Original subtitles

[logo glistening]

[soft gentle music]

[James] What we are doing now...

I mean, how lucky are we?

Final checks for a tape [indistinct].

Final checks for the tape.

We're getting into position, okay? So...

Before we do, we just wanted...

James and I to say huge thank you to you all.

Everybody's contribution has been invaluable

and I hope we will all look back on this time

and all feel...

I hope you'll all feel as privileged as I do,

to have been part of this.

To think back to the early 2000s,

and us being just different people.

Younger, naive, the idea that it would

become this 20-year long journey,

I think that's something to really be proud of.

It's been a magical journey.

It's just grown and grown and become something,

I hope everybody involved feels as proud as we do.

To be able to

tell a story over so long, so unheard of.

And...

Action.

Oh. Here we go, here we go.

Here we go. Here we go.

Really, for us it was like,

okay, how do we end this,

and it'd be satisfying to an audience?

[soft gentle music]

[Speaker 1] Five years ago,

almost 90 million watched on.

[Speaker 2] The hip comedy is coming back.

[Joanna] Here we are again and it's like we've never left.

And this has gone on for 20 years of my life.

This has been rumoured for months.

[Matthew] We've been allowed to end the story,

and that is a gift.

[Speaker] It will be the finale.

[Larry] When we started,

I was, you know, still in my 50s.

Now, I'm pushing 80.

Who'd have thought it?

[Speaker] The last ever episode of

"Gavin and Stacey" will be shown on BBC One

on Christmas Day.

[Alison] Just lovely to all be together.

There is a real sense of coming back home.

[Speaker] Writers, Ruth Jones and James Corden

said they've finished the script.

Hello everyone and welcome to

what will be the very, very,

very last episode of "Gavin and Stacey."

Okay, here we go.

Scene one at Barry Island,

establishing song SFX. Phone ringing.

Hi ya. All right?

[lady shrieks]

What's gotten to you today?

It's a wedding. A wedding.

[Gavin] I can't believe it.

[Christine] Pick up to the opening time.

[James] We actually had the idea

of "Gavin and Stacey" when we were

filming a show called "Fat Friends."

What are you doing here?

My mom's in Ireland.

And one weekend I went to a wedding

with my girlfriend at the time,

whose family were all from Barry Island.

And I was just watching this wedding take place

and I was thinking, "God, all life is here."

And lots of these people didn't know each other

but you come together because,

two people have fallen in love

and they want to declare that love

in front of all their friends and family.

And I said to Ruth,

"I really think that could be a show."

And then we've just started talking about

all these different characters and things.

[people laughing]

I said, "Look, let's write this treatment

so we can send it off."

And it was called, "It's My Day."

It literally was just about the wedding

with lots of these little vignettes.

I got Shapia. Shipia, Shapia.

I don't know how you say it.

This is actually the only scene

that remains in the series

that was in the first ever treatment.

We also wrote really just for us,

a backstory of who they were.

And we sent it to Stuart Murphy, who was the head-

-Controller of BBC Three. -Controller of BBC Three.

And he really liked it, but he said,

there's no place, there's no slot

for a one-hour comedy drama on BBC Three.

But why can't you serialise the backstory?

My mate Gavin, who's still my mate,

met his girlfriend because

he worked in sales and she worked in accounts

but they used to talk on the phone.

He was like,

"Oh, I'm just chatting to this girl at work

and we just end up on the phone for hours."

And then he said to me,

"I'm gonna meet her this weekend."

And I was like, "What?"

They ended up having like a frivolous weekend

and coming back going, "I'm in love with her."

-Did he marry her? -Yeah.

Where's our mate?

Oi.

Where's our mate?

We are doing the meeting scene,

which is when Gavin first meets Stacey.

Hi ya. [giggling]

[Ruth] Meet Stacey.

Hi ya.

And she is Stacey in real life, I think.

This is my fourth coffee of the day.

So we were like, well that's quite a good idea.

And so we took that and then we thought,

well, what if they had two friends

and they take their friends along?

What if on the night they met,

these two fell madly in love

and these two had a one night stand

and wished to never see each other again?

[Ruth] Can she say, "So is my belt?"

So is my belt.

[speaking indistinctly]

Cheers. River Island.

Oh, so is my belt. Amazing.

Yes. Yes.

[James] It then became a sequence of like,

pinch yourselves, realisations that we are making.

[Speaker] Stand over there please.

-Four, take one. -[board claps]

Can I do it now?

Okay. [giggles]

[James] It was a traditional love story

of a boy meets girl,

and there's this ripple effect

of how these two people making a choice

has impacted all these people's lives.

[Pam] Hello.

It was about bringing together

two different cultures,

done in a loving and affectionate way.

Bryn?

It means hill in Welsh.

Does it, really?

Do you know, I have no idea

what my name means in Welsh.

Why.

Because I don't speak the lingo, darling.

No, in Welsh Pam means why.

[Pam] Oh.

Or brick.

[bright lively music]

[Rob] You've got Essex.

[people exclaiming]

With broad strokes they're saying is

happy, upbeat, hey.

Don't mind if I do.

And you've got Wales, it's a bit more [mumbling].

Golf-wise, I have lived a very sheltered life.

[Rob] Both dramatic in their own ways, aren't they?

Oh, we live in a cynical world.

I'll control you in a minute, sunshine.

Come on then.

Come on then!

You've got this extended family

that are representative of Britain

in the early part of this century.

Nessa, your back's covered in mud.

I know. I fell over.

When it first came out, it was just like,

"Oh God, I can't believe

that people are actually watching our show."

[Romesh chuckling]

Every now and again,

you get shows that people just start talking about.

-Sorry love. -[people laughing]

We all knew straight away that it was

absolutely exceptional and new and fresh.

You want that.

[actor laughing]

I remember watching it multiple times

and I was just totally transfixed.

Meow, cock in a sparrow.

I loved it immediately.

These characters.

I wanted to be friends with them,

and I wanted to know them.

