Yahoo News Gavin & Stacey: Will there be any more episodes?
Hit sitcom Gavin & Stacey still has fans clamouring for a comeback - but are new episodes likely to be occurring?
Ever since Gavin & Stacey aired its final series 13 years ago, fans have been asking the same question - could the sitcom ever make a comeback?
Well, now the answer is - yes, it looks like we've been given an early Christmas present as there is reportedly a 2024 Christmas special in the works.
The BBC comedy was one of the most beloved shows of the Noughties, following Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) and Stacey West's (Joanna Page) love story from over-the-phone colleagues in Essex and South Wales to meeting up, marrying and combining their quirky families.
Gavin and Stacey last made a welcome return for a Christmas special in 2019, but rather than leaving fans satisfied with loose ends tied up, a huge cliffhanger meant there were more questions than answers - which fans could finally see satisfied this Christmas.
What do we know about the Gavin & Stacey 2024 Christmas special?
So far, not much...except for the exciting news that it does seem to really be happening.
TV and film industry news outlet Deadline are reporting that they understand a 2024 Christmas special is in the works, writing: "We are told the series is in development/pre-production and cameras will roll in a few months time on the show, which is produced by Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow, Jones’ Tidy Productions and Fulwell 73, which is co-owned by (James) Corden."
A new episode would be written, as usual, by co-creators Ruth Jones and James Corden - who has more time on his hands since quitting The Late Late Show in the US - and obviously, their characters Nessa and Smithy are expected to play a big part in the new storyline.
The show might be called Gavin & Stacey, but supporting characters Nessa and Smithy took centre stage for the last instalment five years ago, with their on-off romance reaching a cliffhanger as Nessa proposed and the credits rolled before a stunned Smithy could reply. Fans will be hoping the new episode will finally show what happened on Christmas night in 2019, and what the characters have done since then.
Could there be another series of Gavin & Stacey?
Joanna Page sparked fresh hopes of new episodes of the sitcom in comments about a travelogue series with her ex co-stars.
Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb, who played Gavin's parents Pam and Mick, recently made travel show Alison & Larry: Billericay to Barry taking in the journey between the comedy's two settings that the characters made countless times.
Page provided the voiceover, but told The Sun she kept missing her cue because she found it so distracting watching them back together on screen.
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Asked whether they could reunite for more episodes, she teased: "That would be so lovely. When we all first started it was like an instant family. We’re all still constantly in touch with each other, my gosh we send each other so many messages.
"We struggle to even make time for our own families.
"But then I agree, we have GOT to find out what Smithy says to Nessa!"
How were things left in the last Christmas special?
Of course, the moment Page was talking about was that much-talked-about final scene from the 2019 Christmas special which left viewers open mouthed and desperate to find out what happened next.
The festive episode saw Smithy (James Corden) considering getting engaged to a woman who didn't do much to impress his loved ones by making fun of his weight and not putting much effort into getting to know Neil The Baby, Smithy's son with former flame Nessa (Ruth Jones).
But in a shock final moment after Smithy's girlfriend Sonia left Barry, Nessa popped the question to on-off lover Smithy - with the credits rolling before he gave his answer.
Who would get back on board for a Gavin & Stacey reunion?
Although Page might have raised hopes, Jones - who is also co-creator of the series along with Corden, as well as starring in it - was pretty firm in 2022 that there was no comeback on the cards.
She told The Independent: "I’m really hugely complimented that people love it so much. But it is quite an extraordinary thing… it’s almost like you mention the words Gavin and Stacey and people assume it’s back.
“But it’s not."
However, that isn't the full story as Corden had admitted in 2021 that he would love to write more of the story.
Speaking to Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show, he said: "As it stands right now, there aren’t any plans to do one, but that’s not to say that there isn’t the want or the inclination to do one… that special ends on such a… it’s so open-ended that I think it would be a shame to leave it there."
The TV star added that it "doesn’t feel like the end of a book, it feels like the end of a chapter".
Horne also sounds like he could be keen for a comeback, having said after the last Christmas special: "I don't think that James and Ruth can possibly leave it where it is. Because, you know, we left it on a cliffhanger and I don't think it would be right to leave it there."
Meanwhile, Oscar Hartland - aka Neil The Baby - is still in the spotlight as a contestant on The Voice Kids.
Read more: Gavin & Stacey
Gavin & Stacey to return with 2024 Christmas special (Digital Spy, 2 min read)
Gavin & Stacey stars Joanna Page and Alison Steadman reunite (The Independent, 2 min read)
This Gavin & Stacey error has probably passed you by for the last 15 years (HuffPost, 2 min read)
