We’re still all in tears

Contains spoilers

If you’re like me, you watched the ending to Gavin & Stacey last night through a stream of tears.

The final ever episode is widely agreed by fans to be one of the best finales ever, with The Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti saying in their five-star review: Gavin & Stacey: The Finale will make you smile, but mainly it will make you sob uncontrollably.

“A send-off that pulls at the heartstrings, and then some.”

The final episode revolves around Smithy, with it seemingly resolving early on in the plot whether or not he said yes to Nessa’s proposal in the 2019 Christmas special.

James Corden discusses Gavin and Stacey ending

Credit: TikTok/@virginradiouk

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With everyone heading to Smithy’s stag-do and wedding the assumption is he did, but after a nice rug pull, it is revealed his wedding is, actually, to Sonia.

Hijinks ensue, emotional confessions are made and, after a run to the docks to confess his love to Nessa after ditching Sonia at the altar, the pair finally tie the knot after 17 years.

The pair are quickly shown to be married, and the whole main cast are shown having a dance and a drink, before sitting down to take a group photo.

The finale has been well received (BBC)

If you thought that had you in tears though, a detail revealed from a Q&A about the show will make you well up again.

Scott Bryan, a British Film and TV critic, shared a list of insights from the Q&A, all of which are totally fascinating.

Whether it be why Neil the Baby was cast and asked to sing or how the actor for Sonia hid her involvement in the show, the thread is full of gems.

One that stood out to fans however, regarded the final scene.

Bryan tweeted: “The final day of filming was supposed to be Smithy in a car, but they moved the schedule around so the final day of filming was the final scene, when everyone was together.

The final shot that had us all tearing up (BBC)

“The sound department played the theme of the song, Stephen Fretwell’s ‘Run,’ which moved cast to tears.”

James Corden said of the final scene in an interview with GQ: “We really, really felt that the last day should be the last scene, and that the last line should be the last thing that we ever shoot.”

Ruth Jones said of the scene: “When she called cut on the very last take [the music began]… And that got us all going, as you can imagine”.

Fans were moved by the details, with one responding to the tweet saying: “I’ve gone. I’ve actually gone.”

Another said: “It was absolutely fantastic. Laughing out loud. Totally made Christmas. Tv Gold”.

A third said: “The cast must have heard the applause through the tears, in rooms across Britain, cos the finale of #GavinAndStacey truly lived up to it’s hype.

“Best ending to a series on Christmas Day since Only Fools and Horses 1996.”Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Netflix, TV, TV and Film, BBC, Gavin And Stacey

Michael Slavin

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Updated 08:50 26 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 08:29 26 Dec 2024 GMT

Reason why Neil the Baby sang at wedding ceremony in last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey

Admit it, you had tears when he started singing ‘Blackbird’ in the Gavin and Stacey finale

Jess Battison

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Gavin and Stacey: The Finale

Ah Boxing Day, the day typically used for seeing the ‘rest of the family’ or for recovering from a heavy day before.

But I for one need it just to recover from last night’s (25 December) big Gavin and Stacey: The Finale.

I mean, that had to be the most perfect last ever episode in TV. From having us hanging over the fishing trip to that Dave Coaches reveal, it was just brilliant.

Gavin and Stacey The Finale

Credit: BBC

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And of course, it was emotional too – plenty of us had the tears flowing just over Neil the Baby singing at the wedding ceremony.

During a cast Q&A with press before the Christmas day release, they explained the reason why they got the lad to sing.

Very much not a baby anymore, the son of Nessa and Smithy is played by Oscar Hartland.

The Welsh lad has however been playing the role for quite some time as he was one of the original babies used back in series three.

But despite his appearance in the 2019 Christmas special, the now 17-year-old hasn’t quite pursued acting, opting for music instead.

Going to cry again in a minute… (BBC)

Hartland is a budding musician, previously being in grunge rock band Redwood City.

“Music is my thing at the moment, I’m loving it,” he told Wales Online back in 2022. “I want to do stuff like Guns n Roses, Queen, and The Darkness. I also love DJing as well, I have some decks.”

According to entertainment journalist Scott Bryan, the cast explained in a Q&A they decided to make him sing at the wedding scene because he sang on The Voice Kids.

Hartland took part as a solo artist in the 2023 series of the singing contest, with Gavin and Stacey creator Ruth Jones leaving him a message on the phone (in Nessa’s voice, of course).

Hartland on The Voice Kids in 2023. (ITV)

In the surprise from his ‘special friend’ ahead of his audition she said: “Oh, Neil the Baby, what’s occurin? We knows what’s occurin, you’re on The Voice Kids.

“Don’t forget you take after your mother when it comes to music.

“You go out there and you smash it kid alright!? Crackin!”

Jones obviously didn’t appear in the wedding scene as Nessa was busy making her way to go work on the ships and so was behind the cameras instead. She apparently cried watching as Hartland sang ‘Blackbird’ while playing an acoustic guitar.