They became stars like boom.

Out of the blocks, bang like that.

[James] I remember when we went on "Jonathan Ross."

[Ruth] Oh gosh.

And we couldn't believe it.

-We're both very nervous. -Very nervous.

-Very, very nervous. -About it.

Feels like we're going on the British "Letterman."

I had a fringe.

Like a fringe. It was awful.

What would be really great,

is we could show a bit of it now.

[indistinct chatter]

I'm not excited, I'm just a bit asleep.

[James inhales and exhales]

Do you know what I mean?

[audience clapping]

Please welcome Ruth Jones and James Corden.

"Gavin and Stacey" has been a hit already.

I mean it was on BBC Three, it started.

When stuff works out, they move it over to BBC Two

as it has happened to you guys.

-Yeah. -And,

you're gonna do a second series, I imagine?

-Yes, we're filming it now. -We're filming it now.

[bright lively music]

[Ruth] You could feel there was something special there.

You could feel that there was a magic.

The British comedy award goes to "Gavin and Stacey."

[Ruth] Then suddenly we're getting

all these nominations.

"Gavin and Stacey."

[people cheering and clapping]

The Sky Plus Audience Award is presented

to my favourite, "Gavin and Stacey."

[audience clapping and cheering]

[Speaker] It was no longer this niche

little show on BBC Three.

Oh my God.

What's occurring?

It's a very, very unusual path for a TV show

to take a little show that gets bigger

and bigger and bigger and bigger.

Hold on. Can we help you, mate?

When he asked me I was going,

"Oh my God, the lads will love this."

What's occurring, pussy cat?

From a show that was on BBC Three,

suddenly you're bringing a whole nation together.

That's an extraordinary journey.

I think, almost certainly a unique journey.

[people clapping and cheering]

[Speaker] Filming has officially begun

for the finale of "Gavin and Stacey."

-Christmas has come early... -Viewers have waited

more than five days...

[Speaker] The most eagerly awaited

TV come back in years.

This is how it must feel to be Justin Bieber.

[people laughing]

Turning.

[Speaker] 37, take one. A marker.

-[board claps] -[Speaker 2] B marker.

It's not sort of a coincidence that

it's got 17 million viewers watching this thing.

It's a sitcom and it's funny and it makes us laugh.

But the things that are happening are very, very real.

Now pull it toward, pull it toward.

I am pulling it.

So much TV is about people in mansions

that we will never live in.

And I think that "Gavin and Stacey"

is a show for the people.

It's showing us that everyone's life is worth examining.

Tell me Gwen, do you drive?

The whole thing has this fantastic mixture

of the instantly recognisable and then,

the just ridiculous, absurd.

And I think that's the key to it.

Do me the honour of bowing to my knowledge

as regards transportation.

Cease your attack on my character

and pull it toward.

Only some of the best acting they've seen yet.

I am playing Gavin.

I'm on the other end of a phone call,

to Stacey who's down there.

Alright, I'm Gavin.

Do you want me to do the accent?

[both laughing]

I won't do the accent.

Really what you'd say is nothing's happening,

but actually everything is happening.

[Pam] Hi Gav.

[Gavin] All right, Mom?

No, not really.

I'm absolutely shattered.

I've been crying all afternoon.

How come?

That pet rescue.

When I read the first scene that

Ruth and James sent me,

it was one of the funniest things.

I don't think badgers can cry, Mom.

Nor did I, my little prince.

But I know what I saw and it's not [indistinct].

[Alison] It's so truthful and it's kind of real,

but it's turned up a notch.

Your dad will be home in a minute

and those steaks won't cook themselves.

[Ruth] We didn't want it to have sensational storylines.

Can I ask you a personal question?

Sure.

How do you get them oven gloves?

[Ruth] We wanted to make sure we kept that ordinariness,

that makes it what it is.

Can't fill a thing.

A really good example of that was...

Mick's gonna be on the telly.

-What? -Mick. He's just phoned.

He's gonna be on the telly, can you believe it?

Why don't we have an episode where

one of the characters is on the telly

for some reason or other.

You are never gonna believe this.

[Both] Mick's gonna be on the telly.

Yes.

And you said if they're gonna be on the telly,

it should be something really, really mundane.

Oh my God. I bought some bubbly.

Can you believe it?

The idea that he'd found a dismembered body at work.

But the volume of excitement.

I just heard Dad's name on the radio.

[James] It's grounded in reality,

but it's obviously heightened.

And those are the things I think

we figured out in series one, really.

-Stand back. -Getting Pete and Dawn round,

-pretending they're security. -[both laughing]

-I wish I never mentioned it. -Dawn, Pete's pretending

-to be Mick's security guard. -Tell him to grow up.

And then that bit where it goes...

A dismembered body was discovered

by a Mr. Michael Shipman.

And they all go, "Yeah!"

[All] Yeah!

[TV Newsperson] And this, is what he had to say.

Well, it's the last thing you expect

to find when you come into work in the morning.

Later, I spoke to police detective.

I'm going...

-Is that it? -Is that it?

Was that it?

Well, I'm bitterly disappointed.

[indistinct chatter]

-Am I wrong? -Am I wrong?

Pete, have you thought about my bonus?

Exactly. But they're my bonus.

You've not had bona or a bona...

Too many of the sayings are just

part and parcel of everyday British life now.

I wonder if they set out with that intention.

I'm not sure they did.

-Dawn. It's the same last... -There's a scene he gets

-really grumpy. -Dawn, it's the same

last week when I was trying...

It's the same last week...

We've never consciously thought,

"Oh, this is gonna be a classic scene."

It's always about just keeping it as real as possible.

So if you have something like a curry order,

that's just something that a lot of people do.

And anything else that comes from that is incidental.

We're getting an Indian, what do you fancy?

Chicken bhuna, lamb bhuna, prawn bhuna,

mushroom rice, bag of chips,

keema naan and nine poppadoms.

