Gavin and Stacey special attracts largest Christmas Day audience in more than a decade
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After five years of waiting, the festive finale did not disappoint. The Gavin and Stacey special attracted the largest Christmas Day audience in more than a decade. The series returned to BBC One on 25 December for a 90-minute one-off episode, five years after the last Christmas special ended on a cliffhanger with Nessa (Ruth Jones) proposing to Smithy (James Corden).
That 2019 special was the top-rated show of the year, attracting an audience of 11.6 million, which eventually grew to a consolidated figure of 18 million. This year’s special – titled “The Finale” – is expected to beat that once the catch-up figures are accounted for.
After waiting five years, fans were not left disappointed by the episode with several praising it as the “perfect” conclusion to the series, which began in 2007. The special featured one big twist, which writers Jones and Corden went to extreme lengths in order to keep hidden during production.
Gavin and Stacey beat out other Christmas Day highlights including the Doctor Who special and Mrs Brown’s Boys. Although it was loved by fans, the episode fared less well with The Independent’s critic Charlotte O’Sullivan who awarded it three stars.
In her review, O’Sullivan wrote: “This Christmas special is about half an hour too long and the script recycles the least interesting elements of what’s gone before, but it still makes for lovely festive telly.”. She also lamented the lack of “spice” in the episode. “As fans of the series will know, Gavin’s parents reinvigorated their love life by dressing up as Charles and Camilla (Mick enjoyed wearing strap-on-ears). Perhaps for obvious reasons, the special is more risk averse,” said O’Sullivan.
