Ruth Jones and James Corden were visibly moved as they discussed reviving their beloved series for one last epic hurrah.
At the BBC Christmas special's launch, the creators of Gavin and Stacey shared how they were "particularly nervous" about showing audiences the final chapter of a journey that spanned 17 years.
However, their anxieties were soon eased following the warm reaction from fans that the extended holiday episode gained according to reports in the Mirror.
When questioned about the enduring popularity of the show, which has enjoyed three series and three Christmas specials since 2007, James thought it might be down to "a lesson in patience". He delved into the issue stating: "Particularly in TV, we talk about content and consumers and we talk about speed and we've decided that speed is the single most important thing in everything that you can do."
The star observed: "You get young people now watching things at twice the speed that it was ever meant to be formatted at - but here's a show that ended 15 years ago and we waited ten years to tell another hour of story and waited five more years to end it."
He concluded that, "Maybe the lesson for all of us, for people that write about television, for people that talk about television, for people that write television, is actually time and patience and care might be the answer for things to have a longevity outside of what we consume on our phones."
Ruth, 58, explained her thoughts on the lasting appeal of the programme. "I don't think we knew really what the show was when we wrote the very first episode," she confessed.
"We knew where we were going in terms of the narrative, that we would end episode six with a wedding, but we got to know the characters as we went along really."
Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
She added, "And I think what has remained throughout all of the episodes is this sense of love. Love between friends, love between family members, conventional boy meets girl love stories and unconventional relationships. So that's remained the same and the lack of cynicism has remained the same. All the characters in the show really do love each other."
The pair, who had been uncertain about returning to the show since the 2019 Christmas special, finally decided to discuss a comeback during a FaceTime call in August 2023, despite previous hesitations. "We said let's get together for a week in September and if there's nothing there, if the characters don't show us what the story is, it doesn't matter, we haven't told anybody," James explained. "We haven't told the cast, we haven't spoken to the BBC."
It wasn't until they scripted 70 pages of the new special that they reached out to BBC's Charlotte Moore, sharing, "By then we felt we had something we were ready to share."
Upon receiving an invitation from James for a discreet meet-up with him and Ruth in London's Soho, Charlotte expressed it was "one of the most exciting moments of my whole career". She hailed the special as both a "showcase for the best of British storytelling" and a "total and utter gem".
Every detail of the special has been kept under wraps, but Ruth emotionally voiced her gratitude: "I want to say thank you to the crew for making it so special, this final foray, and mainly I want to say thank you for James for being my travel companion on this wonderful journey."
An emotional James responded to her, saying: "What a privilege to have an idea with someone with whom it's a joy to sit and write with. I love you very much I'm very proud of what we've made."
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.
)
)
)
English (US) ·