And I'm just gonna stick it on the table,

-you know- -Whoa. Right.

We just wanted to keep having this thing

with people going, you know,

"We can have a curry and we'll all just...

What do you want? What do you want?"

But then we're all just gonna

put it in the middle and...

Why are we all just...

Well, because it's nice.

No, it's not. Not for me.

Because I can guarantee someone,

probably Stacey, will have ordered a korma.

Am I wrong? Mick, am I wrong?

[Adrian] People are Gavin and Stacey,

in their way through family life.

I think that's about as big a compliment

as you could ever pay a writer.

No, I've had enough of it.

It was the same last week.

I went for a Chinese with Chinese and his Mrs.

they were all dipping into mine,

and going, "Yours is really nice."

I'm like, "Yes it is, that's why I ordered it."

In fact, forget it. I want no part of it.

I'll order my own, I'll eat it in the car.

I'm out.

How amazing to have changed the culture

so that it actually speaks the language

that you've written.

That sounded a bit good, didn't it? [chuckles]

[phone chimes]

Saag aloo. Saag aloo.

[Smithy] I'd like a saag aloo as well, please Mick.

-[Director] Cut. -[people laughing]

As writers, Ruth will have a knowledge of this.

James will have a knowledge of that.

They're just adding to each other and complementing.

And they're more than the sum of their parts.

There's just a thing that happens

and you can't really define it.

I'd love to see their writing process.

'Cause I don't know who does what.

We're very hard at work. [chuckles]

-Set an alarm for 1:30. -Yeah.

Which is in nine minutes time.

And then we're gonna do it.

Interior. Gavin's office.

Scene one. Let's go.

With certain lines I think,

did Ruth write this, do you think?

Or was it James?

Or did they sit down and concoct it together?

Remember when you tried to do the diagram thing?

We definitely got a Venn diagram, haven't we?

Where there's a common area.

Do you know what a Venn diagram is?

Yeah. It's the middle of it like that.

-Hm, just checking. -Yeah, I know what a Venn...

[indistinct] what a Venn diagram is.

So over here, if it's a Venn diagram right,

over here in this circle is me like a,

a energizer bunny going,

"[gasps] Oh, hang on. What if..."

And is there a set up joke here to do

where Gavin says,

"What you gonna do about the tattoo?"

Wait. [gasp]

Or, no, what if he goes,

"When I think back to...

When I think back to when we met..."

And over here, is Ruth going,

"No."

I don't know if it does work.

"No, that's not...

Ah, that feels too..."

Cobbled together.

In the middle of it,

is just two people who really love the characters.

"She fit it all in."

You know she fit it all in.

"Oh, she's been fitting in."

Oh, she's been fitting it all in, all right.

[both laughing]

They spend a lot of their time

speaking it out loud to one another,

making sure that it's gonna sound right

and that it's gonna work.

It was as if we were entwined as one.

Should it be like...

Is it something like two?

What's a...

What's an animal of love?

-Gazelle? -To?

What, isn't there a type of like,

-a monkey that sort of... -[both laughing]

-Gibbons? -[both laughing]

Sandhill crane.

Shingle back lizards? [chuckles]

-Two prairie voles. -[both laughing]

Right.

Do you think this should be drilled with Pam?

-Yeah. -So Dawn should say...

Pam should probably say, "Right."

And Dawn should maybe go-

-"Wow." -Yeah, "Wow."

Yeah. Yeah.

Ruth has an ear for character and dialogue,

which is as good as

I honestly believe anybody on earth.

Let's read the whole scene.

-Yeah. Okay. -Just to hear it.

Gosh Stace, what does it matter?

We got bigger things to discuss,

like what happened last night with you and Pete.

-Dawn? -Yeah. Come on, Dawn.

-Spill. -Oh, here we go. [laughs]

Well, all I'd say is this,

it was as if we were entwined as one.

Like two prairie voles, frolicking in a mezo,

in sync, in love, in partnership.

Future's bright ladies, the future's Pete.

[chuckles] Cut to Pete.

I think we were both pretty clear it was a one-off.

And she's all right with that.

Well, you never know with Dawn.

But it certainly felt like we were both saying goodbye.

[Ruth laughing]

To be in charge of where these characters go

and what they do and what they say.

[James blows raspberry]

This could really backfire tomorrow.

It could be horrible tomorrow, but...

[James] It could really backfire tomorrow.

[Christine] It's the last day, Chris.

Go for it.

[All] Cheers.

Cheers everyone.

[All] Cheers.

Cheers.

[James] Cheers guys.

When it first came through the letterbox,

in the days when scripts were still

on paper and sent through the post,

I'd made myself late that night

to do it at the pub

because I simply could not stop reading the thing.

Exactly the same for me.

-Exactly the same for me. -Same.

Did the episode one and I just thought,

-"No episode, no." -Just don't let it stop.

And I literally, literally could not put it down.

I sat down and read all six,

and then just texted you and went,

"Please can I direct it?"

[people laughing]

It's brilliant.

When we wrote it, we really set out

to write Pam for Alison.

And we felt like if we could get Alison to do the show,

then other actors will think it's legit.

Do you know what I mean?

Then we're trying to get Rob to do Bryn.

And we felt like if we write parts that are good enough,

we might be able to entice them to do it.

'Cause they're certainly not gonna

-be doing it for the money. -[people laughing]

If you cast people so beautifully,

give them such idiosyncratic personalities

and then just endlessly mine those,

you're gonna do wonderfully.

It's not free stakes.

It's one steak for me as an actual steak.

One as a substitute for my chips,

and one as a substitute for my peas.

Alison Steadman as Pamela,

from the first thing she says,

it's just magic, everything about her.

I recognise all of that.

I mean, my mom's Sri Lankan,

but I recognise those traits.

Oh, come here, my little prince.

In the show,

we want to see that eccentricity.

So, characters like Pamela or Bryn, for example,

people like that really do exist.

Welcome, welcome one and all.

Oh, Pam.