And to be honest, I don’t know if I’ll be able to listen to that song the same way again. Love you Nessa and Smithy.Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Gavin And Stacey, TV, Christmas, TV and Film

Jess Battison

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Updated 09:41 26 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 09:16 26 Dec 2024 GMT

Hilarious surprise for Gavin and Stacey cast as extras went off-script in wedding scene

I mean, most of us probably would’ve done the same

Jess Battison

I don’t know about you but I’m still not over it.

That last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey was probably one of the best TV finales I’ve ever watched.

Whilst it was the same cast and story we’ve known and loved so much for the past 17 years, they were still able to get us with some surprises.

Gavin and Stacey The Finale

Credit: BBC

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From finding out Sonia was still even in the picture to that Dave Coaches reveal, we were absolutely treated.

Although, it wasn’t just us mere viewers who had a surprise watching it but the cast too.

Apparently, the stars were caught out when two extras went off-script during the wedding scene. It just makes it more dramatic to be honest, and also a little funnier, obviously.

So, for the ceremony of Smithy and Sonia, there was about ‘40 to 50 extras’ packing out the room as guests while Neil the Baby sang his cover of ‘Blackbird’.

Larry Lamb, who played Mick, explained during a cast Q&A that they all ‘sort of knew the story’ because they were all Gavin and Stacey fans.

Ugh, Sonia. (BBC)

“And the looks on their faces – the shock – it was just absolutely brilliant,” he said.

But some of them got a little more into it than others.

Obviously, a marriage between those two was never going to work out and Gavin finally pulled himself together at the last second to tell his mate not to say ‘I do’.

Then, when the officiant (played by Anna Maxwell Martin) asked if anyone else felt this way, beloved members of the Essex and Welsh families slowly began to stand.

However, so did two random women towards the back on Sonia’s side.

“When Anna said, ‘Please stand’, there’s two ladies at the back on Stacey’s side who stood up! We didn’t tell them to,” James Corden said.

The two extras were so into it. (BBC)

“They were just real fans of the show who were so in it [the plot], that they just stood up and were like, ‘I just thought he shouldn’t be marrying her!’.”

Let’s be honest though, it worked pretty well as it added to the whole drama of the scene before the emotional moment Mick finally stood up.

Plenty of viewers on X called that the ‘best bit’ of the episode as people said it had them ‘welling up’.

Another used a Martin Scorsese meme to call it ‘absolute cinema’ with one writing: “No but the Gavin and Stacey ending was just so perfect with Mick calling Smithy his son and then Smithy looking to Mick for the final objection at the wedding oh my god.”

Absolute Cinema.Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Gavin And Stacey, TV, TV and Film

Jess Battison

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Published 15:03 26 Dec 2024 GMT

Gavin and Stacey star reveals extreme measures she went through to keep her character’s return to finale secret

Even her family didn’t know until the big day

Joe Harker

Warning: Honking massive spoilers for Gavin and Stacey: The Finale to follow.

That was pretty f**king brilliant, wasn’t it?

Five years ago Nessa (Ruth Jones) got down on one knee and proposed to Smithy (James Corden) right at the end of the previous Gavin and Stacey episode, which cut out before we got to know what his answer was.

Gavin and Stacey The Finale

Credit: BBC

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Returning half a decade later for one last episode, viewers were more excited to see what Smithy’s answer had been than they were for their Christmas presents and it was all wrapped up in a stonkingly good final episode.

It turns out that Gavin and Stacey stuck the landing brilliantly, with fans adoring that last-ever episode and reckoning it wrapped everything up in style.

Except of course for whatever the hell happened on the fishing trip, but in this case, whatever each fan can imagine it being is better than getting a definitive answer that takes all the imagination out of it.

It’s finally over, what a ride (BBC)

With the burning issue of what answer Smithy gave to Nessa hanging over the final episode, one Gavin and Stacey star had to go through some rather extreme measures to keep her presence on the set a secret to avoid giving the game away.

We are of course talking about Laura Aikman, who plays Smithy’s fiancée Sonia, since her being in the final episode would make it clear to viewers that Smithy hadn’t married Nessa after all, otherwise she wouldn’t be around.

There’s a big reveal early on in the episode where Smithy goes to meet his bride-to-be and it’s Sonia, leaving millions of Brits watching at Christmas realising that he didn’t accept Nessa’s proposal, though she managed to avoid anyone else knowing she’d proposed with some impromptu Cossack dancing.

Taking to Instagram, Laura Aikman posted a video of her own family reacting to the big Christmas reveal, and either acting ability runs in the family or they genuinely didn’t know she was going to be in Gavin and Stacey again.

“I take an NDA very seriously,” she captioned the video, and on her Stories she shared a post from episode director Christine Gernon, who explained how they kept things so secretive.

