WRITER and actor James Cordon has issued a fresh update about beloved BBC sitcom Gavin and Stacey.
The comedy is finally returning to screens after five years.
Gavin and Stacey burst onto screens in 2007 and had a successful three-series run, including one Christmas special, before ending in 2010.
Fans were delighted when they were treated to another Christmas special in 2019, which revealed the titular couple, played by Mathew Horne and Joanna Page, had welcomed three children.
However, it ended on a major cliffhanger and fans have been clamouring for more ever since.
Happily, they don’t have long to wait now. It was confirmed back in May that the sitcom would return for another Christmas special later this year.
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Since then, writers and stars of the show – James and Ruth Jones – have shared several behind-the-scenes updates about the upcoming special.
This week, James confirmed that he’s headed to Wales following the end of his West End play as filming is about to begin.
Alongside a video clip from his final night of the play, James revealed the exciting news on Instagram. He wrote: “Tonight was the last night of The Constituent at the Old Vic theatre. I can’t tell you what being in the play has meant to me, it’s been life changing. To share such an iconic stage with @annamaxwellmartin and @zacharyhart is something I will treasure forever.
“Thank you to everyone who came out to see it. It’s off to Barry Island now for the next 7 weeks! All my love, James.”
This exciting update comes just weeks after James shared another emotional update about the special.
James broke down in tears as he confronted the end of Gavin and Stacey
During an appearance on Virgin Radio’s The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, James got overwhelmed as he recalled the feeling of finishing the final Gavin and Stacey script with Ruth.
He fought back tears as he marked the end of an era.
Getting emotional, James said: “Last night we were like ‘oh that’s it now. We’ve finished writing.’ We’ll never write anything that Pam says again.
“We’ll never write interior Gwen’s house.
“We’ll never come up with an interesting thing that Bryn has done.
Gavin and Stacey best moments
Gavin and Stacey’s Best Moments
With the news that the show is set to make an exciting return to screens, let’s take a look at some of the comedy programme’s biggest and best moments…
- Smithy and Rudi’s American Boy rap – No one will ever forget when James Corden and Sheridan Smith rapped perfectly word for word Kanye West and Estelle hit American Boy as they walked across the car park on the phone to Gavin.
- Pam’s Vegetarian faux pas – Despite loving a cheeseburger, Pam found herself caught up in a web of unexpected lies when she claimed to be a Vegetarian. She is forced to keep up the secret throughout the entire show and uses hubby Mick to help her scoff meat. She is later rumbled when Stacey catches her in the act as she scoffs ham in the kitchen. Stacey says to her: “Is that ham, Pam!?… “I’ve seen you, Pam. A scotch egg here, a bit of bacon there, putting those regular sausages into the Linda McCartney box”.
- THAT fishing trip – It remains one of the biggest mysteries in Gavin and Stacey’s history as to just exactly what happened on the ill-fated fishing trip. Bryn appears to be hiding a secret as to an occurrence between him and his nephew Jason which has left relations fractures. Ness’ on-off boyfriend, Dave, is the only other person to know the whole truth. Bryn did appear to allude to him and Jason lying together naked to keep warm as he said to Dave: “We’re going to have this out, once and for all, man to man, you may know what happened, David, but you don’t know why it happened! It was freezing cold, it was! And when you are that cold…”
- Islands in the Stream – No one can ever forget the classic Karaoke performance of Islands in the Stream. Nessa and Bryn performed the track in front of all their nearest and dearest. It saw the whole pub burst into some line-dancing as they enjoyed a boozy night out.
- The Xmas special proposal – In 2019, fans were left overjoyed when the show made a comeback but it ended on the ultimate cliffhanger. Nessa asked Smithy if she would marry him as she finally laid bare her feelings for him. Fans were gutted as the show then cut straight to the credits as they never found out just how Smithy answered. Will it all be revealed in the brand-new episode?
“We just looked at each other and we were like ‘oh wow – isn’t that amazing?’”
This will be the very last episode of Gavin and Stacey
After years of speculation – and questions about whether Smithy accepts Nessa’s marriage proposal – the sitcom is returning for one last episode.
The finale is set to air this Christmas after James posted a picture of himself and Ruth on Instagram confirming that they had written the final script. Printed on the front of it were the words: “Gavin and Stacey: the finale.”
Alongside the photo, James wrote: “Some news… It’s official!!! We have finished writing the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey.”
See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James.”
For the finale, fans expect the main cast – Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Larry Lamb, and Alison Steadman -to be back on our screens alongside James and Ruth.
But as Oscar Hartland has ruled out his return to the sitcom, it’s unclear who will be playing Neil the baby.
Gabriel Mitell, Maddison Belle Platt and Martha Tregonning portrayed Gavin and Stacey’s kids Harri, Megan and Caitlin in the 2019 special, but will the rest of the younger generation be recast too?
Gavin and Stacey is available to stream in BBC iPlayer.