-Oh Uncle Bryn. -[lips smack]

There he is. Man of the match.

A character like Bryn,

who probably, for an English audience,

seems like really extreme but that's my dad. [laughs]

Bryn, do you want a genzano?

No, thanks Mick.

I'll have another shot of this bad boy.

People relate to it so well because,

A, they recognise themselves in it and their families.

But also, it's never cruel in its comedy.

And I think it came out in a moment

when comedy was fairly kind of cruel and mocking,

in the kind of early 2000s.

And then "Gavin and Stacey" came along

and they had their arguments and their fallings out,

but all the characters basically love each other

and are finding each other funny.

Because they would.

'Cause real people make each other laugh.

Ah Bryn, that was amazing.

[Bryn] I know.

I've always had a flexible spine.

It's just people, really.

British people.

-Gin and tonic. -Whoa.

That its core, it is such a British show.

You can make me cry,

but you better also make me laugh.

And you better not be melodramatic and too soft.

That's how it secures its place in your soul.

[bright lively music]

[indistinct chatter]

[people laughing]

In the early days...

-If you saw that -We didn't know

-what we were doing. -We didn't really know

what we were meant to do.

We didn't know what we were doing,

and so it was very evident

that we needed someone who did.

And Chris showed herself to be that person,

almost immediately.

[Ruth] There she is, my director, Chris Gernon.

[James] She just understood it.

She understood the characters,

she understood the world we were trying to make.

I want to be the first person taken down the pub.

I think that's funnier.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

Okay. Lovely. Thank you.

It was really important to us,

that we were part of the process,

but obviously we didn't wanna tread on Chris's toes,

so there had to be this conversation and she was...

She couldn't have been more accommodating

whilst also retaining her own creative input.

I always imagined him in that.

I don't know why.

Well, what I didn't want was him there, the hot...

'Cause I think if he's there like that,

and everyone's dancing around him,

I think that's a little bit...

I think someone would probably be comforting him.

Whereas I've got him separate and then we come over...

What do you think Ruth?

Try and move that out of the way.

Could he have his tie around his head?

[people laughing]

-Yeah. -Yes.

[chuckles] That's a nice reveal, isn't it?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

So that would be undone.

[James] Yeah.

[Ruth] I quite...

It's quite nice to see him.

I think that tells its story, doesn't it?

We set this rule very, very early,

that if we disagree, we take it to Chris and,

whichever Chris thinks, is what it is.

Can he have a little glass as well?

So he's been drinking in the shot glass.

Well maybe a shot is turned over.

-Yeah. -And there's hardly anything.

I do feel that she's a little bit like... [sucks in air]

We both go to her and go,

"Well, you're not gonna believe this."

-Yeah. -[both laughing]

[Chris] Jumping. Yeah, that's great Mel.

-Yeah. -Yeah.

The writing and the performances kind of blended

to give us this sort of alchemy.

Every one of them brings something over

and above what is on the page.

[Ruth] Everybody has got an ingredient

that they put into this lovely recipe of love.

[James] Yeah.

There's no competition, there's no sense

of anything other than trying to tell

these stories about these characters

that we love more than anything.

[people exclaiming excitedly]

If the audience doesn't hook onto

the characters, that's it.

There's no real engine there.

They managed to do that with this group of people.

And then, you know, at the core of it,

there's a love affair.

-[no audio] -[gentle music]

[Stacey] I love this one.

[Gavin] Right, do you want a drink then?

Gavin and Stacey,

if they hadn't have come together,

then the others won't have come together.

So, you know, they're sort of like the linchpin.

What are you doing here?

[Gavin speaking indistinctly]

[Speaker] It's their love, it's their thing.

It's the absolute core of it.

That's where the show starts.

What's it about?

Two people who had never met who fall in love

and it's the ripple effect on their friends and families

and how everybody's lives change.

Things aren't exactly great between us.

I know, but I thought...

What?

You thought everything was fine again?

Just like that?

No.

Yeah.

There are little ups and downs in everybody's life.

I mean, that's life.

I just think they've got a brilliant balance of,

you know, depicting relationships.

I think it's relevant to any couple

that's been with their partner 10, 11, 12 years.

I think any long relationship goes through those feelings.

Babe, you all right? What's going on?

Where to am I stood right now?

What?

Where am I stood? Here?

Easy.

This is where I first told you I loved you.

-Yes it is. -And I...

Gavin and Stacey are the absolute heart of the show.

So that scene in the last Christmas special,

the 2019 special was just beautiful.

Yeah, with the 2019 special,

I don't know if people know this,

we gave up on it at one point.

We'd written maybe halfway through

and we read it and we were like,

"This is rubbish. This is awful. It's terrible."

Like, it's extraordinary how close we were to just...

We actually...

I remember us saying to each other,

"Well, thank God we didn't call the BBC."

Yeah.

So we ate dinner in my kitchen and I said,

"Look, I think we probably owe it to the show

to go back in and talk about why it's bad

and say goodbye to it, really."

We were like two hours from saying bye to it

and going, "We can never do it again.

It isn't very good."

But then we realised,

which is true for the whole,

every episode of "Gavin and Stacey"

that the reason these people are together

is because of Gavin and Stacey.

And so, we realised that the reason it wasn't working

is because there wasn't anything substantial for them.

And then that night at like 11:00 PM

was where we came up with the scene of Stacey has-

-With the matches. -Keeping hold of the matches.

And it changed everything.

-And that scene- -And then I think

we called the BBC the next day.

-Yeah. -[people laughing]

We went from like dead to like,

-"Oh no, it's all right." -Yeah.

Because we got to keep the fight going.

So where you guys fit in rehearsals when you...

-You like- -Yes, I did.

I can't remember where it was.

-It was a really nice- -It was very instinctive.

It was like a reassuring

-sort of- -I remember.

Do you remember where it was?

No, but we'll feel it.

I often feel like Matt and Jo,

they've just got the hardest job on the show, really.

Because without them two, it's a cartoon.

