I'm a lifelong Gavin and Stacey fan and dreading the Christmas special

Oh! What’s occurring? A Christmas Day Gavin and Stacey finale, that’s what.

As a long-time Gavin and Stacey fan, you’d think I’d be thrilled – and, surely, only the coldest heart wouldn’t want to head to Barry Island to spend Christmas Day with the Shipmans and the Wests – but hear me out.

I thinkI might be disappointed. 

Five years ago, Nessa, played by Ruth Jones, got down on one knee and proposed to Smithy (James Corden) in the last Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, giving TV viewers one of the most spectacular cliffhangers of modern times.

We never heard Smithy’s answer – but that didn’t matter. Making another show feels like an afterthought.

And I don’t want a neat, happy ending because that’s not in the spirit of Ness and Smithy. They’re just not meant to get it together, except when they’ve had a few too many pints.

In fact, I don’t want a 2024 Christmas special at all.

Back in 2007, Gavin and Stacey stole my heart with their slow-burn storylines, hilarious ensemble cast and subtle in-jokes.

I was at the same life stage as them, going on random dates like Stace and debriefing with my own equivalent of Ness. And I fell in love with Pam and Mick’s hilarious home life – and of course Uncle Bryn, one of the funniest characters of this millennium.

Even now, if I’m having a bad day I’ll re-watch Smithy’s flawless American Boy rap.

Early episodes had real heart and didn’t rely on a lot of action. They were deliberately low key, made with a commercial innocence as writers James Corden and Ruth Jones had zero knowledge of what a catchphrase-spawning telly juggernaut the show would become.

With references to serial killers, Nessa’s celebrity exes (from Russell Brand to John Prescott) and a risque incident with a toilet brush, the show was a beautiful time capsule that didn’t take itself seriously – and couldn’t be made today.

Clearly, it wasn’t originally intended to be a jewel in BBC One’s Christmas Day crown; but we got the 2019 Christmas special regardless, and I wish we hadn’t.

Christmas Day 2019 saw a ridiculous storyline involving Dawn, Pete and a spliff that they eventually shared with Pam and Mick. Was it just me who cringed at them parentally dancing round the lounge to Dreadlock Holiday? And not in a good way. 

Another big mistake was introducing a one-dimensional new character in the form of Smithy’s princessy girlfriend, Sonia, who refused to sleep on an air bed. It spawned an awkward and boring storyline that dragged viewers away from the people we cared more about as Smithy spent Christmas Day trying to placate her. 

The 2019 Christmas special may have warmed the nation’s hearts, but it still missed what made the original show such a gem.

Mathew Horne and Joanna Page’s Gavin and Stacey were a joy to observe in their mid-20s and every time I watch yet another rerun it reminds me of that golden time, earlier in the millennium. But do I want to see them trying to keep a 17-year old marriage fresh? No way: it feels too obvious.

But, with whole families gathered round the TV on Christmas Day, Jones and Corden will surely know they have to deliver a script full of twists, turns and gasps to keep viewers talking about the show long into the new year.

This is not the kind of tactic that birthed the magic of Gavin and Stacey. 

Andthere lies the problem: there’s too much pressure, which leads to more obvious gags rather than the slow-burners they delivered back in 2007. Delicately written and shrouded in Nessa’s pipe smoke, those early episodes’ biggest laughs were often only noticeable on second or third watch. 

Back then, Corden and Matthew Horne were on the cusp of stardom, but how will the former embody Smithy now he’s gone stratospheric in the US?

The show was at its most tidy when it was tucked away on BBC Three, where the understated giggles came not from the titular couple, but mis-matched corn on the cob-slurping lovers Smithy and Nessa.

Many nod-and-a-wink references to Uncle Bryn’s fishing trip popped up throughoutthe series before it was almost revealed in 2019’s Christmas special – butwhatever went on between him and Jase on that cold, mysterious night needs to remain under wraps.

Dropping hints that ‘it was very dark, in every sense of the word’, but never actually spelling out the details, is far funnier.

Clever observation was key and the more stellar cast members – including Alison Steadman and Sheridan Smith – were happy to take a back seat throughout the seriesand let others shine.Their generosity gave newcomers their big break, while showing the characters were in safe hands.

One of the great things about the characters is they sparked an instant recognition because they were so grounded in real life, from the friendship group with inexplicable nicknames (Dirtbox, Deano, Fingers…) to Pam-laaar’s love of Camilla Parker Bowles and ‘the drama, Mick!’

While early series specialised in the unspoken (who could forget Owain Hughes? ‘…and before you ask, no I don’t’), Jones and Corden presumably know they have to bring out the big guns for a Christmas special and that’s where the show loses its joy.  

I’m certainly hoping the finale won’t be as overrated as Dick Powell’s bread sauce, but I’ll be sitting down to watch with a Mint Baileys and maximum trepidation – because rumours of different plots have been whizzing round ever since it was announced.

Will there be a funeral (or two)? Will Nessa gift everyone the other tap this year to complete her 2019 present (…of a single tap). And will she and Smithy tie the knot?

Personally, I’d rather they didn’t – but either way, a message to James Corden and Ruth Jones:please keep their relationship a messy, realistic will-they-won’t-they affair, rather than bowing to the public’s appetite for a happy ending. 

Don’t get me wrong, but to be honest, at the end of the day, when all’s said and done, a standard Christmas special is the last thing diehard fans expect to see from their beloved show.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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