stella with, have a soft spot for their characters.

"I love them all," she says. "David and I often say it feels like they really exist"

And in a way - they do. The locals who live on the street where Stella's shot are very much a part of the show. In fact, when the series was nominated for the British Academy Cymru Awards recently (the Welsh Baftas - it picked up three gongs), Peet organised for the residents of the street to attend the evening.

"It's just as much their show really," says Jones.

Belinda - the woman who lives in Stella's house - is a nurse, and in the new series, so is Stella.

"We wanted to give Stella a bit of a fresh start. Now the kids are older, she's decided to go into nursing and she absolutely loves it."

Stella aside, Jones is now focusing on her and Peet's company, Tidy Productions, and is looking for a new show.

"Something that isn't a Ruth Jones project," she says. "It's been amazing to have Stella, but all of our energy has gone into it and we need to think about life after Stella."

Then again, the way Stella's going it could go on forever, couldn't it?

Jones laughs.

"But then it becomes a soap."