Do you know what I mean?

It's a...

It's a big comic book.

I get it.

We are like the Straight Men.

All I think about is just the truth

and that she's in love with Gav.

We just bring the love in and the heart

and I think that's, you know, that's our job.

[soft gentle music]

[Stacey chuckling]

[soft gentle music]

Cut.

Beautiful.

-Thank you. -Lovely.

Thank you very much. Yeah.

For me that scene is almost as powerful

as when you go down on your knee and,

and ask her to marry you.

It's the way that thing comes at you

all of a sudden just like, "Oh."

You know, you're all right as you are,

don't you, sweet pea?

I won't lie, you're not everyone's cup of tea,

but at the end of the day,

when all said and done, you're tidy.

-Cheers. -I mean that.

I know.

And I know this been complicated.

You and me.

[Nessa speaking indistinctly]

Whatever this is.

But I loves him.

And if truth be told, I loves you.

Yeah, I know.

No Smithy, you're not listening.

I know this weird, all right?

But I do.

I loves you with all my heart.

So... [inhales and exhales sharply]

Will you marry me?

What?

Marry me.

I was so proud of you.

-Breathtaking. -When I watched that.

I'm gonna feel...

I'm gonna get all emotional,

but seriously, you are so good in that.

-You do it- -Excellent.

Beautifully.

To play that scene like that,

with this character who has so many comic levels

and shades and colours and everything,

and the way it shocked people.

So then did you tune in to find out

what was occurring last night?

The return of "Gavin and Stacey"

to our screen saw TV ratings at their highest

on Christmas day for more than a decade.

And the success of "Gavin and Stacey" yesterday

means that there'll be a lot

of expectation from audiences for more.

And without giving any spoilers away,

the door has really been left open for that.

People would ask me all the time,

"What does he say? What is he gonna say?"

"Oh, we've got to find out.

We've got to find out."

And I say, "Well, I don't know."

I think there's something really nice

about us wondering what happened,

and I think we can leave it there.

But actually in my heart I thought,

"Well, no, we can't really."

No one would ever say,

did he choose Nessa or Sonia?

Yeah.

Sonia sort of disappeared.

It just wasn't in people's minds

that that was something that might happen.

This is the first time that you see

that Smithy hasn't said yes to Nessa

and he's actually marrying Sonia.

I had woken up like bolt upright

and had this idea of like,

I wonder if we could misdirect everybody.

We were so scared of shooting

with Laura in a John Lewis.

So we built one in a disused office as a place

where you would come and do your wedding list,

such is our paranoia.

I think everyone's supposed to be calling me Susan.

There was talk of wearing a disguise to work,

which hasn't materialised.

I'm staying in a different hotel to everyone.

I'm not allowed to see anyone outside of work.

I don't wanna go home because,

I just don't wanna talk to anyone

'cause I'm so scared I'm gonna mess it up.

I feel like all the pressure is on me.

Like I haven't even told mom and dad,

'cause they're gossips.

-Well, as you're all right. -Uh-huh.

Stay here and then give you time to come around.

Oh, she's probably turning around

like a bomb fella.

-Yes. -Exactly what I said.

[James laughing]

This is the first big surprise in the show, really.

-There's three, isn't it? -Yeah.

Three surprises and then one thing that everybody wants.

-Yeah. So- -Yeah.

This is the one that has to be protected the most really,

because hopefully we've done enough to seed it

that even like there's a scene where I think

Mick and Pam are talking and he talks about

who's coming up for the weekend

and he says, you know, it's Smithy and Nessa.

Bryn and Gwen, Gavin and Stacey.

So even the idea of just talking about them

as a couple you hope will make the audience go,

"Oh. Oh, okay.

We're gonna watch Smithy and Nessa's wedding."

That's what it is.

We're not gonna see him answer the question,

but we know what we're gonna see

and then hopefully it's this moment

the audience will go... [gasps].

[Director] And, action.

All right?

Hi babe.

It's so exciting.

Someone's already bought the handheld Dyson.

-So do we say it before- -So we'll do the hug first.

-Hug first. -Hi babe.

-Hi babe. -And then.

So exciting.

Someone's already bought the handheld Dyson.

Wow.

[people laughing]

The trick really I think to writing anything

or the way Ruth and I have tried to write

is the idea, if you think about like

your lead characters,

the supporting characters and the audience.

And at any one point in every single scene,

one of those three shouldn't know what's going on.

If you think about episode six series one,

Nessa knows she's pregnant, Stacey knows she's pregnant,

the audience knows she's pregnant, Smithy doesn't.

And so all of this point now in this special

is Smithy knows he's marrying Sonia.

Every other character knows he's marrying Sonia,

and the audience don't.

And if we can get away with this,

we'll have done really well.

[Director] And, action.

[Speaker 1] Will he?

[Speaker 2] Never got to hear his answer.

[Speaker 1] Viewers have waited more than five years,

to find out his answer.

There's definitely more people here

than there were at the end of series three.

Yes.

The feeling and the love is lovely.

[People] Aw.

The lady handed me a 12-day old baby.

Quite phenomenal, isn't it?

Have you seen this?

Mate, that is nuts.

-What's your name? -Collie.

[James] Crazy, man

If you'd said to me Barry Island

would be famous for the biggest sitcom on the BBC,

I'd have said, "Ah, I can't see that."

Did you ever think this would be so big?

Never.

Oh, you've come all the way from Cornwall.

[Fan] Yeah, we left at half three this morning.

People travel from all over to go there.

They run coach trips.

I was studying in Cardiff and one of the reasons

I chose it, is because it's near Barry.

But in all my trips to Barry,

I've never done the tour on Dave's coach.

Heard a lot about it but never done it.

And we're all prepared with our flasks.

Yeah.

Of gin.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

What's occurring?

[people laughing]

I'd like to welcome you on the official

"Gavin and Stacey to Work."

You are a smoker, do what Nessa does,

take a patch on your arm for the next three hours.

