A show loved by so many and still watch by so many has come back for Christmas.
Gavin (Mathew Horne) and Stacey (Joanna Page) now have three children but their life has gotten into a routine thus they feel like they are in a bit of a rut. Stacey particularly feels the lack of excitement and sex in their lives, she does try to get some excitement into their lives but Gavin isn’t really having it. Nessa (Ruth Jones) is unchanged but that is nothing surprising as she is who she is. Neil the baby (Oscar Hartland) is now all grown up, he seems a nice caring boy but it is clear he has strong traits from both his mother and father. This now leads to Smithy (James Corden) who is a reliable presence in Nessa and Neil's life and has been in a new relationship with a girl called Sonia (Laura Aikman). In this episode, Smithy is on the verge of asking Sonia to marry him, the only worry is that no one has met her before, until this Christmas and everyone is concerned.
In this Christmas special it is the Welsh side of the family to host the festivities this year. As a result, this causes Gavin's mother Pam (Alison Steadman) huge distress. Therefore, she tries to pack her home into two small suitcases including insect spray, mattress topper, towels and a Bear Grylls survival kit. Although before the Essex family can go down to Barry, they must deal with another of Dawn (Julia Davis) and Pete's (Adrian Scarborough) martial meltdown. This time Dawn has found a spliff in Pete's glovebox and has assumed he is a secret drug addict. This then follows to a hilarious scene between Pete, Dawn, Pam and Mick (Larry Lamb). Back in Barry, Bryn (Rob Brydon) is in charge of the Christmas meal and is putting the final touches to his schedules such as tracking down a plate warmer and checking the dimensions of Gwen's oven.
Like any normal Christmas not everything can go perfectly and, in this family, there are some minor mishaps like Pam forgetting the Christmas puddings. The replacements of the forgotten puddings are then left in the pub thus no Christmas pudding on Christmas day. Gavin and Stacey may be in a rut but these problems are solved pretty quickly with a trip down memory lane and around the island. This was a very emotional moment of the entire episode as we all know the journey these two have been on and we learnt of new things that have happened since we left them. This couple seem so strong and they do truly love each other, this moment was sweet to watch but also quite cringy yet it worked as there weren’t a lot of moments like this in the episode.
However, this show may be called Gavin and Stacey but we always enjoy watching Smithy and Nessa. These characters always have a way of ending up back in each other’s bed, normally unintentionally. After getting drunk on Christmas Eve, the pair wake up in bed together the next day yet Sonia is due that day. Sonia is an uncomfortable character to watch due to her being very different from the rest of the characters. She is clearly better off than everyone else and struggles to fit in. as a result, she decides to leave early and goes to her parents’ house but Smithy stays to be with his son.
The acting in this episode was amazing and we wanted to keep watching to see what might happen next. The story of the fishing trip is mentioned once again and we think we will finally discover what happened. It is as if we never left this family and this is down to the acting but also the great writing of James Corden and Ruth Jones. There writing is so good we don't expect the ending we are given to this Christmas episode.
There are some great elements in the episode and it has made fans of the show want more. The acting is still as good as ever and the characters are still really relatable and funny. Everything has been thought about and every element whether it is a new character or a piece of dialogue or a reaction has been carefully thought about. This show might be called Gavi and Stacey but we all know that is it really about Nessa and Smithy, there story and relationship really dominates this episode and Gavin and Stacey are there for support. With that being said, we get more time with Stacey and see how she is feeling than we do with Gavin. That is the only downside (if we can call it that) is that we don’t really know or understand how Gavin is feeling and why for him his relationship with Stacey was in a rut. With that being said this Christmas episode it really joyful with a few shocks that make us want to see more and keeps us asking what is going to happen next?