Knowing Laura Aikman was in the episode ahead of time would have spoiled one of the main questions, so they kept it a secret (BBC)

“Laura Aikman spent the whole G&S shoot being hidden away,” the director posted.

“Staying in a different hotel, not allowed to come to wrap or screening parties so no one knew Sonia was back.

“Such a great reveal. And she’s amazing as both actor and person.”

That final episode all led up to Smithy and Sonia’s wedding, featuring a brilliant performance by Neil the Baby, though he didn’t tie the knot after everyone he knew (and a couple of people on Sonia’s side) and loved told him it was a massive mistake.

Everyone had been telling Gavin (Mathew Horne) he had to say something and right at the last moment he did, though in the end, it was Mick (Larry Lamb) that Smithy needed to tell him he was making a mistake.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DECIntwIW2D/embed/?cr=1&v=14&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ladbible.com&rp=%2Fentertainment%2Ftv%2Fgavin-and-stacey-finale-heartbreaking-detail-938096-20241226%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR0nWM2ECQLOvcv-p-W3TS6jIgoaNaH1IWebLc-gs4yu3gH7sweQB6mCbUc_aem_ScCEg_10jT7AVM4v3P1eyQ#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A171228%2C%22ls%22%3A170758.40000003576%2C%22le%22%3A170964.40000003576%7D

Rushing off to stop Nessa from heading out to sea, Smithy managed to get there in time to propose, with the show closing on their wedding and a montage of some of the great moments from Gavin and Stacey.

James Corden revealed that the episode’s final moments were the last thing they shot as he told a Q&A at the premiere: “The first schedule of the show had us finishing, I think it was going to be me on my own in a car on a low loader and Ruth and I were like ‘that can’t be the last day!’

“And I think that’s the only time we’ve gone ‘we’d like to have a say in the schedule here’, and it was all to do with people’s dates.

“This is a massive cast who are all very busy and have different things to do and have juggled a lot of things around to do it, but we really, really felt that the last day should be the last scene and that the last line should be the last thing that we ever shoot.”

Ruth Jones opened up on the emotional final moments of the episode where Smithy and Nessa finally got together.

She said: “It was lovely because it did feel like a real wedding, didn’t it?

“Like a real wedding to sort of pub reception and we were very grateful to being indulged, for being able to do that because it made such a world of difference that we did that last shot.

“And then Chris, when she called cut on the very last take, arranged for the sound department to play ‘Run’ and that got us all going.”Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: Gavin And Stacey, TV, BBC

Joe Harker

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Updated 09:36 26 Dec 2024 GMTPublished 13:18 15 Dec 2024 GMT

Actor explains baffling Gavin and Stacey joke that’s had fans confused for 15 years

Well, at least that’s one Gavin and Stacey mystery solved before the finale

Jess Battison

It’s nearly the big day. The day we’ve been waiting for after months and months of build-up. After little teases of what we can expect and making plans ready for it.

Christmas Day is just less than two weeks away now and that means, it’s nearly the day of the final episode of Gavin and Stacey.

I’ll be honest, that’s a big part of Christmas for me this year.

Gavin and Stacey The Finale

Credit: BBC

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And to prepare for the big special finale, you might also be rewatching the previous episodes and reminding yourself of the classic jokes and the huge mystery.

But there’s one baffling joke that’s had fans confused for the past 15 years and the actor who delivered it has thankfully explained it.

Back in November 2009, the first episode of season three aired on the BBC and saw Gavin trying to get used to working with his new Welsh colleagues while Stacey was just buzzing to be back in Barry.

Mathew Horne’s character is introduced to Owain Hughes who ‘heads up the website’

“Hi, nice to meet you. [I’m] Gavin Shipman,” Gavin says in his new Cardiff office job.

“Owain Hughes,” responds Owain, adding: “And before you ask, no I don’t!”

Owain Hughes, the man of mystery (BBC)

While his colleagues laugh away knowingly at this, Gavin looks absolutely baffled, trying to understand what on earth they’re on about. He even goes on to tell his family and friends about it to try and get an explanation.

But most of us viewers have been just as confused, long wondering what the gag actually is.

And Steven Meo, who played Owain, told the BBC it’s ‘always on the tip of his tongue’ when he meets Gavin and Stacey fans.

“So it’s like, ‘Hi, I’m Steve, there’s no joke’,” he said.

Yep, he explained that it was actually not even a joke at all, it was just in there to annoy us.

Same Gav, same (BBC)

“You can get on these threads and there’s so many people know exactly what the joke is,” Meo said, referencing people’s theories about it being ‘a play on wine’ or that you’ve ‘got to speak Welsh’ to get it.

He even said his mum once rang him from Tesco where the manager had said anyone who could explain it would get ‘a free bottle of wine’.

“I went, ‘I can’t say mam’,” Meo laughed.

And he really can’t because: “It was literally just a red herring designed to wind people up.”

Well, that’s that mystery solved. Now, WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT FISHING TRIP?