[people laughing]

Joking again?

[people exclaiming]

-Can we join you? -Can we join you?

-Yes. -Yay.

[people chuckling]

-[camera clicking] -[Joanna] Nice to meet you.

Are we going then?

We are setting off to our first location of the day.

-[lively music] -[camera clicking]

-Where have you come from? -Swansea.

Oh my God, are you from Swansea?

Oh, I'm from Swansea.

-Oh, there it is. -It's the Dolphin.

You might recognise it as the Dolphin,

but in the cold light of day, it's the [indistinct].

Let's make our way in.

Do you remember the engagement/Christmas?

Where there was no salad?

[people speaking indistinctly]

I remember. Isn't that where we stood,

where we had a photo with Neil the baby in between us?

-Hm. -And then yeah,

that's when they decided we're gonna

-try for a baby. -Yeah. Yeah.

[Fan] So are we gonna have a recreation of the,

"It's Christmas"?

[people laughing]

It's Christmas!

[people chuckling]

-[lively music] -[camera clicking]

[Fan] Joe, in your audition did you or did you not

try and do a Barry accent?

Yes, I tried to.

Ruth said, "Can you do a Barry accent?"

And I started trying to talk

in a very Welshy accent like that.

And I just remember Ruth taking me outside

and going, "What are you doing?

Does not sound like that. That sounds dreadful.

Just go back and do your own accent."

So I did.

And that's why Stacey's from Swansea.

I can feel Pam and Mick's coming up.

We are by Pam and Mick's.

Look.

Welcome to the surprise destination.

Oh my God. Wow.

-This is mad. -Yeah.

How long did it take him?

30 hours.

-Wow. -Whoa.

-[lively music] -[camera clicking]

We are headed to that famous street, Trinity Street.

We'll meet the legend, that is Glenda.

The real owner of Trinity Street.

Have you met Glenda?

I've never met her.

Alright.

-[lively music] -[camera clicking]

Oh my... [laughing]

Wow.

[Speaker] It's a shrine to Gavin and Stacey now.

[Joanna] Oh my goodness.

There she is. Oh Glenda.

Oh my gosh. Hi. Nice to meet you.

Come here. Come here.

Oh.

First time in what?

Yeah, in how many years?

Which is 2006. Yeah.

Amazing. Look, there he is.

-There's Gavin. -Hi Glenda.

Oh.

You haven't changed.

I thought you'd be a bit older but you're not.

Oh that...

We'll keep that in.

[people laughing]

Keep that in, shall we?

You haven't aged at all.

I know you keep saying.

Can you keep [indistinct] on this.

Did she say anything like that to you?

No. You have not said that.

-No, she hasn't. -[people laughing]

Oh my God. Oh my God.

I've ne... [laughing]

-Wow. -Nuts.

I've said to him he should get a Gav and Stacey sleeve.

That's what I have said to him.

Do you know what made James and Ruth

change their minds about, you know, doing this next one?

They always said like with every episode

of "Gavin and Stacey" or with every series

of "Gavin and Stacey,"

they only wanted to do it if they had

-the right story to tell. -Yeah.

But they did leave it up in the air, didn't they?

-So- -They did but-

It might have been in the back of their minds?

I certainly don't think,

without giving anything away,

they had what's being shot right now in their head.

-Oh. -Definitely not.

Bye Glenda.

I think what we'd really, really love, both of us

is for the audience to feel a sense of closure also.

For them to feel like, "Oh, I'm satisfied by that."

I've seen 17 years of these characters' lives

and how they've grown and changed

and that's really never been lost on us.

Okay, you want to come over Steph?

Yeah.

Previously, I've always wanted Gwen

to have a relationship.

You've always wanted Gwen to have a relationship.

I'm in a relationship.

Didn't I say what if it's Dave?

Well definitely it was you.

It wasn't me at all.

I don't think it would have crossed my mind.

And then of course you remember he's the only person

that knows about the fishing trip.

So how's it going? All right?

[people laughing]

I can't believe this.

I was trying to find Jo Page's voice notes

when she read the script.

[Joanna] Oh my God. And I'm...

I haven't got to it yet, but I'm thinking

that Gwen's got a fella or something.

She's like guesses.

She's guessing what's happening.

She's got it.

-She's got it. -And then when she finds it,

she's just so funny.

-What happens when she- -Yeah.

[Joanna] Oh my God, that's amazing.

-Oh my God, it's Dave. -[people laughing]

You better come down.

It's time.

I think really yell that as though he's not...

Yeah, yeah.

This is my favourite scene.

It just is to me, what "Gavin and Stacey" is.

That it's like normal Welsh life going along

and you're there with your family

and then something really dramatic happens

and it's all [gasps] like that.

And it's just, it was just exciting.

I just love it.

Take one. A marker.

[board claps]

And we are set from Steph coming in.

And...

Action.

All right.

-Oh my God. Dave. -Dave Coaches.

Sorry we didn't tell you

but we wanted to be absolutely sure

'cause we didn't know if it was just-

Sexual.

-Oh yeah. -For God's sake.

[Gwen] No more than that.

I just loved being in the middle of it

and having just enough lines,

feel all dramatic but that I could also relax

and just watch the joy of Rob Brydon. [laughs]

-Look, Rob's got the GoPro. -Is it on?

-It's running. -Is it running?

-Go Pro's running. -It's on.

How long?

Well, as you know, we've always been-

[Bryn] How long Gwen? Damn you.

For Gwen, it's a beautiful storyline.

She'd been on her own.

Her husband died years ago.

You know, to find a little bit of love later in life.

It's beautiful when it happens and it's lovely.

[Bryn] Secrets and lies, Gwen.

Secrets and lies.

Secrets.

You wanna talk about secrets?

30 years ago, the two of you went on a fishing trip

that almost tore this family apart.

To be there filming what I think

is my favourite scene in the whole episode.

A really dramatic/comedic scene in Glenda's House.

In Trinity Street.

