Will Gavin and Stacey be back for a full series?
Following this year’s Christmas special, Ruth Jones hints that Smithy, Nessa and the rest could be back for more episodes – but not anytime soon
After a decade away from TV, smash-hit comedy Gavin & Stacey is returning this Christmas for an eagerly-anticipated special – but will a full series follow?
That’s the question we imagine many fans will be asking once they’ve finished watching the hour-long episode on Christmas Day, and it's good news – because apparently creators Ruth Jones and James Corden are open to returning to Barry and Billericay for a longer run of episodes one day.
“I think obviously there is room for it to move on, so all I'm going to say now is, who knows?” co-creator Jones told the crowd at a recent screening of the Christmas special.
However, Jones was quick to note that this doesn’t mean she and Corden have anything concrete planned. “Honestly, hand on heart - at the moment, there is no plan,” she said. “There have been no Post-it notes, there has been no sitting in a room mapping out another episode.”
Though in a recent interview with Red magazine, Jones went even further, noting it would be “churlish" of her to say there wouldn't be any more episodes after the festive special.
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“The honest truth is there are no plans, but I don’t think I could ever say never,” she teased.
And considering the difficulties they had in reuniting the original cast with Jones and super-busy US talkshow host Corden, perhaps it’s no wonder they’re not too keen to rush back into it…
“We were so lucky, because we had so many factors to take into consideration,” Jones explained.
“James gave up his summer holiday to come over, and then we had to find out if everybody was available, and it was a miracle that [they] all were to be honest.
“We managed to find a two-and-a-half-week period where everybody could pretty much commit to it, and that felt like a little bit of a good luck omen that everybody was available.
“James and I contacted half-and-half of the cast between us to ask if they'd be interested in doing it, and thankfully they all said yes, and it was a really lovely phone call to make. It was absolutely joyous.”
“I first heard from Ruth, it was Ruth that asked me, and my initial reaction was relief. Because I just thought 'Thank God James has got some work',,” deadpanned star Mathew Horne (Gavin).
“I was so worried about him that he just wouldn't be able to eat. So my thoughts went out to him first and foremost. And then the nerves kicked in.
“[The cast] met up and talked for ages – made ourselves feel even more anxious. And then I think after day one of filming everything settled down because we realised that it was going to happen, and it was going to happen with all the love that it happened with before.
“I think that is one of the things that is so fantastic about the show... that all the actors love each other and are having a great time, I think that comes across on screen and I think that is epitomised in this [Christmas] episode as well.”
And who knows? If all goes well, that love and fun might only just be beginning again…
Gavin and Stacey returns to BBC One on Christmas Day at 8:30pm
