- WARNING: HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE GAVIN AND STACEY FINALE
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Gavin and Stacey finally came to an end with a feature-length festive finale on Wednesday, with fans quick to laud the ‘perfect’ conclusion, 17 years after the iconic BBC comedy first hit screens.
The series, which debuted back in 2007 after being created by stars James Corden and Ruth Jones, concluded with on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declaring their love for one another and tying the knot, but not without a few hiccups along the way.
While fans tuned into the episode to see whether Smithy had accepted Nessa’s proposal from the 2019 Christmas Special, a five-year time jump revealed that he was indeed set to tie the knot, but all was not as it seemed.
It was revealed that Smithy had instead got engaged to his girlfriend Sonia, who failed to impress the Shipman/West clan when she met them in the last festive episode, with actress Laura Aikman’s return to the show kept a closely-guarded secret.
With Smithy’s big day taking centre stage throughout the episode, Gavin and Stacey travelled back to Essex with her Welsh family in tow to celebrate his stag party with Pam and Mick.
Many of the family’s concerns about Sonia hadn’t been eased in the months leading up to the big day, as she feigned illness to avoid attending his pre-wedding celebrations, and said she ‘couldn’t wait’ until they were married, so they could sever ties with Gavin’s family.
Gavin And Stacey fans were left in tears by the ‘perfect’ finale as beloved comedy comes to an end with an answer to THAT festive proposal and the truth about the fishing trip
With tears in his eyes Smithy got down on one knee to propose, after Nessa told him she would never ask him again following her proposal in 2019
Nessa was visibly reluctant to travel to Billericay for Smtihy’s big day, with big changes looming as their son Neil prepared to join his dad in Essex for an apprenticeship.
She then revealed that Smithy had never got the chance to answer her proposal, as they were interrupted by Gavin, and they hadn’t talked about it since.
Elsewhere, Gavin and Stacey attempted to spice up their marriage with a spot of role play, and while she shared concerns that their relationship could be fizzling out, a spicy evening at Pam and Mick’s brought an end to those fears.
In a scene that threw back to the boozy night from the show’s third series, Smithy enjoyed a pre-stag celebration with the Shipman/West clan, culminating in him missing his suit fitting the next day, to Sonia’s fury.
And it wouldn’t be an episode of Gavin and Stacey without yet another relationship drama for Pete and Dawn. While the couple are revealed to have divorced during the five-year time vacuum, the couple struggle to keep away from one another, resulting one of the episode’s steamier moments.
In a special packed with nods and Easter Eggs from the original series, Smithy headed to his stag with Gavin, with the pair’s entire crew of pals, included Deano, Chinese Alan and Fingers – attempted to recreate the glory days, with mixed results.
In a poignant scene, Smithy appeared to allude to his feelings for Nessa under the ruse of sharing a corn-on-the-cob, a reference to one of the show’s most steamy moments from the second series.
With it soon becoming clear that with Sonia more preoccupied by the aesthetics of her wedding then becoming Mrs Smith, Smithy’s family began to share concerns that he was making a ‘big mistake’ by going ahead with the wedding.
While it seemed throughout the episode that Smithy would marry Sonia, everything changed in the last five minutes as the cast hurtled through a bush in a last minute dash to find Nessa before it was too late
Smithy made it all the way to the altar with Sonia before realising it was the wrong decision
Rushing out of his own ceremony he rushed to find Nessa who was about to board a ship and leave the country for good
Nessa and Smithy were then wed, choosing to shake hands to seal the deal as they explained: ‘We don’t kiss, never have never will’
Finally the pair got their happy ending all these years later
In the midst of the wedding drama, Stacey also grew suspicious of her mother Gwen, with it eventually revealed she’d been hiding a secret from her daughter, a boyfriend!
But in a jaw-dropping reveal, fans were not prepared to discover the identity of her mystery man… Nessa’s ex Dave Coaches!
With Uncle Bryn visibly furious, Gwen hit back by referencing the famous fishing trip, no doubt leading some viewers to hope that they were finally going to discover the truth about the famous outing.
But it seems that this will be one mystery that will be left to the TV archives, as the family were interrupted before Dave could share the truth.
Turning focus back to Smithy’s wedding, as the big day loomed, Stacey shared her fears with Gavin, who warned her against interrupting or spoiling their pal’s big day.
Fans were also treated to the surprise return of Sheridan Smith as Smithy’s sister Rudi, and Pam Ferris as his mum Cath.
Having bid farewell to her son Neil, and Smithy, Nessa shared that she was leaving Barry to return to her job at sea, and in an emotional scene, viewers saw her heading out of the island, while Neil ‘The Baby’ performed a moving track at his dad’s wedding.