We've been able to come full circle

and now genuinely we can go...

Oh my God, the omelette!

Yes, those characters are gonna

carry on living their lives but,

we are not gonna get to see them do it.

[Director] Cut. Brilliant.

-Share the gate please. -Excellent.

So that completes that.

[people clapping]

Everybody else has tied up their loose ends.

Smithy and Nessa were the only two still left unattached.

[soft gentle music]

[indistinct chatter]

My son's arrived and he's seven foot.

He's taller than the pair of us.

You get the height from your granddad, see.

[people laughing]

He does.

Either that or he had a funny milk from that year.

[people laughing]

It's like a real supercharged flight

through time you're doing.

It sounds a bit dramatic but that's really

what it feels like seeing all these boys.

They were all in their 20s, you know,

now they're all in their 40s.

This is Gary and Simon.

The original Gary and Simon.

[All] Yay!

Lauren, the casting director.

She did a bit of detective work, didn't she?

To track you down.

I actually can't believe she found me.

It's got a stage name.

-Right. -What was your stage name?

Daniel Knightly.

Because I was working in cinema at the time

and I was like, I need a better name.

So I kind of just landed on Keira Knightley poster

and said I'll be Daniel Knightly.

Oh.

So I didn't even have the same name.

She tracked me down from the police

into becoming a barrister.

Got in touch with my chambers who then said,

"Oh someone from a casting agency's contacted you."

And I was like, "That can only be one thing."

Because I've really only ever been in one thing.

-Are you a barrister now? -Yeah.

I know it might be tempting if someone says,

"Oh come on, just tell us something that happens."

But we want to keep this a really joyous surprise

for people on Christmas Day.

And also, I apologise in advance that you are going

to have your own Christmas spoilt,

because you're gonna find out what happens.

So sorry, but you wanted to be here,

-them's the breaks. -[people laughing]

Okay, here we go. For rehearsal.

And...

Music.

If anyone knows of any just cause

or impediment why these two persons

should not be joined in marriage,

please declare it now.

So far so good.

Are the rings coming?

So we wanted the wedding to kind of progress

until you're watching it and you're going,

"Oh, they're gonna go ahead with this wedding.

They're gonna go ahead."

And then Gavin is finally gonna come to his senses

and go, "This is wrong."

It's quite a pivotal moment in Gavin's journey

and relationship with Smithy, really.

Sorry. I'm sorry.

What he's doing is,

he's trying to do the right thing.

That takes an enormous amount of courage to do that.

And I'm not the only one who thinks this.

There's a lot of us, isn't there?

Everybody.

[Gavin] Great, now you're all silent.

-Oh. -Mate.

Mate, what are you doing?

Gavin, this is highly irregular.

Just then we did a filmed rehearsal

which shows everyone's reaction

to what's happening here.

And it was just, I felt like... [sucks in air]

I got a bit like,

'cause I thought this is like a really special moment.

Gavin's right, Smithy.

Are you sure this is what you want?

I'm sorry but I don't think it's right for either of you.

I agree, mate.

Till death us do part is a very long time.

You have to be absolutely certain.

-Oh my Dave. -[people laughing]

No one was told what was gonna happen beforehand

and it was really electric doing it in the room

with everyone watching it and reacting.

Obviously all of our cast stand up to object

and bloody two people on my side stood up.

-[Director] Cut. -[people laughing]

-[indistinct chatter] -[people laughing]

Watching it, you get so drawn in

and then to have this family,

all these people standing up in a kind of

Spartacus moment, I guess.

All agreeing, even like Dave Coaches stands up

'cause he knows that Nessa and Smithy

should be together.

And I know in that moment when I left,

you know, with Neil and the baby and that,

I know that you two should be together.

-Correct. Yes. -Forever.

Do you know what I mean?

When you're actually there,

in this room that is set up as a wedding

and you've got all these wonderful actors

and Chris in the room

who have all been part of this journey,

it just adds to that whole experience.

[gentle guitar music]

You ain't gonna find better than me now.

I already did.

When I was watching it and he said,

"Yes, I did meet the right person

-17 years ago." -17 years ago.

-"In Leicester Square." -In Leicester Square.

And you can't help but think

not just of the scene, but of the show.

"Gavin and Stacey" is what you would call

a traditional love story.

And that's the story that is almost always told.

And then there's these other two

who equally have fallen in love.

It's just taken them a very,

very long time to figure it out.

All right, Smithy.

[James] The whole idea that just love prevails.

All right.

[James] And love's the answer.

Yeah.

And love will get you there in the end.

And it's gotten there.

Love, it just drags them to this point.

Vanessa.

-Will you... -[people murmuring]

Don't marry him.

I'm not saying marry me,

I don't think that's what I'm saying.

We know that there's this connection

from day one when she handed him the pizza.

And this love-hate relationship that produced a child

that's finely getting this payoff.

Which I think is what everybody wants, you know?

[soft gentle music]

Really, you don't see people

that look like us fall in love on TV very often.

You don't.

These stories never get told. Ever.

And it's like these people, they don't let...

Their love isn't real.

It's not, doesn't have the depth.

They're not great in bed

and they don't have amazing sex and all those things.

And these two characters do.

All right?

I just think if you are marrying him,

you should do it for the right reasons.

You should do it 'cause you love him.

I think it just holds up a mirror

to what lots of people feel all the time.

We gotta go.

-To here, yes? -Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So five years ago, at Christmas-

Not with him.

Just...

Can't they be in that shot as well?

No. There we go.

-5 years ago. -[people laughing]

[Ruth] We've always felt

ultimately, they have to get together.

I love you.

[people laughing]

[James] Probably from when we first...

The first Christmas special that we did-

-When Dave was- -Proposes.

-Proposed. Yeah. -And Smithy says,

"Don't marry him."

And from that minute on it felt like

they have to end together.

And that's what he says in this last scene.

You know, "I know it's messy and not perfect,

but that's 'cause we are messy and not perfect."

But I love you Nessa.

