James Corden reveals how he and Ruth Jones ‘gave up’ on Gavin & Stacey during writing for ‘terrible’ 2019 Christmas special

James Corden has revealed that he and Ruth Jones almost ‘gave up’ on bringing Gavin and Stacey back for the 2019 Christmas special because their first draft was ‘terrible’.

The makers, who play Smithy and Nessa in the popular BBC series, opened up about the reunion prior to the first comeback in 2019 during the documentary A Fond Farewell on Wednesday.

James explained how initially their writing was ‘terrible’ and they were grateful they had not called the BBC as they suddenly believed they ‘could never do it again’.

TV presenter James said: ‘For the 2019 edition I don’t know if people know this but we gave up at some point.

‘We had written maybe halfway through and we read it and we thought: this is rubbish, terrible, terrible.

‘It’s extraordinary how close we were, I remember us saying to each other, thank God we hadn’t called the BBC.

James explained how initially their writing was ‘terrible’ and they were grateful they had not called the BBC as they suddenly believed they ‘could never do it again’.

“So we were eating in my kitchen and I said, look, I think we owe it to the show to get back in there and talk about why it’s bad and say goodbye to it.

“It took us two hours to say goodbye to it and we can never do it again, it’s not good enough.”

Ruth added, “But then we realized, which is true of the whole Gavin and Stacey episode, that the reason these people are together was because of Gavin and Stacey.

“So we realized it wasn’t working because there was nothing substantial for them.”

James continued: “Then at 11pm that night we came up with the scene where Stacey was holding the matches and that changed everything.

‘We called the BBC the next day and so we went from death to: oh no, it’s OK.’

Just minutes into the hour-long documentary, fans quickly admitted they were already in tears as they struggled to come to terms with the fact that the legendary sitcom would no longer be on screen.

The program offered a glimpse into the making of the highly anticipated finale, as well as a look back at the show’s origins and its 17-year run.

James said: “I don’t know if people know this, but at some point we gave up. We had written maybe halfway through and we read it and we thought: this is rubbish, terrible, terrible’

He added: ‘It’s extraordinary how close we were, I remember us saying to each other, thank God we hadn’t called the BBC. It took us about two hours to say goodbye to it and we can never do it again, it’s not good enough’; pictured 2010

Ruth added: “But then we realized, which is true of the whole Gavin and Stacey episode, that the reason these people are together was because of Gavin and Stacey.”

James continued: “Then at 11pm that night we came up with the scene where Stacey was holding the matches and that changed everything. We called the BBC the next day and so we went from dead to ‘oh no, it’s fine’

Gavin and Stacey: The Finale attracted a whopping 12.5 million viewers, becoming the most watched show on Christmas Day.

Viewers had waited five years to learn the fate of the BBC sitcom’s beloved characters and to see if Smithy had accepted Nessa’s proposal.

The final episode was praised as ‘perfect’ by viewers, who were left in tears when the long-running show finally aired its final episode after 17 years.

The BBC won the battle of the channels when it came to viewing figures, as 10 million people also watched the return of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

The series, which debuted in 2007 after being created by stars James Corden and Ruth Jones, ended with on/off lovers Smithy and Nessa finally declaring their love for each other and tying the knot, but not without a few hiccups along the way.

Smithy was originally going to marry his girlfriend Sonia, revealing he never answered Nessa’s proposal, which formed the cliffhanger of the show’s 2019 Christmas special.

But after the entire Shipman/West clan finally declared that he had made a mistake, Smithy finally declared his love for Nessa and proposed to her in an emotional scene at Southampton Docks.

The episode then cut to Smithy and Nessa finally exchanging vows 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 together for a family snap.

James and Ruth also have a book about the show coming out next fall called When Gavin Met Stacey and Everything in Between: A Story Of Love And Friendship.

Despite ruling out a return to the series, James has said he wants to work with Rith again.

He said, “We don’t know if we have another idea in us, but I can honestly say that if we didn’t try to even explore the idea of ​​writing together, I would be so disappointed.”