It was revealed at the start of the episode that Smithy had instead got engaged to his girlfriend Sonia, who failed to impress the Shipman/West clan when she met them in the last festive episode
The series, which debuted back in 2007 (pictured), concluded with on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declaring their love for one another and tying the knot
Fans first fell in love with the series back in 2007 (pictured)
Nessa revealed that Smithy had never got the chance to answer her proposal, as they were interrupted by Gavin, and they hadn’t talked about it since
In another shock twist it was revealed Gwen is dating Nessa’s ex Dave, much to Uncle Bryn’s horror
Pam Shipman was back to her hilarious antics in for the finale episode with her iconic line ‘Oh my Christ!’
As Smithy and Sonia prepared to exchange their vows, with a registrar played by Anna Maxwell Martin watching on, a surprise twist saw Gavin himself stop the ceremony, urging his best pal to rethink his decision.
With the registrar asking anyone to stand if they agreed with Gavin, the entire Shipman/West clan did so, leading Smithy to finally realise that he loved Nessa, before vowing to go after her.
The entire family jumped into Dave’s coach and rushed to Southampton, where Nessa was preparing to set sail, and in a scene 17 years in the making, he declared his love for her, and asked her to reconsider leaving.
While an ever-stoic Nessa insisted she wouldn’t propose to Smithy again, instead he returned her offer from five years earlier, finally getting down on one knee and asking her to marry him.
The episode then cut to Smithy and Nessa exchanging their vows at long last in an intimate ceremony in Barry, with the series ending with an emotional montage of the family marking the occasion at The Dolphin pub, before posing for a family snap together.
It was a finale that brought a long-awaited end to the story that began back in 2007, and fans rushed to social media to praise the ‘perfect’ ending
It was a finale that brought a long-awaited end to the story that began back in 2007, and fans rushed to social media to praise the ‘perfect’ ending.
Taking to Twitter they wrote: ‘What an ending, my heart feels full’;
‘NESSA AND SMITHY FINALLY!!!! The nation rejoices’; ‘last 15 mins were pure CINEMA. perfect end’;
‘Up there with one of the best TV finales of all time. Credit where it’s due to James and Ruth for making us care so much about these characters for 17 YEARS! Take a bow.’;
‘Might be the best ending to a comedy show ever. What a brilliant send off for all the characters. Ruth and James never lost their touch. Funny, emotional and brimming with whit. Amazing’;
‘Gavin and Stacey finale was what I’ve needed, the closure I feel is IMENSE’;
‘@JKCorden that was perfect. To you and Ruth, you’ve created a story I’ve grown up with. The perfect end. Thank you Merry Christmas’;
‘So beautiful. So perfect. So special. The end’; ‘That was actually perfection. From top to bottom, proper tidy.’
Another joked: ‘This is making me wanna text my ex and tell them I still love them’.
Ahead of the episode’s broadcast, creators Ruth and James revealed that their final day of filming was also the last scene that viewers watched, making it an emotional day for the entire cast.
Speaking at a Q&A following the premiere last week, James said: ‘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 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 added: ‘If you look at the script, it’s just the montage isn’t it? And so we had a whole day, it was quite a luxury because normally, you’re watching the clock and you’re up against it and you’ve got to get in wrap, and we were so blessed that everyone in production made this happen so that we could have the luxury of having a final day where everybody was there and that all we had to do, we didn’t really have any lines!
The episode saw a new emotional side to Nessa as she struggled to come to terms with Smithy marrying Sonia
Uncle Bryn was also back behind the wheel in his Citron Picasso as they headed to Essex
Ahead of the episode, creators Ruth Jones and James Corden revealed that their final day of filming was also the last scene that viewers watched, making it an emotional day for the cast
‘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 by Stephen Fretwell, the show’s theme] and that got us all going.’
James added: ‘It was probably the most emotional film set I’ve been on, and it was kind of wonderful, so many of our crew have been with us from the start and so it’s a wonderful way to close it all out on a Monday in Barry.’
Discussing the show’s long-awaited dockside proposal, James and Ruth added that it was huge feat to keep the scene a closely guarded secret, with the entire moment originally set to take place at Cardiff Airport, before a member of the crew came up with an alternative after they failed to get permission.
The cast admitted that filming the show’s last ever episode was emotional for all, with James breaking down in tears as they reflected on their time on the show.
Ruth added: ‘I’m not going to lie, I’m feeling a bit drained. It was so lovely to watch it with an audience, mainly made up of people who worked on the show.
‘I hope we did you proud and it’s just lovely to hear all the reactions, because of course, you know when you’re watching it and we’ve seen it several times, so for people to watch it for the first time to hear that very initial response was just gorgeous.’