I always have.

I mean, not always. Most of the time.

[Ruth] Once Smithy and Nessa got together,

that really is the end.

'Cause we can never see them actually

-living together. -Oh no. It'd be awful.

Seeing Smithy put the bins out...

Babe.

Yeah, yeah.

No, it just won't work.

Will you marry me?

There's been so many things, aren't it?

That's the last time we're gonna be in Gwen's house.

-Exactly. Yes. Yes. -That was the last time

we're gonna be on the [indistinct], you know, today.

Now, we're all saying it.

What were your last words?

-That was the date. -Yeah, yeah.

[people speaking indistinctly]

My last words were, "Come on, Mrs. Shipman."

[people laughing]

My last words were, "No, it'll be cargo."

[people laughing]

But, and if it had been the scene before,

they would've been better, wouldn't they?

'Cause the scene before...

You played your part, soldier.

Oh yeah.

"Thank you soldier. You played your part."

That would've been a lovely thing to finish but-

But mine was lovely, 'cause still after that-

[Melanie] Yes, I think we had the best last one.

"And I loves you, sugar tit."

[Rob] Well that's perfect, isn't it?

Matt does have the actual last words.

Well, yeah, I was gonna say...

Well, how are you feeling about that?

It's a lot of pressure.

I really,

sort of loath to think about tomorrow.

That's all everybody's been talking about.

And I want to just enjoy every moment.

-Yeah. -In the present.

I've tried to live in the day,

but every day Jo Page has gone,

"Oh my God. It's the last day we're in."

[people laughing]

"Oh my God, are you worried about the last day, Rob?"

"What do you think is gonna happen on the last day, Rob?"

[people laughing]

[Speaker] How are you feeling, Alison?

It's just been a joyous job

and I love everybody, you know?

-There you go. -Really do.

James Corden.

I feel very lucky, really.

All of it.

You have an idea with a friend

and then 20 years later you're sort of

sitting, talking like this.

It's...

It's overwhelming, really.

And I don't know if

you as actors in this room know

how much Ruth and I owe you the success of the show.

Like so many days we would write a scene

and then you'd go,

"I don't know if this is right.

I don't know if it's good enough."

And then you'd put it in your voices

and it would just be all right.

And then to come back and do this one...

I don't know.

It feels very, very special.

And I feel very, very lucky

to have been able to

create this world for such a brilliant group of people.

I think James has said it all really.

It's just...

If I die...

Well, I'd say die tomorrow,

but that would be wrong, Dixon wouldn't get to do...

I do feel if you die tomorrow,

this documentary's gonna be very different.

Yeah.

-As is the end of the show. -Yeah.

If I die the day after tomorrow,

I will die knowing that I'd have been very, very blessed

to have been part of such a beautiful show

and to have worked with such a gorgeous group

of people both on and off screen.

Thank you to everybody.

And, I raise my glass to you all.

Here's to tomorrow guys.

-Yeah, tomorrow. -Tomorrow.

[glasses clink]

[soft gentle music]

Yeah, it's too hot for me.

Yeah, I'm too hot for everybody.

You're hot to go.

[both chuckling]

[Ruth] Oh, it's gonna be a nightmare today.

I actually think today will feel quite ordinary

in that it's still a filming day.

-There's work to do. -Yeah.

And it will only be in the last 15 minutes.

[Ruth] Yeah, you're right.

That it becomes very, very real.

'Cause right now everyone's going in

and it's hair and makeup,

and there will be people like,

-"Oh this is it last day." -Ugh.

But it's only when it gets to setting up

-that last moment. -Yeah.

That's when I imagine you will be-

-Vomiting. -A quivering wreck.

[soft gentle music]

? Backing in the street ?

Hey.

-[indistinct chatter] -[people chuckling]

People talk to me about "Gavin and Stacey"

being this thing that is very,

very extraordinary within the ordinary world of it.

[people cheering]

And I guess what we're really trying to say

is that I don't think anything is ordinary.

Nothing is more interesting or fascinating

than two people who go, "I love you.

I'd be heartbroken if you're not here

and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

That's nuts. That's crazy.

[soft gentle music]

The love and tiny little positive things

that happen in people's day-to-day lives.

That's just a beautiful thing

that is out there in the world.

And I think that hopefully is in the show.

[soft gentle music]

[people laughing]

There's a great sort of misunderstanding

that the world is always full of conflict.

And I think that in most people's lives,

family, friends, love,

tend to be, you know, the mainstream

of what they're aiming for.

This is more a document of what it's like to be alive

during this period of time in that sort of a culture

than anything more high blown or highfalutin.

You know this, this really is what it's like.

It reminds you that it really is a joy

to be part of a big, messy, silly family.

Isn't it funny to think that we'll probably do

about two takes of that and then that's it?

That's it.

Come on, it's the last set,

we don't have to spoil it now.

? Wrap me in your arms ?

[Stacey] Smithy and Nessa, who would've thought?

I know.

Only took 'em 17 years.

[indistinct chatter]

? Floating on the waves ?

? Free as a bird ?

Cut.

[people clapping]

There's always been that feeling inside

that we may do another one, you know, but now,

goodnight, God bless, you know.

[soft gentle music]

I can't imagine my life without it.

It's given me a life beyond

what I ever thought was possible.

It makes you appreciate the life that you've had,

the experience that you've had

over the course of the years and,

and to enjoy it.

[soft gentle music]

I just feel very, very, very privileged

to be able to have been part of it.

But it is time. It is time to go.

? Grab me in your arms ?

[both chuckle]

Ah. Who do we have here?

Whoa. Oh, look at that.

Hold it up, Jace. Hold it up.

No one will go hungry in this camp tonight.

Yay.

-Enjoy your soup. -Yeah.

? Backing in the street ?

? Wild summer breeze ?

? Wrap me in your arms and never let me go ?

? On the dense sky ?

? Everything's all right ?

? Riding in the sun ?

Repair and Synchronization by Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0