James Corden reveals how he and Ruth Jones 'gave up' on Gavin & Stacey during writing for 'terrible' 2019 Christmas special
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James Corden has revealed that he and Ruth Jones nearly 'gave up' on bringing Gavin & Stacey back for the 2019 Christmas special as their first draft was 'terrible'. The creators, who play Smithy and Nessa on the hit BBC series, opened up about reuniting ahead of the first comeback in 2019 during A Fond Farewell documentary on Wednesday.
![[James explained how initially their writing was 'awful' and they were thankful they hadn't called the BBC as they suddenly believed they could 'never do it again']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/21/93656909-14242359-James_explained_how_initially_their_writing_was_awful_and_they_w-a-68_1735768529087.jpg)
James explained how initially their writing was 'awful' and they were thankful they hadn't called the BBC as they suddenly believed they could 'never do it again'. TV presenter James said: 'For the 2019 one, I don't know if people know this but we gave up on it at one point.
![[James said: 'I don't know if people know this but we gave up on it at one point. We had written maybe half way through and we read it and we were like this is rubbish, awful, terrible']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/21/93656899-14242359-James_said_I_don_t_know_if_people_know_this_but_we_gave_up_on_it-a-69_1735768534309.jpg)
'We had written maybe half way through and we read it and we were like this is rubbish, awful, terrible. 'It is extraordinary how close we were to just, I actually remember us saying to each other thank god we didn't call the BBC. James Corden has revealed that he and Ruth Jones nearly 'gave up' on bringing Gavin & Stacey back for the 2019 Christmas special as it was originally 'terrible'.
![[He added: 'It is extraordinary how close we were to just, I actually remember us saying to each other thank god we didn't call the BBC. We were like two hours from saying bye to it and going we can never do it again, it isn't good enough'; pictured 2010]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/21/93656931-14242359-He_added_It_is_extraordinary_how_close_we_were_to_just_I_actuall-m-71_1735768612969.jpg)
James explained how initially their writing was 'awful' and they were thankful they hadn't called the BBC as they suddenly believed they could 'never do it again'. 'So we ate dinner in my kitchen and I said look I think we owe it to the show to go back in and talk about why it is bad and to say goodbye to it.
![[Ruth added: 'But then we realised, which is true for the whole of every episode of Gavin and Stacey, that the reason these people are together was because of Gavin and Stacey']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/21/93655993-14242359-image-a-66_1735768440884.jpg)
'We were like two hours from saying bye to it and going we can never do it again, it isn't good enough.'. Ruth added: 'But then we realised, which is true for the whole of every episode of Gavin and Stacey, that the reason these people are together was because of Gavin and Stacey.
![[James continued: 'Then that night at like 11pm was when we came up with the scene of Stacey keeping the matches and it changed everything. We rang the BBC the next day and so we went from it being dead to like, oh no it's alright']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/01/21/93656903-14242359-James_continued_Then_that_night_at_like_11pm_was_when_we_came_up-a-70_1735768538572.jpg)
