Filming for the concluding episode of Gavin And Stacey has commenced, confirmed by the show’s star and co-creator, James Corden.
Corden, who portrays the handyman Smithy in the series he co-created with Ruth Jones, shared a photograph on his Instagram featuring Jones, known for her role as Nessa, alongside Joanna Page, who plays Stacey.
“Day 2. One last time on the island x,” he captioned it.
James Corden and Ruth Jones reveal the final episode of Gavin And Stacey. Pic: James Corden
In the photograph, the two women are turned away from the camera and stand in front of O’Shea’s Fish & Chip Cafe at Barry Island.
On Monday, the BBC announced that production for the sitcom’s concluding episode had officially begun. The episode is set to air on Christmas Day this year.
They shared an image of a clapperboard marked 2 September, reading “Gavin & Stacey The Finale” alongside a caption stating: “Oh. My. Christ,” referencing a phrase frequently spoken by Alison Steadman’s character Pam.
“Filming for the concluding episode of Gavin & Stacey started today. To be honest, we are a tad excited. Tune in to #GavinandStacey on #iPlayer this Christmas Day,” they added.
Gavin and Stacey achieved tremendous success during its original three-series run from 2007 to 2010. It was followed by a special festive episode in 2019 that concluded with a cliffhanger involving Jones’ character Nessa proposing to Smithy.
In the comedy, Mathew Horne and Page portray the romantic couple, Gavin and Stacey, Larry Lamb plays Gavin’s father, Mick, Melanie Walters takes on the role of Stacey’s widowed mother, Gwen, and Rob Brydon features as her Uncle Bryn.
She resides in Barry Island, and he hails from Essex.
Former talk show host Corden, 46, initially announced the show’s revival through an Instagram post on 3 May. The post shared an image of him and Jones with a script titled Gavin And Stacey: The Finale for 2024.
In July, he confirmed in a subsequent post that the script had been finalized.
The actor expressed to Chris Evans on his Virgin Radio breakfast program that he felt “very emotional by all of it” as he reminisced about the series and his camaraderie with Jones.
“We have completed the writing; we will never create anything that Pam says again…,” he remarked.
“We will never come up with another intriguing story for Bryn.”
The 2019 holiday special attracted the largest overnight Christmas ratings in 12 years, garnering an average viewership of 11.6 million, making it the most-watched festive episode since Christmas Day 2008.
By the new year, it had amassed 17.1 million views, making it the largest scripted program of the decade at that time.
It also received the Impact Award at the National Television Awards in 2020.
