Gavin and Stacey is back! Fans rejoice as the cast reunites for a new Christmas special
13 February 2024, 11:54
The wait is over for Gavin and Stacey fans, as the beloved sitcom is set to return for a new Christmas special after five years off the air.
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The show’s creators and stars, James Corden and Ruth Jones, have been secretly working on a new episode, which will see most of the original cast reprise their roles, and allow fans to see what's been occurin' since 2019.
The news was confirmed by Deadline, which reported that the new episode is currently in pre-production and filming will start this summer.
The cast will include Joanna Page as Gavin, Matthew Horne as Stacey, Alison Steadman as Pam, Larry Lamb as Mick, Rob Brydon as Bryn, and Julia Davis as Dawn.
The show, which follows the lives and loves of a couple from different parts of the UK, became a cult hit when it debuted on BBC Three in 2007. It ran for three seasons until 2010, and then returned for a Christmas special in 2019, which ended on a cliffhanger as Nessa (Jones) proposed to Smithy (Corden).
The 2019 special was a huge success, attracting more than 18 million viewers and becoming the most-watched show in a decade. It also sparked rumours that the show would come back for more episodes, as fans were eager to find out what happened next.
Nessa Proposes To Smithy | Gavin and Stacey | Christmas Special - Cliffhanger ! 😱 (2019) ©️ BBC
Corden and Jones have revealed that they had a hard time writing the script for the new episode, and almost gave up on it. They told the Daily Mail that they had finished a draft over FaceTime, but it was “absolutely awful” and they decided to scrap it.
However, they had a change of heart after a mundane conversation at dinner inspired them to write a perfect Gavin and Stacey scene. They said they were both moved to tears by the breakthrough, and felt that they had regained their spark.
"Within two or three hours, we'd worked up that exact pedestrian conversation into this perfect Gavin and Stacey scene," Jones recalled. "Then James started crying because it was a completely unexpected breakthrough and it was just perfect. I cried too. It was very emotional because somehow we'd got it back. We knew we could make it happen. And then – bang! – we were on a roll. Everything just worked and we had that spark back."
The new Gavin and Stacey Christmas special is expected to air on BBC One later this year, most likely on Christmas Day. Fans can expect more laughs, tears, and surprises from their favourite characters, as well as some new faces and twists.
