It’s now less than a week until the world gets to see the brand new, and final episode of Gavin & Stacey on Christmas Day. It’s a show that has connected with viewers from the get go for its hilarious one-liners, larger than life, but also totally recognisable characters and sweet relationships.
Creators Ruth Jones and James Corden have been asked many-a-time why their show, which first aired in 2007, connects so much with millions of viewers across the UK and at a premiere event in London this week they possibly might have nailed the answer.
Admitting they were nervous about watching the new episode in front of an audience, the visibly emotional pair – who originated the idea while co-starring on Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends – were asked once more why the show was such a success with audiences and how it had changed and developed across almost two decades.
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Ruth Jones explained that at the start they ‘didn’t know what the show was going to be,’ and went on to say: “We didn’t know the characters, we sort of got to know them as the show went along. All of the episodes is a sense of love, love between friends, love between family members., conventional boy-meets-girl love stories and unconventional relationships. The lack of cynicism has also remained the same, basically all the characters in the show really love each other, call it boring, but they do.”
Adding that that show’s enduring success and the fact they had a Christmas special commissioned was a ‘dream come true’ for the pair, James Corden opened up on why the series initially ended in 2009/10 and why it was ‘hard’ to keep writing about the Wests and the Shipmans.
He said: “We felt like we’d told enough of the story. We were finding it hard to construct ways for the families to meet up. We knew the show was most furtive when both families meet I think when we ended the third series, we were definite. That was it.”
Behind the scenes: The fab four – Mathew Horne (Gavin), James Corden (Smithy), Nessa (Ruth Jones) and Joanna Page (Stacey), embrace each other on set -Credit:BBC/Toffee International Ltd./Tom Jackson
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The former talk show host, who plays fan favourite Smithy in the show, had a take on why Gavin & Stacey coming back was so hyped up. He said: “In the past weeks a lot of people had asked why do we think the show has garnered the attention it’s got now, and it’s a lesson in patience.
“We’re told now, particularly in TV, the way we consume stuff, we talk about content, we talk about consumers, we talk about speed. and we’ve decided that speed is the single most important thing. You get young people now watching things at twice the speed it was originally formatted.
“And here’s a show that ended 15 years ago, waited 10 years to tell another hour of the story, and another five to end it and actually maybe the lesson for all of us is that maybe time and patience and care might be the answer for a thing to have a longevity outside of things we consume on our phones.”
Those of us who have been patient for more episodes of Gavin & Stacey can watch The Finale on Wednesday, December 25, at 9pm on BBC One. The episode lasts for 90 minutes and you can read all you need to know, here.